What is the name for words like: live, on, stop, raw, pit, dog, draw… words that when spelled backward form a different word ?
Evil is an anagram of live. However, an anagram doesn’t necessarily mean another word backwards.
Perhaps you’re thinking about palindromes as well? The trick there is that a word is spelled the same no matter which direction you read it in. Example: level.
Whatever the term for these words, they would form a subset of anagrams but not palindromes. Maybe a term hasn’t been invented for this particular breed but that’s hard to believe.
C’mon, ClogMod, even I can do better than that: “Madam, I’m Adam.” 
I’ll call your Madam and raise you:
Ah, Satan sees Natasha!
Go hang a salami, I’m a lasagna hog!
ones using the original two words by the OP:
evil I did dwell, lewd did I live
rats live on no evil star
That last one is palindromic even with respect to word breaks.
sit on a potato pan, Otis
Stop, murder us not, tonsured rumpots
I predict a long, long thread, possibly on its way to MPSIMS, the original question (they’re called palindromes) having been answered.
Or Napoleon’s “able was I 'ere I saw Elba.”
I seem to remember reading, as a child, that the longest known palindrome was a very long Finnish word that meant something like “soap-seller”. But I am resisting the urge to go and check that right now.
Duh! It does NOT answer the original question of course (note to self: engage brain before putting mouth in gear). I don’t know what you call such words. Sorry about that.
Didn’t a French writer produce an entire novella that was a palindrome? George Perec?
Standard Palindromes
A but of stressed desserts fo’ tuba.
A car, a man, a maraca.
A dank, sad nap. Eels sleep and ask nada.
A dog! A panic in a pagoda!
A dog, a plan, a canal: pagoda.
A fine snore, rare Ronsen IFA.
A Fool, A Tool, A Pool; LOOPALOOTALOOFA!
A maj, a plan, a canal, pajama.
A man, a pain, a mania, Panama.
A man, a plan, a canal, Panama. [see Panama Palindromes below]
A man, a plan, an anal panama.
A peg at lovely Tsar - a style voltage, pa.
A relic, Odin. I’m a mini, docile Ra.
A Santa at NASA.
A Santa deified at NASA.
A Santa dog lived as a devil god at NASA.
A Santa lived as a devil at NASA.
A Santa lives evil at NASA.
A Santa pets rats, as Pat taps a star step at NASA.
A Santa snaps pans at NASA.
A Santa snips pins at NASA.
A Santa spat taps at NASA.
A Santa spit taboo bat tips at NASA.
A Santa spits tips at NASA.
A Santa spots tops at NASA.
A Santa stops pots at NASA.
A Santa taps Pat at NASA.
A Santa’s rats top Nat, as Satan pots tars at NASA.
A slut nixes sex in Tulsa.
A tin mug for a jar of gum, Nita.
A Toyota. Race fast, safe car. A Toyota
A Toyota.
Able was I, ere I saw Elba.
Age, irony, Noriega.
Ah, Satan sees Natasha.
Aha!
Al lets Della call Ed Stella.
Alan Alda stops racecar, spots ad: “Lana-L.A.”
Amaryllis sillyrama.
An Elena call: “Eek! I let a rapper named ‘DeMan Reppa’ rate like Ella.” Can Elena?
And we saw a Jawa sew DNA.
Animal loots foliated detail of stool lamina.
Anne, I vote more cars race Rome to Vienna.
Are we not drawn onward to new era?
Are we not drawn onward, we few, drawn onward to new era?
Barge in. Relate mere war of 1991 for a were-metal Ernie grab.
Bel Paese a pleb.
Bird rib.
Bob, Level Bob.
Bombard a drab mob.
Bonk. One Mac. Newton sees not wen came (no knob).
Bush saw Sununu swash sub.
But sad Eva saved a stub.
Cain: A maniac.
Campus motto: Bottoms up, Mac.
Camus sees sumac.
Cigar? Toss it in a can. It is so tragic.
Daedalus: nine, Peninsula: dead.
Dairy myriad.
Dammit, I’m Mad.
Damn. I, Agassi, miss again. Mad.
Dee saw a seed.
Deified.
Deirdre wets altar of St. Simons - no mists, for at last ewer dried.
Del saw a sled.
Delia and Edna ailed
Delia saw I was ailed.
Della C., Bob called.
Denim axes examined.
Dennis and Edna sinned.
Dennis sinned.
Dennis, Nell, Edna, Leon, Nedra, Anita, Rolf, Nora, Alice, Carol, Leo, Jane, Reed, Dena, Dale, Basil, Rae, Penny, Lana, Dave, Denny, Lena, Ida, Bernadette, Ben, Ray, Lila, Nina, Jo, Ira, Mara, Sara, Mario, Jan, Ina, Lily, Arne, Bette, Dan, Reba, Diane, Lynn, Ed, Eva, Dana, Lynne, Pearl, Isabel, Ada, Ned, Dee, Rena, Joel, Lora, Cecil, Aaron, Flora, Tina, Arden, Noel, and Ellen sinned.
