Pilish
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Pilish is a style of constrained writing in which the lengths of consecutive words or sentences match the digits of the number π (pi). [1][2] The shortest example is any three-letter word, such as "pie", but many longer examples have been constructed, including sentences, poems, and stories.
Examples
[edit]The following sentence is an example which matches the first fifteen digits of π:
How I need a drink, alcoholic of course, after the heavy lectures involving quantum mechanics!
The following Pilish poem (written by Joseph Shipley) matches the first 31 digits of π:
- But a time I spent wandering in bloomy night;
- Yon tower, tinkling chimewise, loftily opportune.
- Out, up, and together came sudden to Sunday rite,
- The one solemnly off to correct plenilune.
A full-length Pilish novel has been published, Not A Wake by Mike Keith[1][3] which currently holds the record of the longest Pilish text with 10,000 digits represented.[4]
Rule sets
[edit]In order to deal with occurrences of the digit zero, the following rule set was introduced (referred to as Basic Pilish):
- In Basic Pilish, each word of n letters represents
- (1) The digit n if n < 10
- (2) The digit 0 if n = 10
Since long runs of small non-zero digits are difficult to deal with naturally (such as 1121 or 1111211), another rule set called Standard Pilish was introduced:
- In Standard Pilish, each word of n letters represents
- (1) The digit n if n < 10
- (2) The digit 0 if n = 10
- (3) Two consecutive digits if n > 10
- (for example, a 12-letter word, such as "sleepwalking," represents the digits 1,2)[citation needed]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b "How the number pi inspired a writing style". www.bbc.com. Retrieved 2024-07-20.
- ^ Arbesman, Samuel. "Writing Pi Text by Accident". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved 2024-07-20.
- ^ Keith, Michael (2010). Not A Wake. Vinculum Press. ISBN 978-0-9630097-1-5.
- ^ "Longest literary work in Pilish". Guinness World Records. 2024-07-19
2. Walkowicz, Nathan (2021) Stile: “An Infinite Mystery” Kindle Direct Publishing. ISBN 979-8485105631