# If doof is food spelled backwards, why has it never been used as a euphemism for feces? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 7, 2019, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-doof-is-food-spelled-backwards-why-has-it-never-been-used-as-a-euphemism-for-feces/838296 "2019-08-07T15:26:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2019, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-doof-is-food-spelled-backwards-why-has-it-never-been-used-as-a-euphemism-for-feces/838296/21 "2019-08-08T00:54:55Z")
**airally** should be employed more often. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2019, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-doof-is-food-spelled-backwards-why-has-it-never-been-used-as-a-euphemism-for-feces/838296/22 "2019-08-08T02:27:39Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Because it’s extremely rare for a word to be coined out of wordplay, and any examples of it are relatively recent. > > People were using “food” (including variations) before they were literate; by the time they could read and reverse the letters, there already was a term for excrement, so no one saw any reason to coin a new term. Yeah, we only started with reverse words once we started writing, and even then the differences in pronunciation make most of them unusable. Sounds that work at the ends of words don’t always work at the beginning of words. Are there are any such words in general parlance? ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2019, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-doof-is-food-spelled-backwards-why-has-it-never-been-used-as-a-euphemism-for-feces/838296/23 "2019-08-08T02:31:27Z")
We already have doo and dookie. Close enough. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2019, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-doof-is-food-spelled-backwards-why-has-it-never-been-used-as-a-euphemism-for-feces/838296/24 "2019-08-08T03:50:00Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > . . . Are there are any such words in general parlance? The only real one I found was yob (boy backwards) and it’s mostly UK. A yob is a rude, noisy, and aggressive young person, a thug. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2019, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-doof-is-food-spelled-backwards-why-has-it-never-been-used-as-a-euphemism-for-feces/838296/25 "2019-08-08T04:11:36Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > Yeah, we only started with reverse words once we started writing And the “reverse” of words are different depending on the writing system–in alphabet-based English, for example, backwards “rabbit” would be pronounced “tibbar”, but in a syllable-based system it would be “bitra”. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2019, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-doof-is-food-spelled-backwards-why-has-it-never-been-used-as-a-euphemism-for-feces/838296/26 "2019-08-08T05:11:34Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > The only real one I found was yob (boy backwards) and it’s mostly UK. A yob is a rude, noisy, and aggressive young person, a thug. Maybe it’s more popular in French? Meuf, keuf, vellecère, ripou, chelou, cimer, and so on… ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2019, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-doof-is-food-spelled-backwards-why-has-it-never-been-used-as-a-euphemism-for-feces/838296/27 "2019-08-08T13:15:43Z")
Roof spelled backwards is “foor.” Add an L and you got “floor.” ---
**Author:** ![Royal\_Nonesutch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecb155/32.png) [@Royal\_Nonesutch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Royal_Nonesutch)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2019, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-doof-is-food-spelled-backwards-why-has-it-never-been-used-as-a-euphemism-for-feces/838296/28 "2019-08-08T13:34:37Z")
> [@jackdavinci](#): > > We already have doo and dookie. Close enough. “You ever come home and catch your wife eatin’ dooke?” BEEF JELLY!!! ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2019, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-doof-is-food-spelled-backwards-why-has-it-never-been-used-as-a-euphemism-for-feces/838296/29 "2019-08-08T14:28:13Z")
> [@jackdavinci](#): > > We already have doo and dookie. Close enough. And ‘dropping a doof’ ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2019, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-doof-is-food-spelled-backwards-why-has-it-never-been-used-as-a-euphemism-for-feces/838296/30 "2019-08-08T15:54:05Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Roof spelled backwards is “foor.” Add an L and you got “floor.” Flip that again and you’ve got roolf. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2019, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-doof-is-food-spelled-backwards-why-has-it-never-been-used-as-a-euphemism-for-feces/838296/31 "2019-08-08T16:12:56Z")
I think TUO should be a synonym for “in”. Then OUT could be printed on glass doors and it would read correctly from both sides. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2019, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-doof-is-food-spelled-backwards-why-has-it-never-been-used-as-a-euphemism-for-feces/838296/32 "2019-08-08T17:05:52Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > I think TUO should be a synonym for “in”. Then OUT could be printed on glass doors and it would read correctly from both sides. So you have double doors. One has OUT/TUO on it, the other has TUO/OUT on it. Two people approach the doors from opposite directions. They both go thru the ? door? ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2019, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-doof-is-food-spelled-backwards-why-has-it-never-been-used-as-a-euphemism-for-feces/838296/33 "2019-08-08T17:47:46Z")
Pity that push (hsup) and pull (llup) don’t make words that look like English. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-doof-is-food-spelled-backwards-why-has-it-never-been-used-as-a-euphemism-for-feces/838296.md?page=1)