If you like wordplay, you'll love this brief guide to palindromes: words and phrases that say the same thing forwards & backwards (think "wow", "RADAR...
tocaat2410
3 years ago
My favourite (found on line several years ago) is:
Gert, I saw Ron avoid a radio van, or was it Reg?
Another favourite was given to me by a friend:
Doc note, I dissent. A fast never prevents a fatness. I diet on cod.
The most cringeworthy one I found on line was:
Did I strap red nude, red rump, also slap murdered underparts? I did! 😫
A few others, courtesy of Bill Bryson (some clever, some gratuitous):
Was it Eliot's toilet I saw?
Sex at noon taxes.
Are we not drawn onward, we few, drawn onward to new era?
Sums are not set as a test on Erasmus.
Too far, Edna, we wander afoot.
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thewebexpert3311
3 years ago
Most impressive (to me, at least) is "Weird Al" Yankovic's song "Bob." Not only is the title a palindrome, the song is constructed exclusively out of palindromes - which he, the creative genius that he is, has caused to rhyme with near-perfection throughout the entire song.
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apoolplayer278
2 years ago
Is it crazy how saying sentences backwards creates backwards sentences saying how crazy it is?
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dopebeatstudios
3 years ago (edited)
One example of a Greek palindrome which has a real meaning and is not only words
"νίψον ανομήματα μη μόναν όψιν"
which translates as
"wash off your sins, not only your face"
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friederike114
2 years ago
Hi Rob,
German here :)
2nd: Otto of course is a name, which means... Otto. Haha. No, it actually has a "real" meaning which is "eight". Originating in Italian (or is it even Latin?). And that again opens up a whole other world with "8" having such beautiful symmetry horizontally and vertically - as well as allowing for endless movement.
1st: "Pils mit Bier treibt im Slip" actually does make sense. "Treiben" has various meanings - one being " to float" but another one being "to urge". So, it means "A lot of beer makes you have to pee".
Lastly: I really enjoy your videos! Thank you!!
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Ghiaman1334
2 years ago
I've always thought the word for palindromes should have been a palindrome in itself. Knowing 'Palinilap' is now actually a thing, that leaves the ever powerful sounding 'semordromes', though a single one would have to be an 'emordrome' to preserve this quality
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amilgz
3 years ago
There's a Galician book called “A torre da derrota” (The tower of defeat), by Gonzalo Navaza. It's a poetry book, and all of the poems are palindromes. 😊
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FinFan94
2 years ago
Finnish has A LOT of palindromes and a few quite popular radio hosts used to have a 'palindrome of the week'. Few classics are "saippuakauppias" (a soap sales man) "innostunut sonni" (exited bull) and my favorite that i can remember "iso ja hatara ruma rata hajosi" (a large and unstable ugly railway collapsed). The last one makes perfect sense!
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daviddeming218
3 years ago (edited)
For forty years I worked as a bus driver and would often spend my time at stop lights creating palindromes. Working from an already created palindrome, "Eva can I stab bats in a cave?" Here we have a nested palindrome. If you insert a verb/object pair that is itself a palindrome you build new ones, all starting with "Eva can I ... ending with ... in a cave?" So one could insert "stir grits" or even "evade Dave" /// Very cool to see Graham Maddocks entry in these comments: Eva can ignite virtuosos out riveting in a cave.
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frufruJ
2 years ago
Czech here:
"Jelenovi pivo nelej" - Don't pour beer to the stag.
"Fešná paní volá: má málo vína pan šéf?" - The pretty lady calls: is the boss short of wine?
"A dál vidí lítat netopýry potentát i lid i vláda." - And the people and the government continue to see bats flying.
"Kuna nese nanuk." - The marten is carrying an ice-cream bar.
1
richaccetta-evans9941
1 year ago
After the first man said "Madam, I'm Adam", she replied with another palindrome :"Eve".
1
worldsedge4991
3 years ago
On Netflix is a new Korean language show, “Extraordinary Attorney Woo” about a young woman attorney with autism spectrum disorder. Her name, Woo Young-Woo is palindromic, “우영우”. She also has a habit when introducing herself by noting her name is the same coming or going and then rattles off a list of palindromes. These are translated in subtitles as “Kayak, deed, rotator…” obviously, these English palindromes don’t work in Korean. She actually says “기러기, 토마토, 스위스…” (goose, tomato, Swiss…)
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SimonCharman
3 years ago
“Step on no pets” is one that comes to mind when taking about palindromes. It is also useful advice … especially if you own a hamster. Love your channel. I have binge watched.
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RobPudWilliams
3 years ago
The marketplace outside the palace in Ankh Morpork in Terry Pratchett's Discworld is called Sator Square. Now I know why.
94
WingedAsarath
2 years ago
I've loved the SATOR square ever since I first learnt about it as a kid! It roughly translates to: "The sower, Arepo, holds the wheels at work". One really interesting fact about it is that, despite the earliest known square predating 79AD, the letters can be rearranged to spell out PATER NOSTER in a cross shape, with two pairs of letters left over: A and O for alpha and omega - the beginning and the end.
5
HoosierRallyMaster
1 year ago
After over a half century of knowing that "Madam I'm Adam" is a palindrome, it wasn't until your dramatic setting that I realized that the correct response is simply "Eve"
3
owhite2445
4 years ago
most underrated channel on youtube. this guy is the Brian Cox of the english language
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TimwiTerby
3 years ago
The longest single-word palindrome I’m aware of is “saippuakivikauppias”, which is Finnish for “soapstone dealer”.
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RFToob
3 years ago (edited)
My Nephew, at 7 years old, told me about palindromes. He mentioned ‘Racecar’. I thought that was impressive…so yes, that is my favorite one. Enjoyed this. Cheers!
19
Dinorigami
2 months ago
Your intros are always top notch 😮
(So is the rest of the video of course)
tocaat2410
3 years ago
My favourite (found on line several years ago) is: Gert, I saw Ron avoid a radio van, or was it Reg? Another favourite was given to me by a friend: Doc note, I dissent. A fast never prevents a fatness. I diet on cod. The most cringeworthy one I found on line was: Did I strap red nude, red rump, also slap murdered underparts? I did! 😫 A few others, courtesy of Bill Bryson (some clever, some gratuitous): Was it Eliot's toilet I saw? Sex at noon taxes. Are we not drawn onward, we few, drawn onward to new era? Sums are not set as a test on Erasmus. Too far, Edna, we wander afoot.
612