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Short Sentences
The following are pangrams—single sentences that contain every letter of the English alphabet. I’ve arranged these from longest to shortest, with the number of letters indicated for each sentence. In this vein, I recommend Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn (New York: Anchor Books, 2001), a novel that centers on pangrams (I quote several of the following pangrams from this marvelous book). The best pangrams, it seems to me, are those that don’t use proper names and don’t resort to lists or contractions, but they’re all entertaining, and difficult to write. Wish I’d written these! If you know of other good sentences that belong with these, please let me know! + + + + + + +
72 Wilma Fox’s lazy susan held quince jam, butter, pickles, olives, mustard, and vinegar.
71 Taft caught wooly muskox, pigs, zebras, giraffes, and yaks over equatorial jungles.
69 A New York Times crossword puzzle stumped Jeff, leaving him with six blank squares.
69 Jack saved seed from yew, flax, zucchini, bluebell, and quince to plant his garden.
59 What if Zoey loved her lox, bagels, and pickles just as much as quiet Max?
59 Peggy Fisk selected a quiet waltz by Brahms or Beethoven on the jukebox.
54 Back in my quaint garden, jaunty zinnias vie with flaunting phlox.
53 A flamboyant Jaguar XKE and a chequered Volkswagen zipped away.
52 Jack used a Pentax for his prize-winning photo of queen revelry.
52 Zane Grey faxed five books on justice written with my quill pen.
50 How vexing a fumble—to drop a jolly zucchini in the quicksand.
49 A quick move by the enemy will jeopardize six fine gun boats.
47 Would Fay make high-quality zebras join expensive clubs?
47 Quakes plague boxed canyons with zooming rivers of junk.
47 Crazy Frederick bought many very exquisite opal jewels.
46 John Prady, give me a black walnut box of quite small size.
44 Queen Elizabeth visited Jim Fox, camping in New York.
44 Six big devils from Japan quickly forgot how to waltz.
43 My girl wove six dozen plaid jackets before she quit.
42 A quirky novel with pages of zany, jumbled lexicon.
39 Queen Elizabeth’s proxy waved off Mick Jagger.
37 Vi quickly found a box with zinc grey jumpers.
37 Zelda quickly wove eight nubby flax jumpers.
35 The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.
32 Few quips galvanized the mock jury box.
32 Pack my box with five-dozen liquor jugs.
31 Jackdaws love my big sphinx of quartz.
30 How quickly daft jumping zebras vex!
29 Sphinx of black quartz, judge my vow.
29 Quick zephyrs blow, vexing daft Jim.
28 Waltz, nymph, for quick jigs vex Bud.
26 Mr. Jock, TV quiz PhD, bags few lynx.
26 J. Q. Vandz struck my big fox whelp.
26 Blowzy night-frumps vex’d Jack Q.
26 Cwm fjord bank glyphs vext quiz.
A page from Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn.
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