Archive for March, 2010
Stretch Your Mind with Palindromes
Published Saturday, March 6th, 2010 by SRS
Palindrome is complex concept.
For our purposes of writing well, consider a palindrome a word, phrase, sentence, paragraph, or poem that reads the same backwards or forwards. Then realize that palindromes show up in other sciences and arts too: math, acoustics, and music to name a few.
Hüsker Dü‘s concept album Zen Arcade contains the songs “Reoccurring Dreams” and “Dreams Reoccurring,” the latter of which appears earlier on the album but is actually the intro of the former song played in reverse.
Back to letters…
“Mom” is a palindrome. Short words simplify the idea. Look at these…
- Dad
- Level
- Redder
- Racecar
- Diefied
Notice that, for palindromes, punctuation doesn’t count. Capitalize any letter; place spaces and punctuation marks anywhere. Consider letters exclusively. Check out these short sentences:
- Rise to vote, Sir.
- Name now one man.
- Never a foot too far even.
- Pull a bat, I hit a ball up.
- Yawn a more Roman way.
Quirky, fun, weird: yep. But…