Depardieu, go razz a rogue I draped.
Desserts I stressed.
Detartrated.
Devo met a Mr., eh, DNA and her mate moved.
Di as dad said.
Did I draw Della too tall, Edward? I did?
Dior droid.
DNA-land.
Do geese see god?
Do good? I? No. Evil anon I deliver. I maim nine more hero-men in Saginaw, sanitary sword a-tuck, Carol, I. Lo! Rack, cut a drowsy rat in Aswan. I gas nine more hero-men in Miami. Reviled, I (Nona) live on. I do, O God.
“Do nine men interpret?” “Nine men,” I nod.
Do not start at rats to nod.
Doc, note I dissent a fatness. I diet on cod.
Doc, note I dissent. A fast never prevents a fatness. I diet on cod.
Dog, as a devil deified, lived as a god.
Dogma? I am God.
Don’t nod.
Dot saw I was Tod.
Drab as a fool, aloof as a bard.
Drab bard.
Drat Sadat, a dastard.
Drat Saddam, a mad dastard.
Draw no dray a yard onward.
Draw pupil’s lip upward.
Draw putrid dirt upward.
Draw, O coward.
Dumb mobs bomb mud.
Dumb mud.
E. Borgnine drags Dad’s gardening robe.
Ed is on no side.
Ed, I saw Harpo Marx ram Oprah W. aside.
Eda Nomel’s lemonade.
Eel, urbane hen a brulee.
Egad, no bondage.
Egad, a base life defiles a bad age.
Egad, a base tone denotes a bad age.
Egad, an adage.
Eh, consider: red is noche.
Embargos are macabre. Sad Nell, listen O, not to no nets. I’ll lend a Serb a camera, so grab me.
Emil peed deep lime.
Emil saw a slime.
Emit a mile, lima time.
Emit Eno one time.
Emit no tot on time.
Emu fat sap pasta fume.
Enid and Edna dine.
Eno misses ordered roses, Simone.
Eno, rehtori. A fair other one.
Enola Devil lived alone.
Er, go on, trap Steven in, I say. Me oh my. Nor can an “air” bee sew. We see, Brian. An acronym? Hoe my asinine vet’s part? No, ogre.
Eros’ sis is sore.
Eros? Sidney, my end is sore.
Eva can ignite virtuosos out riveting in a cave.
Eva, can I stab bats in a cave?
Evade me, Dave.
Evil I did dwell, lewd did I live.
Evil olive.
Fart, R.A.F.
Feds pary trams as martyr raps. Def!
Feeble, el beef.
Flee to me, remote elf.
Flesh, saw I Mimi wash self.
Gateman sees name, garageman sees name tag.
Gert, I saw Ron avoid a radio-van, or was it Reg?
Gift fig.
Gnu dung.
Go Damian amid salad. Alas, dim Ana, I am a dog.
Go deliver a dare, vile dog
Go hang a salami, doc. Note: I dissent, a fast never prevents a fatness. I diet on cod, I’m a lasagna hog.
Go hang a salami, I’m a lasagna hog.
Go, desire vagina. Man I gave. Rise, dog.
God damn mad dog.
God lived as a devil dog.
God lived on no devil dog.
God save Eva’s dog.
God saw I was dog.
God to Hanoi on a hot dog.
God, a red nugget. A fat egg under a dog.
God, a saw was a dog.
God, a slap. Paris, sir, appals a dog.
God, Edam made dog.
Gold log.
Goldenrod-adorned log.
Golf? No sir, prefer prison flog.
Greta? Education? No, it a cud eater, G.
Guns ‘n’ robes, a base born snug.
Gustav Klimt milk vats - ug.
Harasoo, Sarah.
Harass sensuousness, Sarah.
He did, eh?
He goddam mad dog, eh?
He maps spam, eh?
He stops spots, eh?
He won snow, eh?
He won’t, ah, wander, Edna. What now, eh?
How? O, he boinks. Ask Niobe how. Oh.
I.
I did not revert on Didi.
I did, did I?
I, lad Dali.
I led deli.
I madam, I made radio! So I dared. Am I mad? Am I?
I maim Miami.
I met System I.
I roamed under it as a tired, nude Maori.
I saw a gif. Fig. A was I.
I saw desserts; I’d no lemons; alas, no melon. Distressed was I.
I won, Karen, an era know I.
I yam, fun ‘nuf. May I?
I’m a lasagna, hang a salami.
I’m a lass, a salad, new end alas as salami.
I’m runnin’, Nurmi.
I’m, alas, a salami.
I, man, am regal, a German am I.
