Summer time means boredom!
Boredom means Python!
I have always been interesting in the shapes of words when laid out on a page. For example, have you ever looked at a paragraph and noticed
the little lines of whitespace running vertically? Some of them go for 20 lines or more, and I find it interesting.
As a first task I decided to look at the ascending and descending word length patterns in the dictionary. I wrote a Python script/program to search the dictionary list for key patterns.
Here listed are my results. I used my Mac's built in dictionary at /usr/share/dict/words for the analysis.
Other dictionaries will give different results. This one has 234,936 entries.
Loosely means that the length can stay the same, whereas strictly means that the words have to increment/decrement each time.
Loosely incrementing run:
mandelic
mandible
mandibula
mandibular
mandibulary
Mandibulata
mandibulate
mandibulated
mandibuliform
mandibulohyoid
mandibulomaxillary
mandibulopharyngeal
mandibulosuspensorial
Strictly incrementing run:
ar
ara
Arab
araba
araban
arabana
Arabella
arabesque
arabesquely
arabesquerie
Incrementing by at least 2:
disadorn
disadvance
disadvantage
disadvantageous
disadvantageously
disadvantageousness
Loosely decrementing run:
dyspeptically
dysphagia
dysphagic
dysphasia
dysphasic
dysphemia
dysphonia
dysphonic
dysphoria
dysphoric
dysphotic
Strictly decrementing run:
primordialism
primordially
primordiate
primordium
primosity
primost
primp
Decrementing by at least 2:
acyloxymethane
acyrological
acyrology
acystia
ad
There are plenty of other statistics to run, but these ones were easy to implement,
and had some interesting results. More to come (if I feel like it)!