25 March 2023

Semordnilaps

New word for me.  I encountered it for the first time in last Saturday's New York Times crossword puzzle.
21D. This is a debut entry, although its singular form appeared once before. “Words that form other words when read backward” are SEMORDNILAPS, which have a kinship to palindromes, which read the same forward and backward, of course. As you might have noticed, the singular form, “semordnilap,” is palindromes spelled backward. Martin Gardner, a prolific writer and magician, coined the term.
Examples of palindromes and semordnilaps at Big Dave's Crossword Blog.  See Wikipedia for a list of synonyms.

2 comments:

  1. My new name for a palindrome: rotator.

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  2. "I am AI." is my newest palindrome. Fits the times, and, mirrors about the 'm'.

    ReplyDelete