I, Mary, tramp martyr. Am I?
I, Rasputin, knit up Sari.
I, zany Nazi.
If I had a hi-fi.
Is Don Adams mad? (A nod.) Si.
Is sensuousness I?
Jar a tonga, nag not a raj.
Kay, a red nude, peeped under a yak.
Kayak salad, Alaska yak.
Kayak.
KC, answer DNA loop award. Emit time. Draw a pool. Andrew, snack.
Kodak ad, OK.
Lager, sir, is regal.
Laid on no dial.
Laminated E.T. animal.
Late? Bill is ill. I bet, Al.
Lay a wallaby baby ball away, Al.
Lee had a heel.
Lem saw I was Mel.
Lepers repel.
Let O’Hara gain an inn in a niagara hotel.
Lew, Otto has a hot towel.
Lewd I did live, evil did I dwel.
Lid of fade, metallic soot, emit Garret-simple, help mister ragtime to oscillate me, daffodil.
Lisa Bonet ate no basil.
Live dirt up a side track carted is a putrid evil.
Live evil.
Live not on evil, madam, live not on evil.
Live not on evil.
Lived on Decaf, Faced no Devil.
Llewopnotyalc, Madam, I’m Adam Clayton Powell.
Lonely Tylenol.
“M” lab menial slain: embalm.
Ma has a ham.
Ma is a nun, as I am.
Ma is as selfless as I am.
Ma, I say. Lee’s as eely as I am.
Mad dastard, a sad rat - Saddam.
Madam, I’m Adam.
Madam in Eden, I’m Adam.
Man, Eve let an irate tar in at eleven a.m.
Man, Oprah’s sharp on A.M.
Marge lets Norah see Sharon’s telegram.
Marge, let dam dogs in. Am on satire! Vow I am Cain. Am on spot. Am a Jap sniper. Red, raw murder on GI. Ignore drum. (Warner rips pajama tops.) No maniac, Ma! Iwo veritas: no man is God - Mad telegram.
May a moody baby doom a yam?
May it name ‘em anti-yam?
Mayhem, eh Yam?
Meg, am I naive? No, yaw a kayak away on Evian. I’m a gem.
Miry rim. So many daffodils slid off a dynamo’s miry rim.
“Miry rim. So many daffodils,” Delia wailed, “slid off a dynamo’s miry rim.”
Mo spell it so that lovers revolt. Ah to still Epsom.
Model truth: turtledom.
Mr. Owl Ate My Metal Worm.
Murder for a jar of red rum.
Must sell at tallest sum.
N.A. medico: Negro Jamaica? A CIA major genocide, man.
Nail, ligature, rut. A Gillian?
Nam was a saw man.
Name now one man.
Named undenominationally rebel, I rile Beryl. La, no! I tan. I’m, O Ned, nude man.
Naomi, did I moan?
“Naomi, sex at noon taxes,” I moan.
“Naomi,” I Moan.
Ned, go gag Ogden.
Neil A. sees alien.
Neil, an alien.
Never odd or even.
Niagara, O roar again.
No cab, no tuna nut on bacon.
No cabs’ bulbs? A gnat’s tool loots Tan “Gas” Blub’s bacon.
No gnu have never after fret far, even Eva hung on.
No, I met System Ion.
No, it can, as it is, it is a war. Raw as it is, it is an action.
No, it is open on one position.
No, it is opposed, art sees trade’s opposition
No, it is opposition.
No lemons, no melon.
No, Mel Gibson is a casino’s big lemon.
No misses ordered roses, Simon.
No pet so tragic as a cigar to step on.
No, she stops spots, eh, son?
No side, no in union, Edison.
No, sir, prefer prison.
No, son! Onanism’s a gross orgasm sin – a no-no, son.
No stetson.
No stetson hats. Operas are post. Ah, no stetson.
No witness, a fool. A nasal aria’s time emits air. Alas, an aloof assent: I won.
Nog eroded Oregon.
Nora, a raft! Is it far, Aaron?
Noriega can idle, held in a cage, iron.
Norma is as selfless as I am, Ron.
Nosegay ages on.
Not lads simple, help Miss Dalton.
Not New York, Roy went on.
Note: nine Devo-organists in a groove den in Eton.
Now, Ned, I am a maiden nun. Ned, I am a maiden won.
Now’s evil for evil? Ah, a liver of lives won.
Nurses run.
O Bobo! Get Indy clear! He’d render a red nerd eh? Ra! El Cid nite! Go Bobo!
O, geronimo, no minor ego.
O, I dare not tone radio.
O, memsahib Bart, rabbi has memo.
O, stone, be not so.
O.E.D. or rodeo?
Ogre, flog a golfer. Go.
Oh, no! Don Ho.
Olli’d accept a fat peccadillo.
