Do you know Malayalam is one of the longest palindromes in English? Is it the longest one? No. ‘Tattarrattat’, a word with 12 letters coined by James Joyce in his 1922 Ulysses to refer to the sound of a knock on the door, is considered to be the longest palindrome in English. However, Malayalam, with seven letters is not far behind.
What’s a palindrome? Going by the dictionary, any word or phrase or sentence or even verse that can be read the same backward and forward is called a palindrome. Originated from Greek, it literally means running back, and is believed to have made its entry into English by the 17th century.
In fact there are many such palindromes that we use in everyday life but don’t even notice, like ‘mom’ or ‘dad’. Let’s look at some of the interesting palindromes in English. ‘Madam’, ‘Refer’ or ‘Level’, some common words in our day-to-day affairs are the best examples. There are several more. Just that we don’t notice. Here are some other words – civic, rotor, kayak, reviver, redivider.
And why exactly would we use palindromes in a sentence? It helps to keep the readers engaged through some simple entertainment and fun. Look at this sentence – Madam, I’m Adam. Or when you say : ‘Step on no pets’.
A quick look at the dictionary or even Wiki pages will give you quite a few examples of interesting palindrome phrases like –
‘Mr. Owl ate my metal worm’, ‘Do geese see God?’, ‘Was it a car or a cat I saw?’ or ‘Murder for a jar of red rum’. So, what are you waiting for? Get going with your own palindrome sentences!