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AWADmail Issue 17

A Compendium of Feedback on the Words in A.Word.A.Day and Other Interesting Tidbits about Words and Languages

From: Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org)
Subject: semordnilap and dna palindromes

Great response to the call for semordnilap/palindromes. Here are a few selections. On another note, do you think Mets will stem Yankees or will the latter seek nay for the former?

And yes, there is something called "DNA palindrome". Look it up.

From: Doug Keeslar (dfinagle frontiernet.net)
Subject: semordnilaps

Did you hear about the dyslexic Agnostic? He refused to acknowledge the existence of Dog.

From: Deborah Weber (demmpw xmission.com)
Subject: (Fwd) GOA-PVF: Stupak And Yob

Thanks for AWAD. It is a great delight, especially when strange coincidences occur. Just after I got my first semordnilap, I got this activist letter about two candidates. Their real, honest-to-goodness names: Stupak (kaputs) and Yob (boy)!

Unbelievable but true. Search the Web for these two names to know more about their race for the 1st Congressional District in Michigan. -Anu

From: Dennis Martinez (notsiwel aol.com)
Subject: palindromes/semordnilap

I love palindromes and spelling words backwards for fun.

There is a remodeling business in the Niagara Falls, NY area named Aragain Products. I always wondered about that name, so when they were doing some work for me remodeling my kitchen, I asked where they got the name Aragain and the answer was, "It's Niagara spelled backwards".

Also, my own aol screen name is Notsiwel is a semordnilap for my home town of Lewiston, NY.

Sinned Zenitram/ Dennis Martinez

From: Theresa Cunningham (tmcunnin hotmail.com)
Subject: palindromes

Hi there! I read a great book recently called The Poisonwood Bible. There is a character in the book who loves to use palindromes. Here are a few that she uses in the book:

Evil, all its sin is still alive.
Do go Tata to God.
Drawn onward.

Also noted by Karen-Maya Kaapcke (karenmaya1 yahoo.com), Carol Ricketts (cricketts midwestgrain.com) and Zoe Friedberg (zoefri hotmail.com). -Anu

From: Brian Mitchell (skinner41 webtv.net)
Subject: Just Noticed This One

I work at the El Rey Inn, a tourist hotel in Santa Fe, NM. On the front door is a sign that says unmistakably, "NO PETS." Backwards, it reads 'STEP ON," and there is indeed a step to be scaled.

From: Joe Kolb (joe.kolb enron.com)
Subject: an example of a reversible word

A friend of mine, Don Cram, has several brothers. When the youngest of these brothers was about to be born, their mother told them she was going to name the new son Mark. The older ones insisted that they name him, Marc, so that it would be Cram spelled backwards. She did. It is the only example in English I know of a real, normal first and last name that were reversible.

From: Noel Leon (nleon da.co.la.ca.us)
Subject: FW: A.Word.A.Day--avid

In response to your request for palindromes, my name is "Noel Anna Leon".

From: James Dignan (grutness surf4nix.com)
Subject: Re: semordnilaps

Not far from where I live is Glenelg Street, named after the Scottish town with possibly the world's longest palindromic place-name.

From: Raúl Ramírez López (raulrmzl ieee.org)
Subject: A Spanish semordnilap phrase

Here is a Spanish phrase with the semordnilapic quality: "Anita lava la tina", that can be translated as "Little Ana washes the bathtub".

From: Mike Maguire (maguman aol.com)
Subject: Palindromes

What a joy it is for me to see a palindromic theme to this week's words! Not only am I huge and long-time A.Word.A.Day fan, but I am an avid writer of palindromes. An example of one of my attempts at poetry goes --

See fondness drown me.
Lost, solemn words send no fees.

From: Danny Birchall (danny.birchall bfi.org.uk)
Subject: RE: A.Word.A.Day--strop

You might like to know that round these parts (England), 'strop' has another meaning: to throw a temper tantrum, or act in a moody fashion. Also 'stroppy': bad tempered, unco-operative. Interestingly, it means something similar to another semordnilap: 'mard', a Midlands word meaning a mood or temper. 'In a mard', 'mardy', etc.

Also noted by a lot of other folks from UK and Australia. -Anu

From: Andrew Pressburger (andrew.pressburger primus.ca)
Subject: Nonet

Many years ago (more than I care to remember), perennial panelist and wag extraordinaire on the BBC radio show "My Music," Frank Muir, gave the following definition for nonet: "The unconsumed portion of dinner."

From: Wendy Rothwell (wendyrothwell nettonettech.com)
Subject: FYI

Today (Oct 16), the birth date of Noah Webster (1758-1843), is Dictionary Day; established to show our appreciation for all dictionaries and wordsmiths.

From: Raymond Shiel (rayshiel mac.com)
Subject: Correction

In fact, Nancy, Viscountess Astor was not the first woman member of Parliament in England. She was only the first woman to sit in Parliament, in 1919. The first woman member of Parliament in England was Constance, Countess Markiewicz who fought in the 1916 Easter rising in Dublin and was imprisoned. She was elected in 1918 but did not take her seat.

Also noted by Barry McSweeney (barry_mcsweeney hotmail.com). -Anu

From: Ghil`ad Zuckermann (ghil-ad.zuckermann modern-languages.oxford.ac.uk)
Subject: mondegreen

You might be pleased to hear that although the term MONDEGREEN does not appear in OED, it will be part of the forthcoming third edition.

From: Bronwen (bronwen starpixie.com)
Subject: Word question

If Misanthropy is the hatred of humankind, and Misogyny is the hatred of women, what is the hatred of men, meaning specifically persons of male gender?

This is the second-most often asked questions I get, right after the infamous angry/hungry/-gry one. The word you are looking for is misandry. Can you think of the perfect name for a woman who personifies misandry? Why, it has to be Ms. Andry. -Anu

From: James H. Reynierse (jreynierse worldnet.att.net)
Subject: Beetle Bailey

The Sunday comics came through today and compensated somewhat for the new, weekend emptiness at AWAD. Beetle Bailey lectured Sarge about "aglets" (shoelace ends), "bibcock" (faucet nozzle), "punt" (indentation at bottom of wine bottles), and "duff" (decaying matter on forest floors). Was this a subtle protest or perhaps divine intervention? And who will "step-up" next week to fill the AWAD weekend vacuum? Keep up the good work.

It is with words as with sunbeams, the more they are condensed, the deeper they burn. -Robert Southey (1774-1843)