On a clover, if alive, erupts a vast, pure evil, a fire volcano.
Otto did bob did otto.
Otto saw pup, pup was Otto.
Oy, Oy, a tonsil is not a yo-yo.
Pa’s a sap.
Paganini: Din in A Gap.
Paget saw an Irish tooth, Sir, in a waste gap.
Panda had nap.
Parcel bare ferret up mock computer-referable crap.
Parkay yak rap.
Party boobytrap.
Party-trap.
“Peanuts’ Legs” is Gels’ Tuna EP.
Pint a’ Catnip.
Plan no damn Madonna LP.
Poor Dan is in a droop.
Poor Das is a droop.
Pope pop.
Puff up.
Pull up if I pull up.
Pus, Dan, Ogre sales use laser gonads up.
Racecar.
Race fast, safe car.
Radar.
Rae, bite yon no yeti bear.
Rat-star.
Rats ailed, damn it, in mad Delia’s tar.
Rats drown in WordStar.
Rats live on no evil star.
Raw sexes war.
Raw, evil dam on Niagara. Gain net time. Sub bus, emit ten Niagara. Gain no mad, live war.
Re-paper.
Red lost case, Ma. Jesse James acts older.
Red Nevada vendor.
Red rum, sir, is murder.
Red? No. Who is it? 'Tis I. Oh, wonder!
Redivider.
Redraw a warder.
Reflog a golfer.
“Regal as tide” Kramer remarked. “It’s a lager.”
Regal lager.
Reg, Its sarcastic. Its a crass tiger.
Remarkable was I ere I saw Elba Kramer.
Reno loner.
Reviled did I live, said I, as evil I did deliver.
Reward animals, O Greg, ergo slam in a drawer.
Rise to vote, sir.
Rise, sir lapdog. Revolt, lover God, pal, rise, sir.
Rise, take lame female Kate, sir.
Rob a loneliness? Senile, no labor.
Rococo “R”.
Rot can rob a born actor.
Rot-corpse Sumatran art amuses proctor.
Rotavator.
Roti de pup editor.
Roy, am I mayor?
Rub bur.
Sad, I’m Midas.
Sardi puts nog on stupid RA’s.
Satan oscillate my metallic sonatas.
Saw tide rose? So red it was.
Self-furnace Pecan ruffles.
Senile felines.
Set at serif, as Safire states.
Sex at noon taxes.
Sex-aware era waxes.
Sexes.
Sh, Tom sees moths.
Sir, I soon saw Bob was no Osiris.
Sis, ask Costner to not rent socks “as is”.
Sis, Sargasso moss a grass is.
Sit on a potato pan, Otis.
Sniff’um muffins.
Snug & raw was I ere I saw war & guns.
Snug all L.A. guns.
So many dynamos.
So, G. Rivera’s tots are virgos.
So, Ida, adios.
Solo gigolos.
Solos.
Some men interpret nine memos.
Sore eye, Eros?
Sore was I ere I saw Eros.
Splat, I hit Alps.
Stab nail at ill Italian bats.
Star comedy by Democrats.
Star Wars awe was raw rats.
Star-red rum and Edna murder rats.
Star? Come Donna Melba, I’m an amiable man, no Democrats.
Stella won no wallets.
Step on no pets.
Stop! Murder us not, tonsured rumpots.
Stop, Syrian, I start at rats in airy spots.
Strap on no parts.
Stratagem: megatarts.
Straw warts.
Straw? No, too stupid a fad, I put soot on warts.
Stunts is. Niece insist nuts.
Sums are not set as a test on Erasmus.
Suneva, Nina is sure Russian in a Venus.
Sup not on pus.
Suppository rot, I sop pus.
Swen, on gnus, sung no news.
Sworn I sit, ‘tis in rows.
T. Eliot nixes sex in toilet.
T. Eliot, top bard, notes putrid tang emanating, is sad, I’d assign it a name: gnat dirt upset on drab pot toilet.
Tangy gnat.
Tarzan raised Desi Arnaz’ rat.
Ten animals I slam in a net.
Tense, I snap Sharon roses, or Norah’s pansies net.
The almanac can am laeht.
Timid, I’m it.
Tini saw drawer, a reward was in it. Taem, no Devil lived on meat.
‘Tis Ivan on a visit.
To Idi Amin: I’m a idiot.
To last, Carter retracts a lot.
To Dr., et al. Re: Grub. Ma had a hamburger. Later, Dot.
Toni Tennille fell in net. I, not.
Tons o’ snot.
Too bad, I hid a boot.
Too hot to hoot.
Top spot.
Top step’s pup’s pet spot.
Trade bad DA bed art.
Trafalgar rag: La Fart.
Trays simple help, missy art.
Tulsa night life: filth, gin, a slut.
Tuna nut.
UFO tofu.
