|
Some people may see or hear the word palindrome and wonder what it is.
A palindrome is a word, a phrase, or a sequence of words that read the same way in either direction, as with madam, don't nod, and Eva, can I see bees in a cave? A palindrome can include spaces and punctuation.
The word comes from the Greek palindromos ("running back again"; palin "back," dromos "direction"). Its original meaning applied to the backward movement of a crab.
Sources suggest different dates of the word's earliest use, but they seem to agree that it appeared sometime between the first and third centuries A.D. It is cited as having been introduced into English in the seventeenth century by a British poet and writer.
Some of the most common palindromes are character units that form the same word front to back and back to front.
Examples
| level |
pop |
radar |
| civic |
refer |
solos |
| noon |
gig |
stats |
| kayak |
rotator |
sagas |
| racecar |
tenet |
wow |
You'll also find palindromes as multi-word phrases.
Examples
| my gym |
a nut for a jar of tuna |
| top spot |
drawer as a reward |
| no lemon, no melon |
no trace; not one carton |
| a man, a plan, a canal—Panama! |
so many dynamos |
| never odd or even |
too hot to hoot |
The marvel of palindromes reveals itself most when they extend into full sentences.
Examples
| Step on no pets. |
Mr. Owl ate my metal worm. |
| Do geese see God? |
Some men interpret nine memos. |
| Bombard a drab mob. |
Marge lets Norah see Sharon's telegram. |
| Too bad—I hid a boot. |
Gateman sees name; garageman sees nametag. |
| Was it a car or a cat I saw? |
Are we not drawn onward, we few, drawn onward to new era? |
The longest palindromic sentence on record contains 21,012 words (a number that is itself a palindrome). The designer, Peter Norvig, released it at 20:02 (U.S. military time) on 02/20/2002.
|
View and comment on this
article on our website.
|
|
Pop Quiz
Now that you know what a palindrome is, identify which of the following sentences are palindromes.
1. I ran the can all the way to the van.
2. No, it can; as it is, it is a war. Raw as it is; it is an action.
3. Adam, I am the madam who will help you find your way from Ada.
4. Sir, I demand, I am a maid named Iris.
5. No, it is open on one position.
|
Enter Your Chance to Win on Facebook!
In celebration of 25,000 page likes, we're giving away a free copy of The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation plus a GrammarBook.com quiz membership! To enter for your chance to win, be an active participant on our Facebook page this week. We'll announce the winner on our page next week! No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited.
|
Free BONUS Quiz for You!
[[firstname]], because you are a subscriber to the newsletter, you get access to one of the Subscribers-Only Quizzes. Click here to take a Parentheses and Brackets Quiz and get your scores and explanations instantly!
We will be adding many more quizzes this year to our already substantial list of quizzes. If you have suggestions for topics we have not yet covered, please send us a message at help@grammarbook.com.
|
Hundreds of Additional Quizzes
at Your Fingertips
Subscribe now to receive hundreds of additional English usage quizzes not found anywhere else!
Teachers and Employers
Save hours of valuable time! You may assign quizzes to your students and employees and have their scores tallied, organized, and reported to you! Let GrammarBook.com take the hassle out of teaching English!
"Fun to test my skills."
"The explanations really help ... thanks!"
"I can select the quizzes to assign to my students, and then the results are reported to me automatically!"
99¢
QUIZZES
|
Don't need all the quizzes?
You can now purchase the same quizzes individually for ONLY 99¢ each.
Purchase yours here.
|
If you think you have found an error in a quiz, please email us at help@grammarbook.com
|
 |
The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation
by Jane Straus, Lester Kaufman, and Tom Stern |
The Authority on English Grammar! Eleventh Edition Now Available
An indispensable tool for busy professionals, teachers, students, homeschool families, editors, writers, and proofreaders.
Available in print AND as an e-Book! Over 2,000 copies are purchased every month!
To order the book, simply click the link to order the book from the GrammarBook.com website.
|
Pop Quiz Answers
2. No, it can; as it is, it is a war. Raw as it is; it is an action.
4. Sir, I demand, I am a maid named Iris.
5. No, it is open on one position.
|
 |
English In A Snap:
68 One-Minute English Usage Videos FREE |
Learn all about who and whom, affect and effect, subjects and verbs, adjectives and adverbs, commas, semicolons, quotation marks, and much more by just sitting back and enjoying these easy-to-follow lessons. Tell your colleagues (and boss), children, teachers, and friends. Click here to watch.
|
|
