Palindromes in English

What in the World is a Palindrome?

A palindrome, according to Merriam-Webster, is a word, phrase, verse, or number that reads the same forwards as it is backwards. The origin of the word comes from the Greek palindromos which means running back again’. It stems from the Greek Palin, meaning back/again, and the Greek dramein, meaning to run. This is not to be confused with Emordnilap, which is a word that spells a different word backwards than it does forwards.

Do you know that…

Crayfish are the pieces similar to palindromes. These are poems where each line (line) can be read backwards. Most often, the meaning of a verse read from left to right is completely different than that obtained when reading backwards. Two well-known authors in Polish Literature are considered masters of Polish crayfish: Jan Kochanowski and Andrzej Morsztyn.

Since when do people write palindromes?

The first creator of palindromes was Sotades of Maronea, who lived in the third century BC. The square contained the phrase “Sator Arepo Tenet Opera Rotas”, which translated to “The sower Arepo holds with effort the wheels”.

 The ancients treated the palindrome as one of the symbols of the possibility of recreating the perfect harmony of the world. It was as mysterious as, for example, a magic square. Until today, it is not only language and mathematics experts, but also mystics and philosophers, who work on such ideally consistent constructions.

In the modern era, there are much longer palindromes in existence. One of the more notable ones was created by Peter Norvig. In February 2002, Norvig created a program that generated a palindrome of over 15,000 words using over 63,000 letters. When he updated the program in 2007, the program created a palindrome of over 17,000 words and over 74,000 letters. With Norvig’s most recent update in June of 2016, the program created a palindrome that was exactly 21,012 words long with over 90,000 letters. This palindromic number of words on the palindromic date of June 10, 2016, was really a cherry on top of this computer-generated palindrome.

Palindrome – don’t confuse it with semordnilaps

In many examples on the Internet, palindromes are confused with semordnilaps. Meanwhile, the difference between the two concepts is huge. For the semordnilaps are words read backward and most often do not sound the same when read from right to left as from left to right. However, they acquire a new meaning. Examples are:

Palindrome Examples :

Silly Palindromes

These palindromes are all very unique and are something to dwell on.

• tattarrattat – the longest single-word palindrome. The word was created by writer James Joyce and was used in his book Ulysses as onomatopoeia or sound for a door knock.
• aibohphobia
• Cigar? Toss it in a can. It is so tragic
• ailihphilia
• Oozy rat in a sanitary zoo
• Oh, who was it I saw? Oh, who?
• Ah. Satan sees Natasha.
• elihphile
• Murder for a jar of red rum
• Sit on a potato pan, Otis
• A list of naughty people – Dennis, Nell, Edna, Leon, Nedra, Anita, Rolf, Nora, Alice, Carol, Leo, Jane, Reed, Dena, Dale, Basil, Rae, Penny, Lana, Dave, Denny, Lena, Ida, Bernadette, Ben, Ray, Lila, Nina, Jo, Ira, Mara, Sara, Mario, Jan, Ina, Lily, Arne, Bette, Dan, Reba, Diane, Lynn, Ed, Eva, Dana, Lynne, Pearl, Isabel, Ada, Ned, Dee, Rena, Joel, Lora, Cecil, Aaron, Flora, Tina, Arden, Noel, and Ellen sinned.
• Did Hannah see bees? Hannah did.

Multiple Word Palindrome Phrases

Palindromes are not limited to one-word terms. There are a few multi-word phrases that actually spell the same thing forward and backward.

• taco cat
• my gym
• don’t nod
• Go deliver a dare vile dog
• red rum, sir, is murder
• top spot
• Was it a rat I saw?
• no lemon, no melon
• never odd or even
• Sit on a potato pan, Otis.
• “Do nine men interpret?” “Nine men,” I nod
• Madam, I’m Adam.
• Able was I, ere I saw Elba.

Palindrome Sentence Examples

Believe it or not, there are even some complete sentences (and even a few questions!) that are palindromes. Most, but not all, examples of sentence palindromes are quite brief.

