# Longest and shortest palindrome
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-and-shortest-palindrome/521576
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [December 17, 2009, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-and-shortest-palindrome/521576 "2009-12-17T02:02:14Z")
**Posts on this page:** 7
**Page:** 3
### Author:  [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)
#### Post date: [December 21, 2009, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-and-shortest-palindrome/521576/41 "2009-12-21T05:51:32Z")
> [@pravnik](#):
>
> I believe that actually happened; the palindrome was actually an inspired newspaper headline.
>
> Okay, not really, but cool, right?
I would have gotten to “a myriad” and wondered what I could fit 10,000 of into a rowboat. Paper clips?
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### Author:  [@Uncle\_Brother\_Walker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncle_Brother_Walker)
#### Post date: [December 21, 2009, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-and-shortest-palindrome/521576/42 "2009-12-21T08:24:34Z")
Wow. You guys are good.
“I did, did I?”
That’s all I’ve got.
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### Author:  [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)
#### Post date: [December 21, 2009, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-and-shortest-palindrome/521576/43 "2009-12-21T14:58:45Z")
> [@dtilque](#):
>
> **Satan, oscillate my metallic sonatas**. Meaningless, of course, but you have to admire one which has an average word length of over 6 letters/word.
This rings a bell, I think Stephen Fry tackled this very thing in one of his early newspaper columns and I seem to recall that was the winner. I must dig out “Paperweight” and see if I can find that chapter, he had some corkers I think.
Aha, here we are!
“It’s Ade, Cilla, Sue, Dame Vita, Edna, Nino, Emo! Come on in and eat, I’ve made us all iced asti”
“Rettebs, I flahd noces, eh? Ttu, but the second half is better”
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### Author:  [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)
#### Post date: [December 22, 2009, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-and-shortest-palindrome/521576/44 "2009-12-22T08:05:15Z")
Is there a word for phonetic palindromes, not specifically letter ones? I’ve only come with one, and it’s not even complete at that: kitchen/chicken (the “t” in “kitchen” is phonetically part of “ch”).
I’m trying to get this game going, but everyone I harangue seems to find it boring…
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### Author:  [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)
#### Post date: [December 22, 2009, 9:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-and-shortest-palindrome/521576/45 "2009-12-22T09:22:32Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#):
>
> Is there a word for phonetic palindromes, not specifically letter ones? I’ve only come with one, and it’s not even complete at that: kitchen/chicken (the “t” in “kitchen” is phonetically part of “ch”).
Maybe I’m misunderstanding, but I don’t see how kitchen/chicken is a palindrome. It can be a spoonerism, though. (However, “chicken neck itch” would more-or-less work as your phoentic palindrome, I think.)
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### Author:  [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)
#### Post date: [December 22, 2009, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-and-shortest-palindrome/521576/46 "2009-12-22T18:40:11Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#):
>
> I guess _Atlas Shrugged_ is merely the first half of an as-yet uncompleted palindrome that ends with “…si? Oh, W.” Maybe Francisco lamenting Bush43?
The fact that there’s not a “longest palindrome” does not in any way imply that every string of letters can be included in a palindrome.
Simple proof by contradiction that there’s no longest palindrome: Assume that you have found the longest palindrome. Find the middle. Insert " I ", or “saw was” or any other simple palindromic phrase. You did not in fact have the longest palindrome.
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### Author:  [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)
#### Post date: [December 23, 2009, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-and-shortest-palindrome/521576/47 "2009-12-23T01:13:46Z")
Needless corrrection to my own most recent posting: the new genre of palindromes I’m willing to spread cost-free should be called “phonemic”, not “phonetic” palindromes.
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