Philofaxy All Stars Guest Post – Palindromes by Cissy

1017_palindrome — Palindrome (n) “line that reads the same backward and forward,” 1620s, from Greek palindromos “a recurrence,” literally “a running back,” from palin “again, back”

My name is Cissy from The Contemplative Belle. Like Janet, I am a member of the Philofaxy All Stars Team and am honored to be a guest author on This Bug’s Life.

The English language is a paradox. At times it is frustratingly difficult to understand and at others it’s just plain fun and games. Today we are going to have some fun with palindromes. Palindromes are words, phrases, or sentences that read the same backwards as forwards. There are simple examples such as the common words:

The fun starts when we start challenging ourselves with more complex palindromes. Look at these examples:

racecar
repaper
kayak
rotator

It can get even more interesting when we begin putting entire sentences together.

Was it a cat I saw?
Drab as a fool, aloof as a bard.
Do geese see God?
Are we not drawn onward, we few, drawn onward to new era?
A man, a plan, a canal: Panama.

Many years ago, I taught school and always enjoyed having a student in my class with a palindromic name. Quite effective to have the class enter in the morning with the words “Anna is a palindrome.” written on the whiteboard with no explanation. It certainly got their attention and instigated my most attentive Language Arts lessons of the semester.

Test your imagination and see what you can come up with. Challenge your brain and imagination and leave us comments with your palindromic ideas.

Thank you, Janet, for having me as a guest on This Bug’s Life and I look forward to having you visit me at The Contemplative Belle.