anadrome
{{short description|Word whose spelling is derived by reversing the spelling of another word}}
{{About-distinguish|a type of anagram|Anadromy}}
File:Anadrome animation wolf ↔ flow.gif
An anadrome{{cite journal |last=Brunton |first=Finn |date=November–December 2010 |title=Roar so wildly: Spam, technology and language |url=https://www.radicalphilosophyarchive.com/issue-files/rp164_commentary_roarsowildly_brunton.pdf |journal=Radical Philosophy |volume= |issue= 164 |page=6 |quote=Bifacial text, a kind of anadrome which reads with two distinct meanings when read forward or backward. |doi= |access-date=December 13, 2024 }}{{cite book |last=Kragh |first=Helge |author-link=Helge Kragh |date=2024 |title=The Names of Science: Terminology and Language in the History of the Natural Sciences |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NmkPEQAAQBAJ&pg=PA255 |location=Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=255 |quote=As the first case of a retrograde asteroid [
- Semordnilap is an anadrome of palindromes. According to author O. V. Michaelsen in his 1997 book Words at Play, semordnilap was probably first used by recreational linguist Dmitri Borgmann, cited by Martin Gardner in the revised edition of Charles Carroll Bombaugh's Oddities and Curiosities of Words and Literature (1961).{{cite book |last=Bombaugh |first=Charles Carroll |date=1961 |title=Oddities and Curiosities of Words and Literature |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f4kNAQAAIAAJ |location= |publisher=Dover Publications |page=345 |isbn=}}
- Levi Budd, a boy from Toronto, Canada, coined levidrome in 2017, and there were attempts to get it recognized by Merriam-Webster and Oxford English Dictionary.{{Cite web|url=https://fox4kc.com/news/what-is-a-levidrome-merriam-webster-recognizes-new-word-in-honor-of-little-boy/|title=What is a “levidrome?” Merriam-Webster recognizes new word in honor of little boy|date=November 27, 2017}} In 2018, Oxford replied that it is still not ready.{{Cite web|url=https://www.timescolonist.com/local-news/latest-word-on-levidrome-oxford-says-its-not-ready-but-linguist-begs-to-differ-4666641|title=Latest word on 'levidrome': Oxford says it's not ready, but linguist begs to differ|date=October 14, 2018|website=Times Colonist}} As of 2021, it is still being requested.{{Cite web|url=https://www.capitaldaily.ca/news/a-victoria-10-year-old-created-a-word-for-a-linguistic-oddity-over-the-past-four-years-its-come-to-mean-so-much-more|title=A Victoria 10-year-old created a word for a linguistic oddity. Over the past four years, it's come to mean so much more |work=Capital Daily}}}}, also known as an Emordnilap or a Semordnilap is a word or phrase whose letters can be reversed to spell a different word or phrase. For example, desserts is an anadrome of stressed. An anadrome is therefore a special type of anagram. The English language is replete with such words.
The word anadrome comes from Greek anádromos (ἀνάδρομος), "running backward", and can be compared to palíndromos (παλίνδρομος), "running back again" (whence palindrome).
There is a long history (dating at least to the fourteenth century, as with Trebor and S. Uciredor) of alternate and invented names being created out of anadromes of real names; such a contrived proper noun is sometimes called an ananym, especially if it is used as personal pseudonym. Unlike typical anadromes, these anadromic formations often do not conform to any real names or words. Similarly cacographic anadromes are also characteristic of Victorian back slang, where for example yob stands for boy.
Examples
The English language has a very large number of single-word anadromes, by some counts more than 900. Some examples:
- two letters: am ↔ ma; eh ↔ he; ew ↔ we; no ↔ on
- three letters: bro ↔ orb; dog ↔ god; gum ↔ mug; nip ↔ pin
- four letters: edit ↔ tide; evil ↔ live; liar ↔ rail; part ↔ trap
- five letters: denim ↔ mined; knits ↔ stink; lever ↔ revel; peels ↔ sleep
- six letters: denier ↔ reined; diaper ↔ repaid; drawer ↔ reward; pupils ↔ slip-up
- seven letters: amaroid ↔ diorama; deliver ↔ reviled; gateman ↔ nametag
- eight letters: desserts ↔ stressed
An anadrome can also be a phrase, as in no tops ↔ spot on. The word redrum (i.e., "red rum") is used this way for murder in the Stephen King novel The Shining (1977) and its film adaptation (1980).{{cite book |last=Lederer |first=Richard |author-link=Richard Lederer |date=1998 |title=The Word Circus: A Letter-perfect Book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wHlHFp9zG1wC&pg=PA89 |location=Springfield, Massachusetts |publisher=Merriam-Webster, Inc |page=89 |isbn=}}
Anadromes exist in other written languages as well, as can be seen, for example, in Spanish orar ↔ raro or French l'ami naturel ("the natural friend") ↔ le rut animal ("the animal rut").
