If you’re interested in design, you’ve almost certainly come across the famous sentence about the quick brown fox and the lazy dog. Or perhaps one about a jived fox nymph and a quick waltz. These are pangrams—sentences that contain all the letters of the alphabet. They might seem strange or nonsensical, but in design and typography, they are incredibly useful.
In this article, we’ll provide a more detailed pangram definition, explain why these phrases are so important, and provide a list of the most popular pangrams in English.
What is a Pangram?
A pangram (from the Greek pan gramma, meaning ’every letter’) is a phrase or sentence that uses every letter of the alphabet at least once, with as few repetitions as possible. This is the simplest definition of a pangram. These phrases are used to display fonts, test printing devices, and even in stenography. The shorter a pangram is, the more difficult it is to create, which makes writing pangrams a true art form.
Why Are Pangrams So Important?
So, what are pangrams used for? Pangrams help show how a font looks and works in actual text. They are widely used in font design and related fields.
Here are some areas where pangrams are used:
- Font Design: To see how all the letters look together at once during the design process and to assess how harmonious they are.
- Font Specimens: Pangrams are often used in font specimens and showcases because they allow designers to display every letter the font contains and how they interact with each other.
- Typography and Design: They help designers evaluate how a font will look in a layout.
- UI/UX Design: They allow for testing the readability, correct display, and other important characteristics of a font when used in interfaces.
- Calligraphy and Lettering: They provide an opportunity to practice writing every single letter of the alphabet.
- And even learning languages: Pangrams can help kids learn the alphabet and practice their spelling.
Types of Pangrams
Pangrams are generally divided into « perfect » and « imperfect » categories. Let’s explore what makes them different and why the second type isn’t so bad (and in some cases, is even better).
Perfect Pangrams
The ideal pangram, or a perfect pangram, is one where every letter of the alphabet is used exactly one time. In some languages, these perfect pangrams are particularly difficult to compose, making them rare and highly valued.
Here is an example of a perfect pangram in English, containing 26 letters, from the Guinness Book of Records:
Veldt jynx grimps waqf zho buck.
Imperfect Pangrams
Imperfect pangrams also use every letter of the alphabet, but some letters are repeated. Most well-known pangrams fall into this category.
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog
Jived fox nymph grabs quick waltz
Interestingly, font designers don’t consider imperfect pangrams to be all that imperfect. The reason is that pangrams where each letter is used only once don’t reflect the true frequency of letters in language, making them less representative of real-world text. Imperfect pangrams, on the other hand, bring us closer to reality.
List of the Best English Pangrams
Here is a comprehensive list of pangrams in English, from the well-known to the more obscure. This list contains many classic and funny pangrams to use in your projects.
- The five boxing wizards jump quickly.
- Quick wafting zephyrs vex bold Jim.
- Five big quacking zephyrs jolt my wax bed.
- Pack my box with five dozen liquor jugs.
- Jackdaws love my sphinx of black quartz.
- Sphinx of black quartz judge my vow!
- Playing jazz vibe chords quickly excites my wife.
- Brick quiz whangs jumpy veldt fox!
- The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.
- Many-wived Jack laughs at probes of sex quiz.
- Jim just quit and packed extra bags for Liz Owen.
- Mix Zapf with Veljovic and get quirky Beziers.
- Brawny gods just flocked up to quiz and vex him.
- Dumpy kibitzer jingles as exchequer overflows.
- Puzzled women bequeath jerks very exotic gifts.
- Five wine experts jokingly quizzed sample chablis.
- Exquisite farm wench gives body jolt to prize stinker.
- Cozy lummox gives smart squid who asks for job pen.
- William Jex quickly caught five dozen Republicans.
- Big July earthquakes confound zany experimental vow.
- Turgid saxophones blew over Mick’s jazzy quiff.
- Sympathizing would fix Quaker objectives.
- A large fawn jumped quickly over white zinc boxes.
- Five or six big jet planes zoomed quickly by the tower.
- My grandfather picks up quartz and valuable onyx jewels.
Conclusion
A pangram can be funny, whimsical, and seemingly silly, but it is an important tool in font design and typography. Save this article so you always have a list of pangrams ready to test your (or someone else’s) font. Why not try creating your own pangram? It’s a great way to exercise your mind and creativity!
