Updated July 24, 2020 | Infoplease Staff 
The Question:
I've always thought that the only sentence that uses all the letters of the alphabet was "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog." Is there another one?
The Answer:
A sentence using all the letters in the alphabet is called a pangram (from the Greek for "every letter"). "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" is the most famous pangram, but there are many others. My favorite may be "the five boxing wizards jump quickly," which is four letters shorter.
A self-descriptive pangram by Lee Sallows goes as follows: "This pangram lists four a's, one b, one c, two d's, twenty-nine e's, eight f's, three g's, five h's, eleven i's, one j, one k, three l's, two m's, twenty-two n's, fifteen o's, one p, one q, seven r's, twenty-six s's, nineteen t's, four u's, five v's, nine w's, two x's, four y's, and one z."
A fun novel that deals with both pangrams and lipograms (writing without one or more specific letters) is Ella Minnow Pea, by Mark Dunn.
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I'm an enthusiast with a deep understanding of linguistics and language-related trivia. My expertise in this domain is well-established, and I can provide detailed insights into various linguistic phenomena. Now, let's delve into the concepts mentioned in the article you provided:
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Pangram:
- A sentence that uses every letter of the alphabet at least once.
- The most famous pangram is "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog."
- Other examples include "the five boxing wizards jump quickly" and a self-descriptive pangram by Lee Sallows.
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Lipogram:
- Writing that deliberately omits one or more specific letters.
- The article mentions a novel, "Ella Minnow Pea" by Mark Dunn, which deals with both pangrams and lipograms.
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Ella Minnow Pea:
- A novel by Mark Dunn that explores the use of pangrams and lipograms.
- The title character, Ella Minnow Pea, is from the fictional island of Nollop, named after the creator of the famous pangram "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog." As the letters of the alphabet fall off a statue of Nollop in the town square, they are banned from use in the novel, leading to linguistic challenges for the characters.
These concepts showcase the richness and diversity of language play, ranging from pangrams that utilize all letters to lipograms that intentionally avoid specific letters. If you have any further questions or if there's another linguistic topic you'd like to explore, feel free to ask!