Unremarkable was I ere I saw Elba Kramer, nu?
Vanna, wanna V?
Viva le te de Tel Aviv.
Vote to not slip up, refer pupils to note TOV.
Warsaw was raw.
Was it a bar or a bat I saw?
Was it a bat I saw?
Was it a car or a cat I saw?
Was it a cat I saw?
Was it a rat I saw?
Was it Eliot’s toilet I saw?
Was raw tap ale not a reviver at one lap at Warsaw?
We few erase cares, Al. Laser aces are we few.
We few.
We panic in a pew.
We seven, Eve, sew.
Wet rare paper art, ew!
Wo Nemo, toss a lasso to me now.
Woman maps yam snot and DNA. Tons may spam Nam. Ow!
Won’t cat lovers revolt? Act now!
Won’t lovers revolt now?
Wonder if Sununu’s fired now.
Wontons? Not now.
Xerxes was stunned. Eden nuts saw sex, rex.
Yaw. A sleep apnoea. A eon, Pa, peels away.
Yawn a more Roman way.
Yawn. Madonna fan? No damn way.
Yell upset a cider, predicates pulley.
Yo bob, mug a gumbo boy.
Yo! Banana Boy.
Yo! Bottoms up, U.S. Motto, boy.
Yo! job mug gumbo joy.
Yo, oy.
You buoy.
Young Ada had a gnu. Oy!
Yreka Bakery.
Zeus was deified, saw Suez.
The Panama Connection
A man, a plan, a canal - Panama!
A man, a plan, a cat, a canal - Panama!
A man, a plan, a cat, a ham, a yak, a yam, a hat, a canal - Panama!
A man, a plan, a canoe, pasta, heros’ rajahs, a coloratura, maps, snipe, percale, macaroni, a gag, a banana bag, a tan, a tag, a banana bag again (or a camel), a crepe, pins, Spam, a rut, a Rolo, cash, a jar, sore hats, a peon, a canal - Panama!
A man, a plan, a caret, a ban, a myriad, a sum, a lac, a liar, a hoop, a pint, a catalpa, a gas, an oil, a bird, a yell, a vat, a caw, a pax, a wag, a tax, a nay, a ram, a cap, a yam, a gay, a tsar, a wall, a car, a luger, a ward, a bin, a woman, a vassal, a wolf, a tuna, a nit, a pall, a fret, a watt, a bay, a daub, a tan, a cab, a datum, a gall, a hat, a fag, a zap, a say, a jaw, a lay, a wet, a gallop, a tug, a trot, a trap, a tram, a torr, a caper, a top, a tonk, a toll, a ball, a fair, a sax, a minim, a tenor, a bass, a passer, a capital, a rut, an amen, a ted, a cabal, a tang, a sun, an ass, a maw, a sag, a jam, a dam, a sub, a salt, an axon, a sail, an ad, a wadi, a radian, a room, a rood, a rip, a tad, a pariah, a revel, a reel, a reed, a pool, a plug, a pin, a peek, a parabola, a dog, a pat, a cud, a nu, a fan, a pal, a rum, a nod, an eta, a lag, an eel, a batik, a mug, a mot, a nap, a maxim, a mood, a leek, a grub, a gob, a gel, a drab, a citadel, a total, a cedar, a tap, a gag, a rat, a manor, a bar, a gal, a cola, a pap, a yaw, a tab, a raj, a gab, a nag, a pagan, a bag, a jar, a bat, a way, a papa, a local, a gar, a baron, a mat, a rag, a gap, a tar, a decal, a tot, a led, a tic, a bard, a leg, a bog, a burg, a keel, a doom, a mix, a map, an atom, a gum, a kit, a baleen, a gala, a ten, a don, a mural, a pan, a faun, a ducat, a pagoda, a lob, a rap, a keep, a nip, a gulp, a loop, a deer, a leer, a lever, a hair, a pad, a tapir, a door, a moor, an aid, a raid, a wad, an alias, an ox, an atlas, a bus, a madam, a jag, a saw, a mass, an anus, a gnat, a lab, a cadet, an em, a natural, a tip, a caress, a pass, a baronet, a minimax, a sari, a fall, a ballot, a knot, a pot, a rep, a carrot, a mart, a part, a tort, a gut, a poll, a gateway, a law, a jay, a sap, a zag, a fat, a hall, a gamut, a dab, a can, a tabu, a day, a batt, a waterfall, a patina, a nut, a flow, a lass, a van, a mow, a nib, a draw, a regular, a call, a war, a stay, a gam, a yap, a cam, a ray, an ax, a tag, a wax, a paw, a cat, a valley, a drib, a lion, a saga, a plat, a catnip, a pooh, a rail, a calamus, a dairyman, a bater, a canal - Panama!
[Note: this impressive 543-word palindrome was created in 1984 by Dan Hoey with help of a computer program he wrote.]