=Invented anadromes=
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| anadrome
!derivation !description !references |
|---|
| daraf
|a unit of elastance equal to the reciprocal farad | |
| emirp
|a prime number that results in a different prime when its digits are reversed | |
| gnip gnop
|reminiscent of the other tabletop game | |
| mho
|ohm |a unit of electrical conductance which is the reciprocal of an ohm; now known by its official SI name "siemens", although mho is still sometimes used |
| namyats
|Stayman |bridge convention invented by Sam Stayman, who also invented the Stayman convention. |
| nimda
|the computer worm assumed admin-like powers. | |
| tink
|knit |to unknit | |
| xallarap
|converse microlensing effect | |
| yrneh
|A unit of measurement for reciprocal electrical inductance. | |
=Ananyms and anadromic names=
{{Dynamic list}}
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| ananym
!derivation !description !type !references |
|---|
| Adanac
| Canada | a tourist cottage in Ontario | proper name | |
| Adanac[s]
| Canada | a Canadian lacrosse team | team name | |
| Adaven
| Nevada | ghost town | proper name | |
| Airegin
| Nigeria | composer Sonny Rollins is African American | song name | |
| Allerednic
| A "riches to rags" tale as opposed to Cinderella's rags to riches. Used by Jonathan Gershuny of high-achieving women whose careers stall after marriage. | proper name |
| Alucard
| Dracula | borne by various characters inspired by Bram Stoker's novel Dracula (1897) | proper name |
| Ani Lorak
| Karolina | stage name of Karolina Kuiek | pseudonym | |
| Azed
| Deza | pen name of Jonathan Crowther, after Spanish inquisitor Diego Deza | pseudonym |
| [C. W.] Ceram
| Marec | pen name of German journalist K. W. Marek (latinized Marec) | pseudonym |
| Dioretsa
| asteroid | asteroid with retrograde orbit | proper name |title = 20461 Dioretsa (1999 LD31) |work = Minor Planet Center |url = https://www.minorplanetcenter.net/db_search/show_object?object_id=20461 |accessdate = 20 November 2018}} |
| Dnoces
| "second" | Apollo program joke by Grissom, after Edward H. White II | proper name |
| Ebbot [Lundberg]
| Tobbe | Tobbe is the usual hypocoristic of his given name Torbjörn | pseudonym | |
| Eivets Rednow
| | album name |
| elgooG
| reverse-spelling search engine | company name | |
| Navi
| Ivan | Apollo program joke by Virgil Ivan Grissom | proper name |
| Erewhon
| "nowhere" | A utopia and the title of an 1872 novel by Samuel Butler. The digraph <wh> is not reversed. Many names within the book are also ananyms. | proper name | {{cite journal|last=Balfour Daniels|first=R.|date=Winter 1969|title=Names in the Fiction of Samuel Butler (1835-1902)|journal=The South Central Bulletin|publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press, South Central Modern Language Association|volume=29|issue=4|pages=129–132|doi=10.2307/3187333|jstor=3187333}} |
| Erised
| "desire " | The Mirror of Erised in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone bears the inscription in reverse: "I show not your face but your heart's desire." | proper name |
| Esio Trot
| "tortoise" | children's book by Roald Dahl | book name | |
| Essiac
| Rene Caisse | tea formula invented by Rene Caisse | product name | |
| Etnaviv
| Vivante | open-source driver for Vivante GPU | product name | |
| Regor
| Roger | Apollo program joke by Grissom, after Roger B. Chaffee | proper name |
| Гярб вечнълс (Giarb vechnals)
| Слънчев бряг (Slanchev briag, "Sunny Beach") | Bulgarian Cyrillic ananym | proper name | |
| Harpo [Productions]
| Oprah | Oprah Winfrey's media company | company name |
| Klim
| "milk" | a brand of powdered milk sold by Nestlé, early ads featuring the slogan "Spell it backwards" | product name |
| Kroz
| Zork | homage to older computer game | product name | |
| Livic
| trade newspaper, "a reflection of Civil Engineering" | company name |
| Llamedos
| "sod 'em all" | in Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels (compare Llareggub) | proper name | |
| Llareggub
| "bugger all" | in Under Milk Wood | proper name |
| MAPS (Mail Abuse Prevention System)
| "spam" | reverse backronym | organization name | |
| Nagirroc
| Corrigan | historic home in Florida, after the owner's last name | proper name | |
| Namor
| "Roman" | comic book character named by Bill Everett | proper name | |
| Nevaeh
| "heaven" | feminine given name | proper name | |
| Nevar
| "raven" | In the 2002 TV series Raven, Nevar is the nemesis of the main character. It is also a minor character in an episode of Teen Titans Go! (see Bizarro World). (It is also a possible answer to Lewis Carroll's Mad Hatter riddle in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.) | proper name |
| Niloak Pottery
| "kaolin" | material used in products | company name | |
| Nitsuga
| Agustín | stage name of Agustín Barrios-Mangoré | pseudonym | |
| Nogard
| "dragon" | character in Alan F. Beck art series The Adventures of Nogard & Jackpot | proper name | Alan F. Beck, The Adventures of Nogard & Jackpot , 2009. {{ISBN|978-1449519391}} |
