This copy was truncated by the archive that captured it, so the thread may be incomplete.
It's called a pangram.
Hate to burst your bubble, but "liquor jugs" is one of the more commonly used pangrams. Not as common as "quick brown fox", but a distant second.
I've updated the wiki with working links, but yeah, couldn't find the grand thread which was once here:
http://www.typophile.com/forums/messages/73/697.html
Christian!
William - Our avatar colors are so close I imagine we might sometimes be mistaken for each other, especially when we post in succession. I certainly don't mind being mistaken for you, but if you want I'll switch my color. I'm due for a change.
Um, stumbled onto a txt file on my HD full of pangrams, I think I must have found it on Typophile?
Quartz glyph job vexed cwm finks.
Brick quiz whangs jumpy veldt fox.
Nymphs vex, beg quick fjord waltz.
Quick wafting zephyrs vex bold Jim.
Blowzy frights vex, and jump quick.
Foxy nymphs grab quick-lived waltz.
Sphinx of black quartz judge my vow.
Quick zephyrs blow, vexing daft Jim.
How quickly daft jumping zebras vex.
Waltz, nymph, for quick jigs vex Bud!
The five boxing wizards jump quickly.
Judges vomit; few quiz pharynx block.
Jackdaws love my big sphinx of quartz.
Quick waxy bugs jump the frozen veldt.
Mr. Jock, TV quiz Ph.D., bags few lynx.
Pack my box with five dozen liquor jugs.
Cozy sphinx waves quart jug of bad milk.
Thief, give back my prized wax jonquils!
Blowzy red vixens fight for a quick jump.
Sympathizing would fix Quaker objectives.
Five big quacking zephyrs jolt my wax bed.
Big quilted Nike jump shoes vex crazy few. (0)
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.
Jail zesty vixen who grabbed pay from quack!
Many-wived Jack laughs at probes of sex quiz.
Mix Zapf with Veljovic and get quirky Beziers. (1)
Dumpy kibitzer jingles as exchequer overflows.
Puzzled women bequeath jerks very exotic gifts.
Turgid saxophones blew over Mick's jazzy quiff.
Brawny gods just flocked up to quiz and vex him.
Adjusting quiver and bow, Zompyc killed the fox.
The wizard jumped quickly over five green boxes.
Zany eskimo craves fixed job with quilting party.
Viewing quizzical abstracts mixed up hefty jocks.
Playing jazz vibe chords quickly excites my wife.
Jim just quit and packed extra bags for Liz Owen.
Five wine experts jokingly quizzed sample chablis.
William Jex quickly caught five dozen Republicans.
Pack my box with five dozen jugs of liquid veneer.
Martin J. Hixeypozer quickly began his first word.
Many big jackdaws quickly zipped over the fox pen.
A large fawn jumped quickly over white zinc boxes.
Meghan deftly picks valuable jewels--onyx, quartz.
Big July earthquakes confound zany experimental vow.
Zany Jacques' French pub mixed watery vodka gimlets.
Exquisite farm wench gives body jolt to prize stinker.
Six big devils from Japan quickly forgot how to waltz.
The vixen jumped quickly on her foe barking with zeal.
Back home after jiving, she expired with quizzicality.
Mad Brother Jarvis was quickly axed for crazy praying.
Jack quietly gave dog owners most of his prize boxers.
The fox, jaw bleeding, moved quickly, dazing his prey.
Five or six big jet planes zoomed quickly by the tower.
His graceful bisque vase whizzed past my taxi--no joke!
Crazy Fredericka bought many very exquisite opal jewels.
My grandfather picks up quartz and valuable onyx jewels.
Quixotic Republicans vet first key zero-growth jeremiad.
Jack typed requistions for long size white moving boxes.
Six crazy kings vowed to abolish my quite pitiful jousts.
How razorback-jumping frogs can level six piqued gymnasts!
Sixty zippers were quickly picked from the woven jute bag.
The job of waxing linoleum frequently peeves chintzy kids.
Jack amazed a few girls by dropping the antique onyx vase!
