While an aphorism aims to express universal truth, the goal of an epigram is brevity, wit, and longevity.
Epigrams often take the form of rhyming couplets, and one written by Coleridge expresses its role well:
What is an Epigram? A dwarfish whole;
Its body brevity, and wit its soul.
Oscar Wilde, however, produced a vast collection of nonrhyming epigrams:
“I can resist everything except temptation.”
“Scandal is gossip made tedious by morality.”
“Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much.”
This week, Puzzler challenges you to an epigram competition.
Send your epigrams to Puzzler by Monday noon, Pacific standard time. You may send as many epigrams as you wish.
Congratulations to the winners of last week’s trivia contest: Jennifer Perrine, Marcia Popp, Maya Malhar, and Misha Hoekstra. View the answers and the Puzzler Scoreboard here.
We invite you to send us your suggestions for Puzzler questions. If your suggestion is chosen, you will be credited as the author of the question.
A question submitted for consideration must be accompanied by the answer as well as by a citation or source material to verify the accuracy of the question and answer.
We welcome Puzzler ideas and questions pertaining to the art, lore, personalities, events, characters, agents, intermediaries, and publishers of literature, past and present. We especially want questions and ideas that cannot be answered by a quick Internet search and that are multifaceted, amusing, and add to our store of knowledge. Please send your suggestions to Puzzler.
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