| Nomad
| Damon | named for founding member Damon Rochefort | band name | |
| Nomar [Garciaparra]
| Ramon | for his father, Ramon Garciaparra | proper name | |
| Nujabes
| Seba Jun | stage name of Jun Seba | pseudonym | |
| OAT (organizing autonomous telecomms)
| TAO (The Anarchy Organization) | OAT stands for "Organizing Autonomous Telecomms", a reverse backronym of its former name TAO, "The Anarchy Organization" | organization name | |
| Posdnuos
| "sound sop" | stage name of Kelvin Mercer | pseudonym |
| Rae Sremmurd
|"Ear" "Drummers" |first act signed to hip-hop label EarDrummers Records |band name | |
| Rednaxela Terrace, Hong Kong
| Alexander | believed to have been originally named after a Mr. Alexander, who partially owned the street, but reversed due to a clerical error | proper name | {{cite book |title= Signs of a Colonial Era|last1= Yanne|first1=Andrew|last2= Heller|first2= Gillis|year= 2009|publisher=Hong Kong University Press|page= 143|isbn= 9789622099449}}{{cite web|url=http://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/1987092/stories-behind-hong-kong-street-names-rednaxela-terrace-and|title=Stories behind Hong Kong street names: Rednaxela Terrace and its famous resident|work=South China Morning Post|date=8 July 2016 }} |
| Rekkof Aircraft
| Fokker | Rekkof aircraft are based on Fokker designs. Also Rekkof Restart. Now Fokker Next Gen. | company name | {{cite web | url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/fokkers-back-in-the-airplane-building-game/ | title=Fokker's Back in the Airplane-Building Game - CBS News | website=CBS News | date=10 March 2010 }} |
| Rellim
| Miller | a farm in West Virginia, named for founder Paul Miller | proper name | |
| Revilo
| Oliver | pen name of cartoonist Oliver Christianson | pseudonym | |
| Revilo [P. Oliver]
| Revilo was philologist Revilo P. Oliver's name at birth | proper name | |
| Ridan
| Nadir | named after another horse | proper name | |
| 로꾸거 (Rokuko)
| 거꾸로 (gokkuro) | backwards for Korean for "backwards" | song name | |
| Rotanev
| Venator | after Niccolò Cacciatore (Called Nicolaus Venator in Latin) | proper name |
| Seltaeb
| Beatles | the Beatles' merchandising company | company name |
| Senim Silla
| "All is mines." | stage name of hip hop artist Ross Rowe; "mines" is African-American Vernacular for "mine" | pseudonym |
| Senrab [Street]
| Barnes | a street in Stepney (whence Senrab F.C.), near Barnes Street | proper name | |
| Sevas Tra
| "Art saves." | debut album of Otep | album name | |
| Soma [Records]
| Amos | after owner Amos Heilicher | company name | |
| Strebor
| Roberts | altered from the company's original name, the Roberts Company | company name | |
| Sualocin
| Nicolaus | after Niccolò Cacciatore (Called Nicolaus Venator in Latin) | proper name |
| Tesremos
| Somerset | pen name of Derrick Somerset Macnutt | pseudonym |
| Trebloc
| Colbert | place in Mississippi, named for a local family, whose name is found in many places, and thus altered "to avoid further repetition" | proper name |
| Trebor
| Robert | 14th-century composer whose real name may have been Robert | pseudonym | |
| Trebor
| Robert | Trebor is a confectionary founded by Robert Robertson | company name | |
| Trebor
| Robert | Robert Trebor is the stage name of actor Robert Schenkman. | pseudonym | |
| Trebor and Werdna
| Robert Woodhead and Andrew C. Greenberg | characters in Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord computer game named after its programmers | proper name | |
| Trugoy [the Dove]
| "yogurt" | stage name of David Jude Jolicoeur, due to his fondness for yogurt | pseudonym |
| Xvid
| DivX | a competitor | company name | |
| Yarg
| Gray | Allan and Jenny Gray revived the recipe | product name | |
| Yellek
| Kelley | named for R. J. Kelley, trainmaster at the passing point | proper name | |
| [Stanley] Yelnats
| Stanley [Yelnats] | the main character in Louis Sachar's novel Holes | proper name | |
| Yen Sid
| Disney | the powerful sorcerer in Fantasia (1940), whose apprentice Mickey Mouse causes mayhem after borrowing his master's hat | proper name |
Many jazz titles were written by reversing names or nouns: Ecaroh inverts the spelling of its composer Horace Silver's Christian name. Sonny Rollins dedicated to Nigeria a tune called "Airegin".
A number of Pokémon species, such as the snake Pokémon Ekans and Arbok (cobra backwards with a K), have anadromic names.
See also
- Back slang, use of invented anadromes as coded language
- Anagram
- Palindrome
- Verlan
- List of geographic anagrams and ananyms
- :Category:Names derived from word reversals
Notes
{{Notelist}}
References
- {{cite book|last=Room|first=Adrian|title=Dictionary of Pseudonyms: 13,000 Assumed Names and Their Origins|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eSIhzKnNUf4C|access-date=15 January 2011|date=2010-07-26|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-0-7864-4373-4}}
{{Reflist}}