Gramogram

A gramogram or grammagram or letteral word is a letter or group of letters which can be pronounced to form one or more words, as in "CU" for "See you".[1][2][3] They are a subset of rebuses,[4] and are commonly used as abbreviations.

They are commonly used as a component of cryptic crossword clues.[1]

A poem reportedly appeared in the Woman's Home Companion of July 1903 using many gramograms: it was preceded by the line "ICQ out so that I can CU have fun translating the sound FX of this poem".[2]

A restaurant scene where a customer initially asks "FUNEX" ("Have you any eggs") appears in a 1949 book Hail fellow well met by Seymour Hicks[5] and was performed in The Two Ronnies under the title Swedish made simple.[6]

The book How to Double the Meaning of Life devotes three pages to gramograms, to which the author, Anil, gives the name letteral words.[4]

As of December 2016 neither spelling of the word appears in the online Oxford English Dictionary.

Some are homophones because some can be used for multiple words.

Examples for words

1: won
2: to, too
22: tutu
3¹: tree
4: for, fore
4M: forum
4T: forty
6T: sixty
7T: seventy
8: ate
8T: eighty
9T: ninety
&: and, end (forced)
AT: eighty
B: be, bee
B4: before
B8: bait, bate
BD: beady
BUT: beauty
B&: band, banned
C: see, sea
CD: seedy
CL: seal
CT: city (forced)
C&: canned
D: the, thee (forced)
D4M: deform (forced)
D8: date
DK: decay
DL: deal
DV&: deviant (forced)
DVS: devious
D&D/D&E: dandy
D@: that (forced), dat
EU: eww (in context)
EZ: easy
F: have (forced, in context)
F8: fate
FND: effendi
FNS: finesse
FRE1: everyone (forced)
FRE: every (forced)
FX: effects, affects
F&: fanned
F@: fat
F@N: fatten
FMN8: effeminate (forced)
GR8: great
H8: hate
H&: hand
H@: hat
I: I, eye, aye
IC: icy, I see
II: aye-aye
IV: ivy
JL: jail
JQZ²: jacuzzi
K9: canine
KL: kale
KMN: Caiman, Cayman
KND: candy (forced)
K&D/K&E: candy
K@: cat
L: well (forced)
L8: late
LI: ally
LO¹: hello
LRG: allergy
L&: land
M: am
MN: Oman (forced)
MT: empty
M8: mate
M8E/M8T: matey
M&: manned
N: and, an
N4M: inform (forced)
NDR¹: India (forced)
NDN: Indian (forced)
NDNR: Indiana (forced)
NE: any
NE1: anyone
NGL: angel (forced)
NMA: anime (forced)
NME: enemy
NML: animal
NMNE: anemone
NRG: energy
NRK: anarchy
NTD/NTT: entity
NV: envy
NVS: envious
O: oh, owe
OBDNC: obediency
ODS: odious
OPM: opium
OR: or, oar (forced)
P: pea, pee
PL: peel
PT: pity
P&: panned
Q8: Kuwait
Q8E/QAT: Qu'aiti
Q: cue, queue
QT: cutie
R: are, ar, arr
R8: rate
RA: array
RKDN: arcadian
RST: arrestee
RT: arty
S: is (forced, in context)
SA: essay
SKP: escapee
T: tea, tee
TDS: tedious
T&: tanned
U: you, ewe, yew
W8: wait, weight
X: eggs, ex
XL: excel
XLNC: excellency
XLR8: accelerate
XPDNC: expediency
XS: excess, exes, Axis (forced)
Y: why
YT: whitey
Z²T: ziti

¹: depends on dialect ²: "Zee"

