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Palindrome
A palindrome is a word, phrase, number or any other sequence of units (like a thread of DNA) which has the property of reading the same in either direction (the adjustment of spaces between letters is generally permitted). The word palindrome comes from the Greek words palin (back) and dramein (to run) meaning running back. Writing literature in palindromes is an example of constrained writing. According to Bill Bryson's Mother Tongue: English & How It Got That Way (p. 227): "Palindromes... are at least 2,000 years old. The ancient Greeks often put 'Nipson anomŽmata mŽ monan opsin' on fountains. It translates as 'Wash the sin as well as the face.' The Romans admired them, too, as demonstrated by 'In girum imus nocte et consumimur igni' ('We enter the circle after dark and are consumed by fire'), which was said to describe the action of moths." The latin palindrome 'Sator Arepo tenet opera rotas' is remarkable for the fact that it reproduces itself also if one forms a word from the first letters, then the second letters and so forth. Hence it can also be arranged into a square which can be read either horizontally or vertically: SATOR AREPO TENET OPERA ROTAS Palindromes occur in many western languages, but they are particularly prevalent in English due to the wide variety and frequent reversal of letter pairs within words. Japanese palindromes, called kaibun, rely on the hiragana syllabary, like the word "shinbunshi" (newsprint). Their syllabary makes it possible to make very long palindromes. Chinese palindromes are relatively easy to create due to the structure of written Chinese. For example: ????,???? ("I love Mom, Mom loves me") --- this is usually the first palindrom learned by Chinese kids. Numerous palindroms can be created by replacing "??"(Mom) with any person. As a result, only very special palindromes are worth mentioning. Examples of palindromic words and phrases: Table of contents 1 Symmetry by sound 2 Symmetry by the characters 3 Symmetry by the words 4 Symmetry by the lines 4.1 Doppelganger Symmetry by sound In Japanese: * Ta-ke-ya-bu ya-ke-ta - A bamboo grove has been burned. * Wa-ta-shi ma-ke-ma-shi-ta-wa - I have lost. * Na-ga-ki yo-no to-ho-no ne-bu-ri-no mi-na me-za-me na-mi-no-ri-bu-ne-no o-to-no-yo-ki-ka-na - Tanka Symmetry by the characters Remark: Characters include letters and CJK characters. * Aibohphobia, the fear of palindromes (not necessarily recognized as a real word), is itself a palindrome * ABBA * Radar (acronym from RAdio Detection And Ranging, so it's self-defining too - i. e., the word "bounces back" like a radar signal) * Rotor ("it goes round and round and back and forth") * Glenelg (place name in Scotland and Australia) * Live Evil (used as an album title by, amongst others, the metal band Black Sabbath and jazz trumpeter Miles Davis) * redivider (the longest 'natural' palindrome in English) * Madam, I'm Adam. * Do geese see God? * Dennis sinned. * Koselure Mordni La Palindrome rules - OK * God hexes sex, eh dog? (written by Kingturtle) * Naomi did I moan? * Sex at noon taxes. * Able was I, ere I saw Elba. (the famous 'Napoleon's Lament', source unknown) * Ten animals I slam in a net. * Was it Eliot's toilet I saw? (Bill Bryson) * A Man, a plan, a canal - Panama! (Leigh Mercer) o Zeus saw 'twas Suez! (a refutation of the above by Lee M) o A man, a plan, a canoe, pasta, heros, rajahs, a coloratura, maps, snipe, percale, macaroni, a gag, a banana bag, a tan, a tag, a banana bag again, or: a camel, a crepe, pins, spam, a rut, a Rolo, cash, a jar, sore hats, a peon, a canal -- Panama! (attributed to Guy Steele) * Too far, Edna, we wander afoot. (Bill Bryson) * Yawn! Madonna fan? No damn way! * Tarzan raised a Desi Arnaz rat. (Baby Gramps) * Norma is as selfless as I am, Ron. (W. H. Auden) * Go hang a Salami. I'm a Lasagna Hog. (Baby Gramps) * Sums are not set as a test on Erasmus. (W. H. Auden) * Satan, oscillate my metallic sonatas. (Stephen Fry) * No, it is opposed, art sees trades opposition. (W. H. Auden,on a discussion of photography vs. painting) * Straw? No, too stupid a fad. I put soot on warts. (Leigh Mercer) * No, son, onanism's a gross orgasm sin: a no-no, son. * Are we not drawn onward, we few, drawn onward to new era? (Bill Bryson) * Rettebs, I flahd noces, eh? Ttu, but the second half is better. (Stephen Fry) * Doc, note, I dissent. A fast never prevents a fatness. I diet on cod. (Peter Hilton) * "It's Ade, Cilla, Sue, Dame Vita, Edna, Nino, Emo! Come on in and eat, I've made us all iced asti." (Stephen Fry) * "Peel's foe (not a set animal) laminates a tone