The very bent, jacknifed forms were quizically perplexing.
We have just quoted on nine dozen boxes of gray lamp wicks.
May Jo equal the fine record by solving six puzzles a week?
West quickly gave Bert handsome prizes for six juicy plums.
Fred specialized in the job of making very quaint wax toys.
Just keep examining every low bid quoted for zinc etchings.
Freight to me sixty dozen quart jars and twelve black pans.
Verily the dark ex-Jew quit Zionism, preferring the cabala.
Jay visited back home and gazed upon a brown fox and quail.
A quick movement of the enemy will jeopardize six gunboats.
Jeb quickly drove a few extra miles on the glazed pavement.
All questions asked by five watch experts amazed the judge.
Grumpy wizards make toxic brew for the evil Queen and Jack.
The exodus of jazzy pigeons is craved by squeamish walkers.
Brown jars prevented the mixture from freezing too quickly.
Jack Farmer realized that big yellow quilts were expensive.
Jack's man found exactly a quarter in the woven zipper bag.
Jacqueline was vexed by the folks who got the money prizes.
James Boxell, the banquet speaker, analyzed a few carvings.
Jeb quickly drove a few extra miles on the glazed pavement.
My folks proved his expert eloquence was just a big hazard.
Jeff had his size to help him win quickly over Gene Baxter.
The vexing party became dazzling with fishy aquarium jokes.
We could jeopardize six of the gunboats by two quick moves.
Weekly magazines request help for and by junior executives.
Why did Max become eloquent over a zany gift like jodhpurs?
David, Jewish ex-monarch, kept big vineyard, quizzical wife.
Maizie quickly paid Jones for the five new taxis she bought.
The lazy judge was very quick to pay tax money for the barn.
The quick jumpy fox is tired and vicious brown dog was lazy.
We promptly judged antique ivory buckles for the next prize.
Back in June we delivered oxygen equipment of the same size.
Lazy movers quit hard-packing of papier-mache jewelry boxes.
The Basque M.P. loved his wife's onyx jar and zinc-lined keg.
I have quickly spotted the four women dozing in the jury box.
Judge power quickly gave the six embezzelers stiff sentences.
May brought back five or six dozen pieces of queer jewellery.
The Basque M.P. loved his wife's onyx jar and zinc-lined keg.
How vexing a fumble to drop a jolly zucchini in the quicksand!
While waxing parquet decks, Suez sailors vomit jaunitly abaft.
Now is the time for all brown dogs to jump over the lazy lynx.
Sweet marjoram grew in profusion around the quaint Aztec city.
I endeavoured to puzzle the ex-spy by quickly jumping backwards.
Astronaut Quincy B. Zack defies gravity with six jet fuel pumps.
My help squeezed back in again and joined the weavers after six.
New farm hand (picking just six quinces) proves strong but lazy.
Alfredo just must bring very exciting news to the plaza quickly.
Six of the frivolous women quietly gave back prizes to the judge.
Who will favor extemporizations being resolved quickly by jingle?
Back in my quaint garden jaunty zinnias vie with flaunting phlox.
Jaded zombies acted quaintly but kept driving their oxen forward.
Hark! Toxic jungle water vipers quietly drop on zebras for meals!
The king's amazing poised, query advanced with big javelins fixed.
Dance experts would be amazed by his feverish jerking and quaking.
He jokingly removed porcupine quills from a zebra's back with wax.
The judo expert grappled quickly, but with zeal, felling seven men.
Anxious Paul waved back to his Pa from the zinc quarry just sighted.
Joe was pleased with our gift of quail, mink, zebra and clever oryx.
Wolfing kumquats, jovial Charon poled his boat lazily along the Styx.
Using axes, lumberjacks very quickly felled the wizard's pine forest.
If I gave you cloth with quartz beads, onyx, jade, amethyst; keep it.
Six big juicy steaks sizzled in a pan as five workmen left the quarry.
Will Major Douglas be expected to take this true-false quiz very soon?
The juke box music puzzled a gentle visitor from a quaint valley town.
