# Name for word (rather than letter) "palindromes"?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-for-word-rather-than-letter-palindromes/948551>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [August 12, 2021, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-for-word-rather-than-letter-palindromes/948551 "2021-08-12T23:24:10Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**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:** [August 12, 2021, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-for-word-rather-than-letter-palindromes/948551/1 "2021-08-12T23:24:10Z")

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Some among you must know. What’s the name for a phrase where the words repeat like a palindrome (but the words themselves aren’t palindromic)? For example, the species and subspecies “sapiens sapiens,” but with more words on both ends (“X Y sapiens sapiens Y X”). Thanks!

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**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\
**Post date:** [August 12, 2021, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-for-word-rather-than-letter-palindromes/948551/2 "2021-08-12T23:29:46Z")

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You mean like [**Deadbeat Dad Beat Dead**](https://www.google.com/search?q=deadbeat+dad+beat+dead+simpsons&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiKm8iN0azyAhXOTjABHddBAWsQ_AUoAXoECAEQAw&biw=1400&bih=856#imgrc=78a4ofnldPHbcM)?

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**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:** [August 12, 2021, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-for-word-rather-than-letter-palindromes/948551/3 "2021-08-12T23:41:18Z")

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Exactly.

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**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\
**Post date:** [August 12, 2021, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-for-word-rather-than-letter-palindromes/948551/4 "2021-08-12T23:51:52Z")

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Word-unit palindromes.

> **[Palindrome | Characters, words, or lines](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palindrome#Characters,_words,_or_lines)**
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> The most familiar palindromes in English are character-unit palindromes, where the characters read the same backward as forward. Examples are civic, radar, level, rotor, kayak, madam, and refer. The longest common ones are rotator, deified, racecar and reviver; longer examples such as redivider, kinnikinnik and tattarrattat are orders of magnitude rarer.
> There are also word-unit palindromes in which the unit of reversal is the word ("Is it crazy how saying sentences backwards creates backwards s...

**susan** : Thank you for getting me to learn something; 'taint easy. 😃

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**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:** [August 13, 2021, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-for-word-rather-than-letter-palindromes/948551/5 "2021-08-13T01:03:00Z")

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Thank you!