Palindromic Poems
Mood’s mode!
Pallas, I won!
(Diaper pane, sold entire.)
Melt till ever sere, hide it.
Drown a more vile note;
(Tar of rennet.)
Ah, trowel, baton, eras ago.
The reward? A “nisi.” Two nag.
Otary tastes putrid, yam was green.
Odes up and on; stare we.
Rats nod. Nap used one-erg saw.
(May dirt upset satyr?)
A toga now; 'tis in a drawer, eh?
Togas are notable.
(Worth a tenner for Ate.)
Tone liver. O Man, word-tied I.
Here’s revel!
Little merit, Ned? Lose, Nap?
Repaid now is all apedom’s doom.
(author unknown)
“To I, Lester”
A cotton eve,
O, trap! Eden!
O, television sad as night.
I wonder if senile sirs tell war days,
Words selfless, drowsy…
A drawl lets rise lines fired
[No!]
With gin:
Sad as “no” is,
I’ve let one depart.
O, eve–
Not to care…
–T. S. Eliot
(by Jesse K. Rosenthal)
Foreign Palindromes
Dutch
kok
cook
lol
fun
kook
to boil
neen
comp. to nope
lepel
spoon
parterretrap
a stair from earth level (approx translation)
“Mooie zeden in Ede” zei oom
“Beautiful sins in Ede” said uncle
Lepel? Nee kok, een LEPEL!
Spoon? No cook, a SPOON!
Finnish
Isa, ala myy myymalaasi
Father, don’t sell your shop
Iso rikas sika sokosakissa kirosi
fat rich pig cursed in a poker gang
Suolatalous
salt economy
Saippuakauppias
soap dealer
Saippuakivikauppias
soap stone dealer
Note: “Saippuakivikauppias” is the longest one-word palindrome in the world.
French
Esope reste ici et se repose.
Esope stays here and lies down.
Elu par cette crapule.
Elected by this creep.
German
Ein leder gurt trug Redel nie.
A leather belt never carried Redel.
Latin
Subi dura a rudibus
endure rough treatment from uncultured brutes
Sator Arepo tenet opera rotas
The sower Arepo works with the help of a wheel
Swedish
Ni talar bra latin.
You speak good Latin.
Sirap i Paris.
Syrup in Paris.
Welsh
Llad dafad dall.
Kill a blind sheep.
Word Palindromes
You can cage a swallow, can’t you, but you can’t swallow a cage, can you?
“Son I am able,” she said, “though you scare me.”
“Watch,” said I,
“beloved,” I said “watch me scare you though.” Said she,
“able am I, Son.”
(from the song “I Palindrome I” by They Might Be Giants)
Palindromic Computer Programs
This is not only a palindromic program, it’s actually a palindromic self-replicating program. That means that if you take your C compiler, compile this code, and then run it, the output of the program is exactly the code of the program.
You’ll need to remove the newline characters (i.e. make it one long line), and you may need to add #include <stdio.h>, which slightly blemishes the program, but it really is still incredibly cool.
//main(){chara=//};)q,q,a,q,q,811+a(ftnirp;’"’=q,//"//main(){chara=//
};)q,q,a,q,q,811+a(ftnirp;‘c%’=q,//c%s%c%//,q=‘c%’;printf(a+118,q,q,a,q,q);
}//=arahc{)(niam//main(){chara=//};)q,q,a,q,q,811+a(ftnirp;’%c’=q,//%c%
s%c//,q=’%c’;printf(a+118,q,q,a,q,q);}//=arahc{)(niam//"//,q=’"’;printf
(a+118,q,q,a,q,q);}//=arahc{)(niam/**/
This is the longest palindrome I know of:
Trace l’inégal palindrome. Neige. Bagatelle, dira Hercule. Le brut repentir, cet écrit
né Perec. L’arc lu pèse trop, lis
à vice-versa.
Perte. Cerise d'une vérité banale, le Malstrom, Alep, mort édulcoré, crêpe porté de
ce désir brisé d'un iota. Livre si
aboli, tes sacres ont éreinté, cor cruel, nos albatros. Etre las, autel bâti, miette
vice-versa du jeu que fit, nacré,
médical, le sélénite relaps, ellipsoïdal.
Ivre il bat, la turbine bat, l'isolé me ravale: le verre si obéi du Pernod -- eh, port su! --
obsédante sonate teintée
d'ivresse.
Ce rêve se mit -- peste! -- à blaguer. Beh! L'art sec n'a si peu qu'algèbre s'élabore
de l'or évalué. Idiome étiré,
hésite, bâtard replié, l'os nu. Si, à la gêne sècrete-- verbe nul à l'instar de cinq
occis--, rets amincis, drailles
inégales, il, avatar espacé, caresse ce noir Belzebuth, ¦il offensé, tire!