Just work for improved basic techniques to maximize your typing skill.
A mad boxer shot a quick, gloved jab to the jaw of his dizzy opponent.
Verbatim reports were quickly given by Jim Fox to his amazed audience.
When we go back to Juarez, Mexico, do we fly over picturesque Arizona?
Four or five puzzle-box locks can be opened quickly with just magnets.
Make a vow to learn the technique of playing saxophone in a jazz band.
The jovial yokel found six zealots praying and backed qualmishly away.
The queen was perplexed by the lazy calm of the king's jovial advisor.
Xenophobes know unequivocally that magnetization jeopardizes folklore.
Questions of a zealous nature have become by degrees petty waxen jokes.
About sixty codfish eggs will make a quarter pound of very fizzy jelly.
Murky haze enveloped a city as jarring quakes broke fourty-six windows.
The brazen jackal querulously attacked a ferral vixen, maiming her paw.
Karate experts bring down victims with just a few amazingly quick chops.
The fabled quetzal roosted on a mulberry twig, vexing the peevish jockey.
King Alexander was just partly overcome after quizzing Diogenes in his tub.
The exiled queen justly moved, celebrated with a dazzling fireworks display.
The July sun caused a fragment of black pine wax to ooze on the velvet quilt.
Venerable Will played jazz sax 'till 3 o'clock in the morning before he quit.
The knowledgeable superintendent amazed us by quickly fixing five pipe joints.
Two hardy boxing kangaroos jet from Sydney to Zanzibar on quicksilver pinions.
Perhaps President Clinton's amazing sax skills will be judged quite favorably.
Was there a quorum of able whizzkids gravely exciting the jaded fish at ATypI? (2)
Despite being haunted by the wizard's jinx, the quartet performed very slickly.
Troubled by the voodoo hex, the jazzmen packed their gears and went off quickly.
My exquisite painting was ruined by the flavorous, sticky juice known as benzoin.
Someone just asking was quite pleased with our gifts of a zebra and a clever oryx.
Ebenezer unexpectedly bagged two tranquil aardvarks with his jiffy vacuum cleaner!
Fabled reader with jaded, roving eye seized by quickened impulse to expand budget.
As we explored the Gulf of Zanzibar, we quickly moved closer to the jutting rocks.
Calligraphic wizardry expounds a quiet, but rythmic flow eschewing jerky movements.
For civilization, Marx thought justice must be replaced quickly by ways of freedom.
Travelling beneath the azure sky in our jolly ox-cart, we often hit bumps quite hard.
For only $49, jolly housewives made "inexpensive" meals using quick-frozen vegetables.
Five jolly men, using penknives, would cut sixty quills needed by the zany calligraphers.
Our sixth earthquake just spilled five city buildings, leaving hazard in its stormy wake.
The sex life of the woodchuck is a provocative question for most vertebrate zoology majors.
Breezily jangling $3,416,857,209 wise advertiser ambles to the bank, his exchequer amplified.
Jimmy and Zack, the police explained, were last seen diving into a field of buttered quahogs.
Calligraphy requires just a few very basic needs: pen, ink, dexeterity and most of all, zeal.
Curious and wily journalists braved the fury of the six brazen knaves picketing the mad queen.
Justly vexed, the queen exiled the calligrapher who spattered black sumi ink on her fuzzy dog.
Typography is known for two-dimensional architecture and requires extra zeal within every job. (3)
Their very kind aunt was subject to frequent dizzy spells, thus causing much anxiety and worry.
The daredevils quivered, knowing that Rob would commit the faux pas of dozing when they jumped.
William said that everything about his jacket was in quite good condition except for the zipper.
The junior office clerks were quite amazed at the extra reward given by their generous employer.
He wrote deftly and quickly, just amazing us with his expertise and his unabashed love of letters.
The jittery killer immobilized his victim with a wax-filled hypodermic syringe, then drove off quickly.
Six calligraphers, justly amazed, watched children busily cutting quills with their favourite penknives.
