Tag Archive for Pig Latin

Fan Mail Wednesday: #24 (Friday Edition)

Buckle up, folks. It’s time for Fan Mail Wednesday: The Friday Edition! That’s right, we’re double-dipping this week.

Hi Mr.Preller,

I like the Jigsaw Jones books you write because they are mysteries. I also like the codes and pig latin that you write in your books.

From,
Dave

I pondered this for some time, then replied:

Dear David,

Thanks so much for your nice message. I try to put in a new code every book. As a kid, I loved that stuff — and I guess I still do.

My fourth-grade son, Gavin, has recently discovered Pig Latin. He keeps announcing what everyone’s name would be in Pig Latin. Gavin is especially tickled by the new name of his friend, Matt Sweeney.

Be well — and again — anksthay orfay ritingway!

JP

P.S. Pig Latin has little to do with pigs and even less with Latin. Though there are variations in how Pig Latin is practiced on standard English, most folks agree: For every word that begins with a consonant or consonant blend, you shift those consonants to the end of the word, followed by “ay.” When writing Pig Latin, some folks like to add a hyphen, such as ig-pay atin-lay. That’s up to you. But it’s not really a problem. Pig Latin is mostly a spoken language, rarely written.

Wikipedia offers these examples (and much more):

beast → east-bay
dough → ough-day
happy → appy-hay
question → estion-quay
star → ar-stay
three → ee-thray

P.P.S. You might also enjoy this Pig Latin Translator. In which case, your original email would read:

I-way ike-lay e-thay Igsaw-jay Ones-jay ooks-bay ou-yay
ite-wray ecause-bay ey-thay are-way ysteries-may. I-way also-way
ike-lay e-thay odes-cay and-way ig-pay atin-lay at-thay ou-yay
ite-wray in-way our-yay ooks-bay.

Oink, oink.