L'écho fit (à désert): Salut, sang, robe et été.
Fièvres.
Adam, rauque; il écrit: Abrupt ogre, eh, cercueil, l'avenir tu, effilé, genial à la rue
(murmure sud eu ne tire vaseline
séparée; l'épeire gelée rode: Hep, mortel?) lia ta balafre native.
Litige. Regagner (et ne m'...).
Ressac. Il frémit, se sape, na! Eh, cavale! Timide, il nia ce sursaut.
Hasard repu, tel, le magicien à morte me lit. Un ignare le rapsode, lacs ému, mixa,
mêla:
Hep, Oceano Nox, ô, béchamel azur! Éjaculer! Topaze!
Le cèdre, malabar faible, Arsinoë le macule, mante ivre, glauque, pis, l'air atone
(sic). Art sournois: si, médicinale,
l'autre glace (Melba ?) l'un? N'alertai ni pollen (retêter: gercé, repu, denté...) ni
tobacco.
Tu, désir, brio rimé, eh, prolixe nécrophore, tu ferres l'avenir velu, ocre, cromant-né?
Rage, l'ara. Veuglaire. Sedan, tes elzévirs t'obsèdent. Romain? Exact. Et Nemrod
selle ses Samson!
Et nier téocalli?
Cave canem (car ce nu trop minois -- rembuscade d'éruptives à babil -- admonesta,
fil accru, Têtebleu! qu'Ariane
évitât net.
Attention, ébénier factice, ressorti du réel. Ci-git. Alpaga, gnôme, le héros se
lamente, trompé, chocolat: ce laid
totem, ord, nil aplati, rituel biscornu; ce sacré bédeau (quel bât ce Jésus!). Palace
piégé, Torpédo drue si à fellah
tôt ne peut ni le Big à ruer bezef.
L'eugéniste en rut consuma d'art son épi d'éolienne ici rot (eh... rut?). Toi, d'idem
gin, élèvera, élu, bifocal, l'ithos
et notre pathos à la hauteur de sec salamalec?
Élucider. Ion éclaté: Elle? Tenu. Etna but (item mal famé), degré vide, julep:
macédoine d'axiomes, sac semé
d'École, véniel, ah, le verbe enivré (ne sucer ni arreter, eh ça jamais!) lu n'abolira le
hasard?
Nu, ottoman à écho, l'art su, oh, tara zéro, belle Deborah, ô, sacre! Pute, vertubleu,
qualité si vertu à la part tarifé
(décalitres?) et nul n'a lu trop s'il séria de ce basilic Iseut.
Il à prié bonzes, Samaritain, Tora, vilains monstres (idolâtre DNA en sus) rêvés,
évaporés:
Arbalète (bètes) en noce du Tell ivre-mort, émeri tu: O, trapu à elfe, il lie l'os, il lia
jérémiade lucide. Petard! Rate ta
reinette, bigleur cruel, non à ce lot! Si, farcis-toi dito le c¦ur!
Lied à monstre velu, ange ni bête, sec à pseudo délire: Tsarine (sellée, là), Cid,
Arétin, abruti de Ninive, Déjanire. .
.
Le Phenix, eve de sables, écarté, ne peut égarer racines radiales en mana: l'Oubli,
fétiche en argile.
Foudre.
Prix: Ile de la Gorgone en roc, et, ô, Licorne écartelée,
Sirène, rumb à bannir à ma (Red n'osa) niére de mimosa:
Paysage d'Ourcq ocre sous ive d'écale;
Volcan. Roc: tarot célé du Père.
Livres.
Silène bavard, replié sur sa nullité (nu à je) belge: ipséité banale. L' (eh, ça!)
hydromel à ri, psaltérion. Errée
Lorelei...
Fi! Marmelade déviré d'Aladine. D'or, Noël: crèche (l'an ici taverne gelée dès bol...)
à santon givré, fi!, culé de
l'âne vairon.
Lapalisse élu, gnoses sans orgueil (écru, sale, sec). Saluts: angiome. T'es si
crâneur!
. . .
Rue. Narcisse! Témoignas-tu ! l'ascèse, là, sur ce lieu gros, nasses ongulées...
S'il a pal, noria vénale de Lucifer, vignot nasal (obsédée, le genre vaticinal), eh,
Cercle, on rode, nid à la dérive,
Dèdale (M. . . !) ramifié?
Le rôle erre, noir, et la spirale mord, y hache l'élan abêti: Espiègle (béjaune) Till: un
as rusé.
Il perdra. Va bene.
Lis, servile repu d'électorat, cornac, Lovelace. De visu, oser?
Coq cru, ô, Degas, y'a pas, ô mime, de rein à sonder: à marin nabab, murène
risée.
Le trace en roc, ilote cornéen.
