[1][2][4] In 1971, he started his own research and manuscript writing business, INTELLEX, which employed up to 15 writers at a time to ghost-write and edit short stories, academic books, and TV and movie scripts.

[1][3][5][6] Borgmann first attracted media attention for his skill with words in 1958, when over the course of eight weeks he defeated 22 challengers in a row on WGN-TV's It's In The Name, winning nearly $3,800.

[10] His first book, Language on Vacation: An Olio of Orthographical Oddities, was published by Scribner's in 1965, and received critical acclaim from major magazines and literary journals, including Time and Scientific American.

[14][15][16][17] The publicity generated by Language on Vacation led to Borgmann being contracted by industrial design firm Loewy & Snaith to invent brand names for their clients.

[7][18][19] Language on Vacation also attracted the attention of puzzle author Martin Gardner, who in 1967 recommended Borgmann as the editor for Greenwood Periodicals's new magazine Word Ways: The Journal of Recreational Linguistics.

[18] Borgmann's home life was even more secluded; most external and internal windows were boarded up or covered with heavy drapes, and mirrors were not permitted in the house.

[2] After his death, Eckler and Borgmann's son Keith went through his papers, finding material for a number of articles which were published posthumously in Word Ways.