# Do you anagram words as you read? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 27, 2025, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-anagram-words-as-you-read/1013484 "2025-01-27T19:00:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mattgg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ccd318/32.png) [@mattgg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mattgg)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2025, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-anagram-words-as-you-read/1013484/1 "2025-01-27T19:00:16Z")
I’ve always been a slow reader. A large part of the problem is that I tend to anagram words as I’m reading. I’m not doing this consciously. That is, I don’t stop and think of an anagram. I read the word the correct way and then an anagram immediately pops into my mind. The anagramming can take two forms. Sometimes it’s a straight anagram - e.g., “master” becomes “stream”. Other times I add or remove a letter and anagram the result - e.g., “daytime” gains an “n” and becomes “dynamite”. It doesn’t happen on every word. It seems to happen most when there’s an interesting anagram to be found. “Are” anagramming to “ear” is boring. “Indistinct” gaining an “o” and becoming “distinction” is interesting. Again, I do read the word correctly the first time so my comprehension of what I’m reading isn’t affected. It just slows me down because the new word distracts me from what I’m reading. I have to keep forcing myself to focus again. One upside is that I’m excellent at many word puzzles (crosswords, Wordle, Spelling Bee, etc.) because I see words easily in jumbles of letters, even if there are letters missing. Am I the only person so afflicted? ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2025, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-anagram-words-as-you-read/1013484/2 "2025-01-27T19:06:39Z")
Not quite; I reverse them. Not orthographically, but phonetically. For example, “see out” pronounced backward sounds like “twice” and vice versa. A habit formed by watching way too much _Twin Peaks_. ---
**Author:** ![xtenkfarpl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c2a13f/32.png) [@xtenkfarpl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xtenkfarpl)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2025, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-anagram-words-as-you-read/1013484/3 "2025-01-27T19:20:05Z")
An interesting question. I am a fast reader, and probably absorb text as phrases or sentences rather than individual words. (Aside, from another thread: I do not hear the words in my head). But I do often tend to spontaneously spoonerise song lyrics when I croon them in the bath… 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2025, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-anagram-words-as-you-read/1013484/4 "2025-01-27T19:23:20Z")
I’ll frequently anagram words, reverse them, and play other word games with them. Heck, I’ll do it with non-words – license plate letters, abbreviations, random ID letters. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2025, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-anagram-words-as-you-read/1013484/5 "2025-01-27T20:19:37Z")
on, I ton do. ---
**Author:** ![mattgg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ccd318/32.png) [@mattgg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mattgg)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2025, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-anagram-words-as-you-read/1013484/6 "2025-01-27T20:38:44Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I’ll frequently anagram words, reverse them, and play other word games with them. > > Heck, I’ll do it with non-words – license plate letters, abbreviations, random ID letters. Do you do this consciously or does it just happen? It’s not something I choose to do - the anagrams just pop into my head instantaneously as I’m reading. ---
**Author:** ![mattgg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ccd318/32.png) [@mattgg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mattgg)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2025, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-anagram-words-as-you-read/1013484/7 "2025-01-27T20:39:43Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > on, I ton do. Well played. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2025, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-anagram-words-as-you-read/1013484/8 "2025-01-27T20:50:46Z")
I’m the opposite. I have a real hard time with puzzles that involve anagrams. E.g. Jumble, many cryptic crossword clues, Spelling Bee, etc. For some reason I don’t see the anagrams even when they’re obvious. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2025, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-anagram-words-as-you-read/1013484/9 "2025-01-27T20:53:12Z")
I don’t have any such effects. But I have to say that sounds like a right bitch that’s got to be distracting as all get out and seriously degrades your reading speed and probably reading comprehension from what it might otherwise have been. Sorry you’ve got that monkey on your back. OTOH, it might well make you an absolute ninja assassin at Scrabble. A game I utterly suck at despite my pretty hefty vocabulary. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2025, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-anagram-words-as-you-read/1013484/10 "2025-01-27T21:18:27Z")
Astro, tub ton chum. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2025, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-anagram-words-as-you-read/1013484/11 "2025-01-27T21:25:48Z")
Same. ---
**Author:** ![mattgg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ccd318/32.png) [@mattgg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mattgg)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2025, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-anagram-words-as-you-read/1013484/12 "2025-01-27T23:03:26Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > OTOH, it might well make you an absolute ninja assassin at Scrabble. A game I utterly suck at despite my pretty hefty vocabulary. You’re right. Nobody will play Scrabble or Words with Friends with me anymore because I destroy them. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2025, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-anagram-words-as-you-read/1013484/13 "2025-01-28T08:10:16Z")
No, I don’t anagram words as I read. However, I _do_ maintain a running count of the letters in each word, totalling them as I go, keeping track of whether the total is even or odd. And when I get to the end of a sentence that has an even number of letters (not counting punctuation or spaces), and/or when I see that a single line from margin to margin is even (regardless of sentence breaks), I feel a small bit of satisfaction. This is entirely automatic and uncontrolled, and, like you (though probably to a lesser extent), it is a distraction that slows down my reading somewhat. Thankfully, I do not have the same obsession when I am writing; I don’t care whether the sentences and/or lines I _create_ have an even number of letters. It applies only when I _read._ ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2025, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-anagram-words-as-you-read/1013484/14 "2025-01-28T08:38:25Z")
I’ll play you. I’m a mean vicious scrabble player. I _never_ lose. Yeah, no one will play with me either 😑 I’m totally banned at my house. Even the grandkids won’t let me play. I play with words. Not necessarily while reading. Maybe read the dictionary a bit everyday. Play with those words. Get it out of your system before doing serious reading. ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2025, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-anagram-words-as-you-read/1013484/15 "2025-01-28T11:02:01Z")
Do you add a parity letter if it’s odd ? ---
**Author:** ![Nyvaak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Nyvaak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nyvaak)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2025, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-anagram-words-as-you-read/1013484/16 "2025-01-28T11:16:01Z")
Yes. Not while I’m actually reading text, but very frequently during idle moments, anytime a particular word attracts my attention. (e.g. I just now happened to glance down at the CO Alarm box, and the woman’s name Marla sprang to mind unbidden.) ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2025, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-anagram-words-as-you-read/1013484/17 "2025-01-28T11:40:48Z")
> [@pjd](#): > > Do you add a parity letter if it’s odd ? No, but if two sentences in sequence are both odd, I mentally combine them to achieve evenness. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2025, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-anagram-words-as-you-read/1013484/18 "2025-01-28T13:11:18Z")
Not while reading, but I sometimes catch myself reversing words I encounter. For example, in the shower I always reach for the oopmahs. mmm ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2025, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-anagram-words-as-you-read/1013484/19 "2025-01-28T14:36:22Z")
It’s worst when stuck somewhere, like a meeting, with nothing to look at but the calendar as someone drones on. A jay run Fear ruby, Far buyer Charm Lira-P, or Pair-L Yam ??? ??? Us a gut Tenpers be, Beep terms, Embers pet Robe cot, Tore cob Verb omen, Mob never Bed creme ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2025, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-anagram-words-as-you-read/1013484/20 "2025-01-28T14:48:48Z")
Are you sure that’s not some sort of AI attempt at blank verse? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-anagram-words-as-you-read/1013484.md?page=2)