Think About It. BOB. With full knowledge that I sometimes get things mixed up, even backward, my mental meanderings took me back again to the beginning of the Palindrome. Some say the first man said it was “MADAM I’M ADAM”, to which the first woman modestly responded, “EVE.” A Palindrome is not new to the language. Even the early Greeks had a name for it, having something to do with crabs walking backward. Seventeenth century dramatist Ben Jonson traced it to the roots “palin” and “dromos”, words for again and direction. But then, “It’s all Gre…..” You know. I tried and failed to find a push-me-pull-me word or sentence written by Jonson, but did learn that the word-play dates from the third century B.C.
WAS IT ELLIOT’S TOILET I SAW? NEVER ODD OR EVEN. A MAN, A PLAN, A CANAL, PANAMA. In a word, try civic, tenet, kayak, repaper, level and many more. But that’s cheating. It’s only recognition of the word, not creating a phrase. James Joyce, who shaped the style of writing rapidly forming serial thoughts, did offer one. Don’t leave me now. I may need help. In Ulysses he coined a masterpiece for a knock on the door, tattarrattat, said to be the longest palindromic word in the Oxford English Dictionary. You know doubt noticed its onomatopoeic as well. Aren’t you glad you stayed?
Punctuation, capitalization, and spacing are usually ignored, although some, such as “RATS LIVE ON NO EVIL STAR”, “LIVE ON TIME, EMIT NO EVIL” and “STEP ON NO PETS”, include the spacing. While there are few regular speakers of Latin, the language did include some fun found in the ashes. “In girum imus nocte et consumiur igni” (We go wandering at night and are consumed by fire). At your leisure you may find the form in Sanskrit, Arabic and Persian,,شکربترازویوزارتبرکش being “Weigh the sugar with the ministry scale.” Did you get that one right?
As you know palindromes are words or phrases that read the same in both directions. But you can’t ignore acoustics and molecular biology. For real fun in music, try Joseph Haydn’s Symphony No. 47 in G. You know how the aficionados like to provide nicknames. This one is “the Palindrome”. Listen and learn. ABBA is easier with SOS, a double for both artist and song. There are lots more in pop, but before I don’t know whether I’m coming or going, I leave you Weird Al Yankovic with the commission to see the rhyming list with cue cards dropped from the hands of a would be Dylan. It’s on YouTube and simply called BOB. Think About It.