ANAGRAMS
THEORY
Objectives of the Session:
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ANAGRAMS OR JUMBLED WORDS: An anagram is a word, which is formed by using the alphabets given in no particular order to form a new meaningful word. It is a word or a phrase formed by reordering the letters of another word or phrase.
For example:
REAPS is a word that can be rearranged to form new words- SPARE, PEARS and many more such words. Rearrangement can be done with phrases also.
For example:
William Shakespeare I'll make a wise phrase
Mother-in-law Woman Hitler
Actor Sylvester Stallone Very cool talent less star
The history of anagrams can be traced back to the Greek poet Lycophron who used them in the 4 BC to flatter the rich and the famous. Scientists like Galileo, Huygens and Robert Hooke also used to put down their findings in anagram form to ensure that nobody else could stake a claim on their discoveries. The recent best seller The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown is a thriller in which a dying curator uses anagrams among other codes to reveal the mystery of the Holy Grail. Anagrams are used in entrance tests primarily to test reasoning skills. If the synonym or antonym of word is asked then anagrams also test vocabulary.
Following are a few solved examples given:
Rearrange the given words to form a meaningful word:
1. ORUGP 2. ELOVS 3. TNALME 4. NROCW
5. EFXDI 6. EKTAS 7. OMOLG 8. SLLKI
ANSWERS
I. GROUP 2. SOLVE 3. LAMENT 4. CROWN
5. FIXED 6. STAKE 7. GLOOM 8. SKILL
Let us now look at some other type of anagrams:
1. What word is formed by using the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th and 6th alphabet of the word GARDEN? A: RANGE
2. The word formed by using the 5th, 6th, 7th, 9th, 10th, 11th and 15th alphabets of the word
DISSATISFACTION means all of the following words except:
a) over-enthusiastic b) passionate c) fervent d) discerning
The correct answer would be [d] discerning because it means judicious whereas all other words are synonym to the word formed, i.e., fanatic.
THE CLEAR EXAM EDGE
1. Write the given word in circular form and look for formation of meaningful words. For example, the word ‘PLATES':
P
L S
A E
T
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Now look for words that will go together, such as 'ES' or 'AT' or 'ST'. Try to form words which begin or end in such letters. Here, 'ST' helps you to form one of the words, STAPLE.
2. In case of anagrams to be formed from particular letters of a given word, write down the letters specified in the question. Then write them in circular form and mix and match to come up with various options.
