What is a palindrome? Grammarly has a beautiful article on this word.
According to The Oxford English Dictionary the word is based on Greek root words meaning “back” and “running.” Palindromes are words or phrases that read the same backward and forward, letter for letter, number for number, or word for word.
Some palindromes seem philosophical. Do geese see God? Others tell a story. A man, a plan, a canal: Panama. Still others are silly and rather nonsensical. Straw? No, too stupid a fad; I put soot on warts.
Which of the following palindromes is your favorite?
A great bargain:
A nut for a jar of tuna.
A permissive friend:
Al lets Della call Ed “Stella.”
An Italian palindrome:
Amore, Roma.
A long example:
Are we not pure? “No, sir!” Panama’s moody Noriega brags. “It is garbage!” Irony dooms a man—a prisoner up to new era.
A moral dilemma:
Borrow or rob?
Follow the words, not the letters:
King, are you glad you are king?
A weird concept:
Taco cat
Bad eyesight:
Was it a car or a cat I saw?
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.
A news report:
Ed, I saw Harpo Marx ram Oprah W. aside.
A record, set straight:
Madam, in Eden, I’m Adam.
A hitman for hire:
Murder for a jar of red rum.
Call your mother:
Mom.
A gross creature:
Oozy rat in a sanitary zoo.
Verbal abuse:
Yo, banana boy!
Would you try:
UFO tofu?
These are just a few examples. There is a great palindrome poem called “Doppelgänger” by James A. Lindon that you might enjoy. It reads the same from bottom to top as it does from top to bottom.
Doppelganger
- James A. Lindon
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.
According to The Oxford English Dictionary the word is based on Greek root words meaning “back” and “running.” Palindromes are words or phrases that read the same backward and forward, letter for letter, number for number, or word for word.
Some palindromes seem philosophical. Do geese see God? Others tell a story. A man, a plan, a canal: Panama. Still others are silly and rather nonsensical. Straw? No, too stupid a fad; I put soot on warts.
Which of the following palindromes is your favorite?
A great bargain:
A nut for a jar of tuna.
A permissive friend:
Al lets Della call Ed “Stella.”
An Italian palindrome:
Amore, Roma.
A long example:
Are we not pure? “No, sir!” Panama’s moody Noriega brags. “It is garbage!” Irony dooms a man—a prisoner up to new era.
A moral dilemma:
Borrow or rob?
Follow the words, not the letters:
King, are you glad you are king?
A weird concept:
Taco cat
Bad eyesight:
Was it a car or a cat I saw?
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.
A news report:
Ed, I saw Harpo Marx ram Oprah W. aside.
A record, set straight:
Madam, in Eden, I’m Adam.
A hitman for hire:
Murder for a jar of red rum.
Call your mother:
Mom.
A gross creature:
Oozy rat in a sanitary zoo.
Verbal abuse:
Yo, banana boy!
Would you try:
UFO tofu?
These are just a few examples. There is a great palindrome poem called “Doppelgänger” by James A. Lindon that you might enjoy. It reads the same from bottom to top as it does from top to bottom.
Doppelganger
- James A. Lindon
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.
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