The vegetarian menu included gazpacho, piquant julienne beets, rusk rounds with yogurt and excellent flan.
A foxy, quick, clever cat in Switzerland was hit by a fancy sports job with bumpy seats and a grumpy driver.
Jelly-like above the high wire, six quaking pachyderms kept the climax of the extravaganza in a dazzling state of flux.
No kidding, Lorenzo called off his trip to visit Mexico City just because they told him the conquistadores were extinct.
Forsaking monastic tradition, twelve jovial friars gave up their vocation for a questionable existence on the flying trapeze.
An inspired calligrapher can create pages of beauty using stick ink, quill, brush, pick-axe, buzz saw, or even strawberry jam.
Non-English:
Portez ce vieux whisky au juge blond qui fume.
(French: Take this old whiskey to the blond judge who smokes.)
Moi, je veux quinze clubs a golf et du whisky pur.
(French: Me, I want five golf clubs and some straight whiskey.)
Zweedse ex-VIP, behoorlijk gek op quantumfysica.
(Dutch: Swedish ex-VIP, pretty crazy about quantum physics.)
Sexy qua lijf, doch bang voor het zwempak.
(Dutch, includes ij ligature: A sexy body, but afraid of swimsuits.)
Zwei boxka:mpfer jagen Eva quer durch Sylt.
(German: Two boxers hunt Eva every which way through Sylt.)
Mylord Schwejk quizt Express ab Ravigsfen.
(German: ??; Express uses szed)
Typographie ist zweidimensionale Architektur und bedingt extra Qualita:t in jeder vollkommenen Ausfu:hrung. (3)
(German: Typography is known for two-dimensional architecture and requires extra zeal within every job.)
Latin
Ferunt Ophyr convexa kumba per liquida gaza. {7th C}
(They bear from Ophyr in hollow boats, treasures over clear water.)
Grex Zephyri flabat quodam kanna sonabant. {9th C}
(The flock, of Zepher (westwind) blew once when the white waves sounded.)
Quam pulchre ymnizat fondens vox Belgika cantum. {9 & 10th C}
(How beautiful does Belgium voices makes hymns, pouring forth song.)
Grando quatit zelum pax kirri fabricet hymnos. {12th C}
(Let the peace of the Lord compose hymns.)
Te kanit adcelebratque polus, rex gazier, hymnis. {12/14th C}
(The heavens sing and celebrate thee, Oh treasure-bearing king with hymns.)
GAZA FREQUENS LIBYCUM DUXIT KARTHAGO TRIUMPHUM {modern}
0 Peter Bielecki (check sp)
1 Jonathon Hoefler
2 Peter Zelchenko
3 Hermann Zapf
Eric Spiekermann had a good explaination of Zwei Boxkämpfer jagen Eva quer durch Sylt here.
Who Spiekermann?
DanGayle you're a funny guy with obviously too much free time.
I love the pangram and it is crazy genius. It's also very easy for me to remember. We were just in the Virgin Islands where liquor cost about a fourth of what it cost here. So we did pack our bags with five dozen liquor jugs. They actually even have special boxes for the tourists to load 'em up.
"I’m looking for, but not finding a pangram. supposedly written by Lawrence (of Arabia) as a message during wartime..."
I did a google and found a book reference to Robin Oxman. It said this message was sent by D.H. Lawrence during WWI about a "screw up soldier who had fallen in a river." "Warm plucky GHQ jinx, fez to B.V.D's."
D. H. Lawrence – writer of Lady Chatterley’s Lover, among others
T. E. Lawrence – writer of Seven Pillars of Wisdom, translator of Homer’s Odyssey, rider of Boanerges and ‘of Arabia’
http://telawrence.net/telawrencenet/search.htm
Reveals no pangram though, would he have known BVDs?
Tim
I was going to post a link to where I found that on Google Books. But the link is way too long to place here. You are correct — the reference to D.H. Lawrence seems to be an error. The statement, and reference to D.H. Lawrence as "Lawrence of Arabia," is on page 66 of Robin Oxman's One Liners: Random Thoughts, Observations and Facts Abouth the Human Condition.
