PALINDROMES
I had no idea there were so many of them!
I have always thought of these linguistic puzzle-like oddities as something about as easy to find as real four-leaf clover specimens. I remembered only a few and among them was “Able Was I Ere I Saw Elba” which probably drove Old Nappy to the brink more than once.
Imagine my surprise when I turned the problem over to Internet and found bales and bundles of them in seven different languages. Eskey Blackwood gave me several pages of them, ranging from short ones such as: “Evil Olive,” “Step On No Pets,”
“Oh, No! Don Ho!” and “Dammit, I'm mad!” as well some longer ones which stretch
all the way across a page.
There was a tagged one half way down the list – an appended note which said “Click here for some amusing variations.” I think I've seen few of those and the next time I chance upon the page I might click on that item to see if it is “printable” or not. I suspect that's what the “amusing variation” might be. Before I do, I'll work on it a while. The items read: “A man, a plan, a canal – Panama!”
I have already found there is little reason for me to try to memorize these word puzzles. My memory isn't at all that it used to be. For instance, I wrote “seven” languages, didn't I? Now I find there are eight languages involved, but I have enough to keep me more than busy with just English listings alone.
I went on to yet another list of “well-known” palindromes and this one brought forth several pages of fine print listings. It includes most of the previous selections, of course, plus many more. I find myself wondering if our language can possibly, be read backward and become a second language we didn't realize we had so reasdily available.
I'm particularly glad I hit upon this collection of lines which can be read both ways - forward and backward with meaning. That's just the sort of thing I really need now that we are just twenty-some months away from national elections. It may just happen to be this is the key we have needed for so long which will enable us to know what politicians actually say when they say what they say. It does not, necessarily, have to mean what you thought it was supposed to mean. It may be that the office aspirant has mastered the art of palindroming and can speak “with forked tongue” as tribesmen used to say by which they may well have meant “both ways” or “double talk.” Try spelling “with forked tongue” backward in your favorite native tongue or dialect and let me know if it means anything sensible.
A.L.M. January 5, 2003 [c474wds]