of sleep." (Lyrics from Kew Rhone) * "Lewd did I live, & evil I did dwel." (John Taylor, the Water Poet) * "Rats live on no evil star" (from the novel Swords of Lankhmar by Fritz Leiber) In Dutch: * parterretrap: "stairway to the ground floor" * nepparterreserretrappen (less serious extension of the previous): "fake stairways from the ground floor to the sun lounge" In Estonian: * Aias sadas saia: "It rains white bread in the garden." In Finnish there are two 25-letter palindromes: * Solutomaattimittaamotulos: "the result from a measurement laboratory for tomatoes" * saippuakuppinippukauppias: "soap cup batch trader" Longer forms: * Atte kumiorava, varo imuketta!: "Rubber squirrel Atte, beware the cigarette holder!" The comedic ensemble Alivaltiosihteeri (literally: "State Undersecretary") has composed whole books of palindromic poems. In French: * kayak Pardonnez-moi??? I always thought "kayak" was Inuit!!! * Žlu par cette crapule * la mariŽe ira mal * Laval In German: * Ein Neger mit Gazelle zagt im Regen nie. * Reliefpfeiler In Spanish: * Anita, la gorda lagartona, no traga la droga latina. In Hungarian: * GŽza, kŽk az Žg: "GŽza, the sky is blue." * R‡m nŽmet nem lel, elmentem Žn m‡r: "The Germans won't find me, I'm already gone." (1943) * Indul a gšršg aludni: "The greek goes to sleep." * RŽmes t—ga bag—t sem Žr: "Crap chiton worths nothing." * Er?szakos kannak sok a sz?re: "Aggressive males have lots of hair." * Keresik a tavat a kis erek: "Small streams look for the lake." * Kis erek mentŽn, l‡p s’k šlŽn odavan a b‡nya rabja: jaj, Barany‡ban a vadon Žl? Kis P‡lnŽt nem keresik!: "Along the small streams and in the flat lap of the moorland gone the prisoner of the mine: oh, nobody looks for Ms. Kis P‡l who lived in the woods of Baranya." (Created by Dem?k BŽla.) In Latin: * Roma tibi subito motibus ibit amor. (Quintilian) * Si bene te tua laus taxat, sua laute tenebis. (Plinius) * Subi dura a rudibus. * Signa te, signa, temere me tangis et angis. * Adoro te animo, domina et oro da. * Meritis servi sinum munis ivres sitirem. * Aspice'nam raro mittit timor arma nec ipsa. * Si se mente reget non tegeret Nemesis. * Sum summus mus. ("I am the mightiest mouse.") In Slovene: * Perica re?e raci rep: "Laundress cuts duck's tail." In Norwegian: * Regninger: The longest palindrome norwegian word. Means "bills". In Swedish: * Du har bra hud: Meaning "You've got good skin" * Ni rakar bra Karin: Meaning "You shave good Karin" * God apa gavs galna anlag, svag apa dog: Meaning "Good monkey was given crazy abilities, weak monkey died." * MŠrk stupid abrakadabra: ur fin rŠnsel lyfta rappa japaner samma mimosa som i mammas rena pajapparat fylles nŠr ni fruar bada karbad i putskrŠm: Meaning "Notice stupid abracadabra: from fine backpack swift japaneese the same mimosa as in mother's clean pie machine filles when you vifes bathed med bath in shoecream" Symmetry by the words Some palindromes use words as units rather than letters. They Might Be Giants released a single called I Palindrome I, the lyrics of which include the word palindrome: "Son I am able," she said, "though you scare me." "Watch," said I, "beloved," I said, "watch me scare you though." Said she, "able am I, Son." Another example: * You can cage a swallow, can't you, but you can't swallow a cage, can you? Of course, all Chinese palindromes are also of this type. Symmetry by the lines Still other palindromes take the line as the unit. The poem Doppleganger was composed by James A. Lindon. Doppelganger Entering the lonely house with my wife I saw him for the first time Peering furtively from behind a bush -- Blackness that moved, A shape amid the shadows, A momentary glimpse of gleaming eyes Revealed in the ragged moon. A closer look (he seemed to turn) might have Put him to flight forever -- I dared not (For reasons that I failed to understand), Though I knew I should act at once. I puzzled over it, hiding alone, Watching the woman as she neared the gate. He came, and I saw him crouching Night after night. Night after night He came, and I saw him crouching, Watching the woman as she neared the gate. I puzzled over it, hiding alone -- Though I knew I should act at once, For reasons that I failed to understand I dared not Put him to flight forever. A closer look (he seemed to turn) might have Revealed in the ragged moon. A momentary glimpse of gleaming eyes A shape amid the shadows, Blackness that moved. Peering furtively from behind a bush, I saw him for the first time, Entering the lonely house with my wife. In genetics, a palindromic DNA sequence can form a hairpin.
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