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Palindromes
We are discussing our plans for the day and I can't help myself and say, "A man, a plan, a canal, Panama!"
Ailz looks blank
"It's one of those things," I explain
"A mnemonic?" she suggests.
"No, one of those things where you write 'em backwards and they're exactly the same."
"A palindrome."
"Yes, I like 'em. Just a pity I can't remember what they're called...."
The challenge with a palindrome is to for it to be as long as possible and still conform to the rules of grammar and make some kind of sense. "A man, a plan" is just about the most convincing I know. It's longish- and one can imagine someone actually exclaiming it in admiration of de Lesseps, the engineer who built the Panama Canal.
The longest I know which isn't complete nonesense is this following astonishing performance by W.H. Auden:
"T. Eliot, top bard, notes putrid tang emanating, is sad. I'd assign it a name: Gnat dirt upset on drab pot toilet."
Ailz looks blank
"It's one of those things," I explain
"A mnemonic?" she suggests.
"No, one of those things where you write 'em backwards and they're exactly the same."
"A palindrome."
"Yes, I like 'em. Just a pity I can't remember what they're called...."
The challenge with a palindrome is to for it to be as long as possible and still conform to the rules of grammar and make some kind of sense. "A man, a plan" is just about the most convincing I know. It's longish- and one can imagine someone actually exclaiming it in admiration of de Lesseps, the engineer who built the Panama Canal.
The longest I know which isn't complete nonesense is this following astonishing performance by W.H. Auden:
"T. Eliot, top bard, notes putrid tang emanating, is sad. I'd assign it a name: Gnat dirt upset on drab pot toilet."