Examples of names

1: Juan (forced)
2B: Tubi
AV: Avie
BT: Beatty
CC: Cece
DDD¹: Dedede
DN: Dean
FLO: Othello (forced)
GG: Gigi
IN: Ayn
IN R&: Ayn Rand
IV: Ivy
J: Jay
JC: Jaycee
KC: Casey, Kacie
KLC: Kelsie, Kelsey (forced)
KT: Katie, Katy
K@: Kat
LC: Elsie
LE: Ellie, Elly
LN: Ellen
LS: Ellis
LX: Alex (forced)
LXNDR/LX&DR: Alexander (forced)
M@: Matt
ME: Emmy
MLE: Emily
MNM: M & M, Eminem
N: Anne (forced)
N8: Nate
N8O: NATO
N@LE: Natalie
NMNEX: Animaniacs (forced)
ND/&D/&E: Andy
NE: Annie
OD: Odie
R4: Arthur (forced)
RB: Arby
RE: Ari
RT: Artie
RND/R&D/R&E: Randy
ST: Esti (short for Esther)
T8: Tate
T8M: Tatem
Z²: Zed, Zedd

¹: North America ²: Zed

Examples of prefixes

B: be-
D: de-
X: ex-
&I: anti- (forced)

Examples of suffixes

L: -elle¹
N: -in’ ², -ing (forced)
R: -er (forced)
T: -ty

¹: Only used for names ²: Depends on your accent

Examples of sentences

CQ: Seek you
FU: A few (forced)
FUNEX: Have you any eggs?
ICQ: I seek you
ICRUOK: I see, are you okay?
ICU: I see you!
IMOK: I am okay
IOU: I owe you
IXL: I excel
NUR: And you are?
NUROK: And you are okay?
OL: Oh well.
RUCRES: Are you serious (forced)
SNE1OK: Is anyone okay?
SOCKS: ¡Eso sí que es! ("That's it!" in Spanish; sometimes erroneously translated as "It is what it is")[7]
YRUBNAQT: Why are you being a cutie?
1NONE: One and only (forced)

Examples in arts and culture

The Marcel Duchamp "readymade" L.H.O.O.Q. is an example of a gramogram. Those letters, pronounced in French, sound like "Elle a chaud au cul", an idiom which roughly translates to "there is fire down below".

The William Steig books CDB! and CDC? written mostly in gramograms.

The suicide prevention charity R U OK?'s name is a gramogram, with supporters encouraged to text "R U OK?" to friends and family to see how that person's mental health is going.

References

"Cryptic crossword reference lists > Gramograms". Highlight Press. Retrieved 31 December 2016.
"Grammagrams". Audrey Deal. Retrieved 31 December 2016.
"Grammagrams". Wordnik. Retrieved 31 December 2016.
Anil (2011). "Letteral Words". How to Double the Meaning of Life. Xlibris. pp. 237–239. ISBN 9781462871209. Retrieved 31 December 2016.
Hicks, Sir Seymour (1949). Hail Fellow Well Met. Staples Press. p. 183. Retrieved 31 December 2016.
Brennan, Ailis. "Ronnie Corbett dies: Here are his funniest seven sketches". GQ. Retrieved 31 December 2016.
"Correct socks". BBC Languages. BBC. Retrieved 19 August 2020.

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[high-1] "Cryptic crossword reference lists > Gramograms". Highlight Press. Retrieved 31 December 2016.

[deal-2] "Grammagrams". Audrey Deal. Retrieved 31 December 2016.

[3] "Grammagrams". Wordnik. Retrieved 31 December 2016.

[anil-4] Anil (2011). "Letteral Words". How to Double the Meaning of Life. Xlibris. pp. 237–239. ISBN 9781462871209. Retrieved 31 December 2016.

[hicks-5] Hicks, Sir Seymour (1949). Hail Fellow Well Met. Staples Press. p. 183. Retrieved 31 December 2016.

[6] Brennan, Ailis. "Ronnie Corbett dies: Here are his funniest seven sketches". GQ. Retrieved 31 December 2016.

[7] "Correct socks". BBC Languages. BBC. Retrieved 19 August 2020.