# It's not a palindrome, what is it? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 6, 2005, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-not-a-palindrome-what-is-it/311362 "2005-07-06T23:26:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2005, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-not-a-palindrome-what-is-it/311362/1 "2005-07-06T23:26:34Z")
A palindrome is a word or phrase which reads the same backwards, like _rotor_ or _imadam I’m adam_. Is there a term for a word or phrase which when reversed forms another, different, word or phrase, like _are / era_ or _loots / stool_? What’s the longest such pair of words? ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2005, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-not-a-palindrome-what-is-it/311362/2 "2005-07-06T23:33:02Z")
[SDSAB on the matter.](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/managram.html) ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2005, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-not-a-palindrome-what-is-it/311362/3 "2005-07-06T23:43:27Z")
They’re called reversals. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2005, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-not-a-palindrome-what-is-it/311362/4 "2005-07-07T00:42:14Z")
From [here](http://www.anagrammy.com/anagrams/faq3.html): > [@](#): > > A word that is spelled backward to become a new word is sometimes referred to as a word reversal or anadrome. The latter term combines “ana-” from anagram and “-drome” from palindrome. Lewis Carroll called this a semordnilap (“palindromes” spelled backwards), whereas other sources (Dudeney, 1929) referred to these as antigrams. Examples of this genre include: > > Pat = tap. > God = dog. > Evian = naive. > Samaroid = dioramas While we’re at it, how about **stressed** and **desserts**? ---
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2005, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-not-a-palindrome-what-is-it/311362/5 "2005-07-07T01:05:31Z")
I don’t think “reversals” was a true term until recently, if ever. technically, if it is not a palendrome, it is just an anagram if the letters can be rearranged to spell another word. - Jinx ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2005, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-not-a-palindrome-what-is-it/311362/6 "2005-07-07T06:41:56Z")
Thanks. I like the term **anadrome**. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2005, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-not-a-palindrome-what-is-it/311362/7 "2005-07-08T03:05:39Z")
> [@Jinx](#): > > I don’t think “reversals” was a true term until recently, if ever. technically, if it is not a palendrome, it is just an anagram if the letters can be rearranged to spell another word. Depends on what you mean by “recently”. Dmitri Borgmann called them reversals in his 1965 book _Language on Vacation_. While they are anagrams, they are a special case with an additional restriction that other anagrams do not have. Since that restriction makes them a type of wordplay that some people find interesting, it’s useful to have a word to distinguish them from garden variety anagrams. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2005, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-not-a-palindrome-what-is-it/311362/8 "2005-07-08T17:49:37Z")
> [@KarlGauss](#): > > From [here](http://www.anagrammy.com/anagrams/faq3.html): > > While we’re at it, how about **stressed** and **desserts**? Can anyone do better? ---
**Author:** ![Axel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6de8d8/32.png) [@Axel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Axel)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2005, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-not-a-palindrome-what-is-it/311362/9 "2005-07-08T17:58:49Z")
Restressed and desserter? (One who makes cakes, then runs away). ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2005, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-not-a-palindrome-what-is-it/311362/10 "2005-07-08T18:42:56Z")
> [@Axel](#): > > Restressed and desserter? (One who makes cakes, then runs away). Detressed and desserted? Or retressed and desserter? (Axel’s examples have different numbers of s’s in them) ---
**Author:** ![Axel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6de8d8/32.png) [@Axel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Axel)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2005, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-not-a-palindrome-what-is-it/311362/11 "2005-07-08T23:36:22Z")
Oops. Yours work though. You win!