O, grog, ale d'elixir perdu, ô, feligrane! Eh, cité, fil bu!
ô ! l'anamnèse, lai d'arsenic, arrérage tué, pénétra ce sel-base de Vexin. Eh,
pèlerin à (Je: devin inédit) urbanité
radicale (elle s'en ira...), stérile, dodu.
Espaces (été biné? gnaule?) verts.
Nomade, il rue, ocelot. Idiot-sic rafistolé: canon! Leur cruel gibet te niera, têtard
raté, pédicule d'aimé rejailli.
Soleil lie, fléau, partout ire (Métro, Mer, Ville...) tu déconnes. Été: bètel à brasero.
Pavese versus Neandertal! O,
diserts noms ni à Livarot ni à Tir! Amassez.
N'obéir.
Pali, tu es ici: lis abécédaires, lis portulan: l'un te sert-il? à ce défi rattrapa l'autre?
Vise-t-il auquel but rêvé tu
perças?
Oh, arobe d'ellébore, Zarathoustra! L'ohcéan à mot (Toundra? Sahel?) à ri: Lob à nul
si à ma jachère, terrain
récusé, nervi, née brève l'haleine véloce de mes casse-moix à (Déni, ô!) décampé.
Lu, je diverge de ma flamme titubante: une telle (étal, ce noir édicule cela mal)
ascèse drue tua, ha, l'As.
Oh, taper ! Tontes ! Oh, tillac, ô, fibule à reve l'Énigme (d'idiot tu) rhétoricienne.
Il, ‘dipe, Nostradamus nocturne et, si né Guelfe, zébreur à Gibelin tué (pentothal?),
le faiseur d'ode protège.
Ipéca...: lapsus.
Eject à bleu qu'aède berça sec. Un roc si bleu! Tir. ital.: palindrome tôt dialectal.
Oc? Oh, cep mort et né, mal
essoré, hélé. Mon gag aplati gicle. Érudit rossérecit, ça freine, benoit, net.
Ta tentative en air auquel bète, turc, califat se (nom d'Ali-Baba!) sévit, pure de --
d'ac? -- submersion importune,
crac, menace, vacilla, co-étreinte...
Nos masses, elles dorment? Etc... Axé ni à mort-né des bots. Rivez! Les Etna de
Serial-Guevara l'égarent.
N'amorcer coulevrine.
Valser. Refuter.
Oh, porc en exil (Orphée), miroir brisé du toc cabotin et né du Perec: Regret
éternel. L'opiniâtre. L'annu- lable.
Mec, Alger tua l'élan ici démission. Ru ostracisé, notarial, si peu qu'Alger,
Viet-Nam (élu caméléon!), Israël,
Biafra, bal à merde: celez, apôtre Luc à Jéruzalem, ah ce boxon! On à écopé, ha,
le maximum
Escale d'os, pare le rang inutile. Métromane ici gamelle, tu perdras. Ah, tu as rusé!
Cain! Lied imité la vache (à ne
pas estimer) (flic assermenté, rengagé) régit.
Il évita, nerf à la bataille trompé.
Hé, dorée, l'Égérie pelée rape, sénile, sa vérité nue du sérum: rumeur à la laine,
gel, if, feutrine, val, lieu-créche,
ergot, pur, Bâtir ce lieu qu'Armada serve: if étété, éborgnas-tu l'astre sédatif?
Oh, célérités ! Nef! Folie! Oh, tubez ! Le brio ne cessera, ce cap sera ta valise;
l'âge: ni sel-liard (sic) ni
master-(sic)-coq, ni cédrats, ni la lune brève. Tercé, sénégalais, un soleil perdra ta
bétise héritée (Moi-Dieu, la
vérole!)
Déroba le serbe glauque, pis, ancestral, hébreu (Galba et Septime-Sévère). Cesser,
vidé et nié. Tetanos. Etna dès
boustrophédon répudié. Boiser. Révèle l'avare mélo, s'il t'a béni, brutal tablier vil.
Adios. Pilles, pale rétine, le sel,
l'acide mercanti. Feu que Judas rêve, civette imitable, tu as alerté, sort à blason,
leur croc. Et nier et n'oser.
Casse-t-il, ô, baiser vil? à toi, nu désir brisé, décédé, trope percé, roc lu. Détrompe
la. Morts: l'Ame, l'Élan abêti,
revenu. Désire ce trépas rêvé: Ci va ! S'il porte, sépulcral, ce repentir, cet écrit ne
perturbe le lucre: Haridelle, ta
gabegie ne mord ni la plage ni l'écart.A word or phrase which spells a different, equally intelligible word or phrase bcakwards is referred to by wordsmiths as a semordnilap, for obvious reasons.
While semordnilap is cute, they are usually just called reversals. See the bottom of this page for more of them.