• Don’t nod.
• I did, did I?
• Step on no pets.
• Eva, can I see bees in a cave?
• Was it a cat I saw?
• I, man, am regal; a German am I.
• Tracy, no panic in a pony-cart
• Mad Adam
• Eve damned Eden, mad Eve.
• Nurse save rare vases run
• Evil is a name of a foreman, as I live
• No waste, grab a bar, get saw on
• Stella won no wallets
• Dog, as a devil deified, lived as a god.
• Gate-man sees name, garbage man sees name-tag.
• Nella won’t set a test now, Allen
• Live not on evil
• Borrow or rob
• Step on no pets
• A nut for a jar of tuna
• Barge in! Relate mere war of 1991 for a were-metal Ernie grab!
• Yo, banana boy!
• Won’t I panic in a pit now?
• Was it a car or a cat I saw?
• A Santa Lived as a Devil At NASA
• Was it Eliot’s toilet I saw?
• Able was I ere I saw Elba.
• Never odd or even
• Was it a cat I saw?
• Do geese see God?
• A man, a plan, a canal, Panama
• Go hang a salami, I’m a lasagna hog.
• Murder for a jar of red rum
• Rats live on no evil star.
• Rise to vote, sir.
• Madam, I’m Adam.
• Neil, an alien?
• Dennis sinned.
• Race car

Number Palindromes

American comedian and writer, Demetri Martin, recently composed the following amazing palindrome poem:

…”Dammit I’m mad.

Evil is a deed as I live.

God, am I reviled? I rise, my bed on a sun, I melt.

To be not one-man emanating is sad. I piss.

Alas, it is so late. Who stops to help?

Man, it is hot. I’m in it. I tell.

I am not a devil. I level “Mad Dog”.

Ah, say burning is, as a deified gulp,

In my halo of a mired rum tin.

I erase many men. Oh, to be man, a sin.

Is evil in a clam? In a trap?

No. It is open. On it I was stuck.

Rats peed on hope. Elsewhere dips a web.

Be still if I fill its ebb.

Ew, a spider… eh?

We sleep. Oh no!

Deep, stark cuts saw it in one position.

Part animal, can I live? Sin is a name.

Both, one… my names are in it.

Murder? I’m a fool.

A hymn I plug, deified as a sign in ruby ash.

A Goddam level I lived at.

On mail let it in. I’m it.

Oh, sit in ample hot spots. Oh wet!

A loss it is alas (sip). I’d assign it a name.

Name not one bottle minus an ode by me:

“Sir, I deliver. I’m a dog”

Evil is a deed as I live.

Dammit I’m mad”…

Magic Word Square Palindromes

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Terms that can be used to create a magic word square are another type of this phenomenon. This type of palindrome word is able to reproduce itself. If a word is formed from the first letters of each word, and then from the second, the third and so on, the term can then be arranged into a word square. A word square can be read in four different ways: horizontally or vertically from either top left to bottom right or bottom right to top left.

Date Palindromes

Palindromes are seen in dates. They occur when a particular date can be written in a numeric form such that it reads the same frontward and backward.  Some examples :

• December 11, 2021 (12/11/21)
• February 21, 2022 (2-21-22)
• February 22, 2022 (2-22-22)
• February 23, 2022 (2-23-22)
• February 24, 2022 (2-24-22)
• February 25, 2022 (2-25-22)
• February 26, 2022 (2-26-22)
• February 27, 2022 (2-27-22)
• February 28, 2022 (2-28-22)

Musical Palindromes

Palindromes are a very special musical technique that is successfully used by very few composers because it’s really quite difficult to come up with a palindrome that sounds just as nice (and not totally creepy) in reverse. If we’re talking about classical composers who have successfully employed the use of palindromes in their songs, they would include musicians like Bach and Haydn.

Palindromes also occur in acoustics when a recorded phrase sounds the same as it does live when the recording is played backward. Palindromes can be found in musical compositions. Some  most know examples include:

• “The Owl and the Pussy Cat” by Igor Stravinsky.
• Bach’s Musical Offering
• Haydn’s Symphony no. 47
• and Berg’s Lulu