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WOW! The Incredible World of Palindromes

A palindrome is a word, phrase, or sequence that reads the same both forwards and backwards, for example ‘kayak’. The second part is the same as the first, only in reverse, which makes them symmetrical. The word ‘palindrome’ comes from the Greek words for ‘back’ (palin) and ‘direction’ (dromos). They have been a popular word game since at least 70 AD. Spaces and punctuation are allowed.

For example: the first name ‘Anna’ is a palindrome: AN | NA, as are the words ‘deed’ DE | ED, ‘noon’ NO | ON, ‘mum’ M U M and ‘dad’ D A D. In words / sentences with an odd number of letters the mid-point is a letter (as in M-U-M) and in words / sentences with an even number of letters it falls between letters (as in DE-ED).

Palindromes can be:

1. WORDS:

civic
DVD
gig
kayak
level
madam
nan
peep
poop
radar
redder
refer
solos
stats
wow

2. NAMES:

Ana
Anna-Susanna
Ava
Bob
Elle
Eve
Hannah
Otto

3. PHRASES:

dumb mud
face decaf
mail Liam
my gym
nurses run
race car
top spot
UFO tofu

Some palindromes make more sense than others, e. g. ‘race car’ is an actual phrase, while ‘UFO tofu’ could be hard to fit into a sentence! The best palindromes make perfect sense without needing a particular context. Which of the following sentences do you like the most? Why?

4. SENTENCES:

Dammit, I’m mad!
Eva, can I see bees in a cave?
If I had a Hi-Fi.
No lemon, no melon.
Norma is as selfless as I am, Ron.
Some men interpret nine memos.
Tell a mate, ‘Go get a mallet!’
Was it a car or a cat I saw?

Here is a longer sentence which makes perfect sense on its own:

Madame, not one man is selfless; I name not one, madam.

Word palindromes (also called pseudodromes) are phrases or sentences which use words instead of letters:

WORD PALINDROMES:

First ladies rule the state, and state the rule: ‘Ladies First!’

Bores are people that say that people are bores.

Happy were people that comment that people were happy.

Is it crazy how saying sentences backwards creates backwards sentences saying how crazy it is?

King, are you glad you are king?

So patient a nurse to nurse a patient so.

You can cage a swallow, can’t you, but you can’t swallow a cage, can you?

PLACES:

Glenelg (Scotland)

Kanakanak (Alaska)

Kinikinik (Colorado)

Navan (Meath, Ireland)

Neuquen (Argentina)

Ward Draw (South Dakota)

Wassamassaw (S. Carolina)

Yreka Bakery (California)

Making up new palindromes is a favourite word game for many people. There have even been complete novels (e.g. Satire: Veritas by David Stephens, 1980, 58,795 letters), poems (e.g. Dammit I’m Mad by Demetri Martin), and songs (e.g. Bob by Weird Al Yankovic) which are composed entirely as palindromes. Part of Haydn’s Symphony No.47 (Minuet and Trio) is also a palindrome, with the first half reversed in the second half!

There are also palindromes with numbers. The same basic principle applies.

NUMBERS:

Numbers: e.g. 898, 1001, 2002

Dates: e.g. 11/11/11, 02/02/2020, 12.02.2021

Times: e.g. 05:50, 10:01, 23:32

SEMORDNILAPS

Finally, if we have inspired you to create your very own shiny new palindromes, you should check out a related group of words called semordnilaps. These are words that have a pair word which is spelled the same in reverse, e.g. HOT – TOP. Together they become a palindrome (semordnilap is palindrome backwards). If you build your new palindrome around a semordnilap pair, some of the work is already done for you, e.g. this palindrome from earlier:

Was it a car or a cat I saw?

Here are some of the most common semordnilap pairs:

boy – yob

decaf – faced

deliver – reviled

desserts – stressed

drawer – reward

edit – tide

flog – golf

gateman – nametag

keep – peek

laid – dial

maps – spam

now – won

on – no

peels – sleep

repaid – diaper

smart – trams

spot – tops

star – rats

stressed – desserts

tide – edit

was – saw

If you need more, check out our free worksheet below:

111 Semordnilap Pairs in English

Direct download: https://purlandtraining.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/111-semordnilap-pairs-in-english.pdf

Activities with Palindromes:

1. Unscramble the letters to find a palindrome:

EDED
UMM
PEPE
TROOR
REARPEP
OWW
DAMAM
NNU

2. Mark the middle letter or midpoint in each palindrome:

a) race car

b) top spot

c) Was it a cat I saw?

d) He did, eh?

e) Never odd or even.

f) Name not one man.

g) Mr Owl ate my metal worm.

3. Complete the second half of each palindrome.

A Toyota. Race fast
No lemon,
Won’t lovers
Stressed was I er
Step on
No ‘x’ in

4. Fill in the missing word in each of these popular palindromes:

__________ in Eden, I’m Adam.
I did, __________ I?
__________ at a bar grab at a star.
Able was I, ere I __________ Elba.
Do geese __________ God?
A man, a __________, a canal – Panama.

5. Put these words in order to make word palindromes (pseudodromes):

leaves fall as leaves Fall soon as.
glad king are King, you are you?
patient So a nurse patient nurse a so to.
few women understand men understand Women; men.

6. Is each word or phrase a palindrome or not?

Hanna
Hannah
radar
solo
To hot to hoot.
Yo, banana boy!
revived
minim
rotator
kiwi wiki

7. Which word forms a pair with each semordnilap?

raw
drawer
but
gas
mined
spot
was
pay
lager
diva

8. Make up nonsense palindromes and give definitions, e.g. a ‘loomamool’ is an Australian sheep. You could compete with your classmates to see who can think up the best definition for the same word.

9. Think of your own palindrome: word, phrase, or sentence. Start off by making a nonsense word or phrase which is symmetrical, e.g. ‘sportrops’ or ‘My name is Eve si eman ym’.

10. Write a story, poem, or text containing words which are palindromes.

11. Find palindromes in your language, if possible.

12. Translate English palindromes into your first language, then translate palindromes from your language into English.

13. Write 5 date palindromes with numbers.

14. Write 5 time palindromes with numbers.