Where did I get "New job: fix Mr Gluck's hazy TV, PDQ" from? A David Crystal book, I suspect. Although it uses abbreviations, for a 26-letters-only pangram (ie all used only once) it makes a decent amount of sense...
__________________________________________________________
Ever since I chose to block pop-ups, my toaster's stopped working.
Here's another version of the T.E. Lawrence story and the pangram.
PS Apparently BVDs were around in WW I.
the Q-j pair creates some issues and no lowercase 'g' makes it less useful for type testing, but it's fun.
Hopefully this makes up for a lack of brevity by its typographic skew. I wrote it for my specimens in Indie Fonts 3:
The formal qualities of a typeface energize, facilitate and inform the typographic layout. Skilled typographers will leverage the attributes of judiciously chosen fonts to maximize the personality of the page, thereby standing out from the crowd.
All 26 are covered up to the "x" in maximize, but I needed a few more letters for condensed and italics, and being an ad man from way back, had to close with a benefit (if not a call to action).
My friend Mr. Google identified some more pangrams here, including this impressive 27 letter one, with no proper names or abbreviations:
Brick quiz whangs jumpy veldt fox.
He also turned up what is probably the source of the supposed T.E. Lawrence pangram, or at least the definitive word on it: An article by Bob Franks in the Dec. 1992 issue of T.E. Notes--A T.E. Lawrence Newsletter.
Here are some called 'exceptional' at the 'Brainy Planet' link:
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. (9 words, 35 letters)
Sympathizing would fix Quaker objectives. (5 words, 36 letters)
Quick fawns jumped over the big lazy ox. (8 words, 32 letters, Parade 6/30/02)
Pack my box with five dozen liquor jugs. (8 words, 32 letters)
Jackdaws love my big sphinx of quartz. (7 words, 31 letters, Marvin Moore)
Quick waxy bugs jump the frozen veldt. (7 words, 31 letters)
The five boxing wizards jump quickly. (6 words, 31 letters)
Victors flank gyp who mixed job quiz. (7 words, 30 letters)
Judges vomit; few quiz pharynx block. (6 words, 30 letters)
How quickly daft jumping zebras vex. (6 words, 30 letters)
Foxy nymphs grab quick-lived waltz. (5 words, 29 letters)
Dub waltz, nymph, for quick jigs vex. (7 words, 28 letters, Stephen Smith)
Blowzy frights vex, and jump quick. (6 words, 28 letters, magazine contest 1964)
Why jab, vex quartz-damping flocks? (5 words, 28 letters, David J. Porter)
Bawds jog, flick quartz, vex nymph. (6 words, 27 letters, Sir Jeremy Morse)
Brick quiz whangs jumpy veldt fox. (6 words, 27 letters)
Nth balks gyp, vex cwm fjord quiz. (7 words, 26 letters, Verbatim II-4)
Quartz glyph job vex'd cwm finks. (6 words?, 26 letters)
Cwm, fjord-bank glyphs vext quiz. (6 words, 26 letters, Dmitri Borgmann)
Jumbling vext frowzy hacks PDQ. (5 words, 26 letters, Chris Cole)
It has come to my attention that the source for my r-rated pangram is Keith Schneider, a contest winner at P22. I didn't remember where I had picked that up, but credit where credit is due.
Someone wrote me saying Evil Sex Whores are not R-rated. I'll leave that to your own judgement.
"Come on kids, were going to see a matinee of "Evil Sex Whores Run Amok".
Just in time for the new school year, I've come up with a new personalized pangram.
Professor Craig Eliason quizzes a bawdy mix of jokers and thieves.
(Mark's helper is great fun!)
Thanks to Mark's invaluable helper, I devised personalized pangrams for my wife and me:
Queer jowly AKMA dupes zaftig beach vixen.
and
Margaret quickly zips jinxed whiff above.
The caps of "AKMA" make it less useful for examining type, but it's nonetheless fun to have showings with your name built in.
Captured from commoncrawl.org on 21 Apr 2015. original URL
