Variations on a Palindromic Theme

Authors

Howard Richler

Abstract

In a May 1991 Word Ways article entitled "Palindromic Construction", I explained how many palindromic sentences have inner structures that allow for substituting other words to form new palindromes. For example, in the well-known palindrome ABLE WAS I ERE I SAW ELBA, the palindrome is composed of an inner palindrome WAS I ERE I SAW and the words ABLE and ELBA which spell each other when reversed. Thus any word pairs which spell each other backwards will keep the palindrome in order. Two puerile examples that fulfill this criterion are ANAL WAS I ERE I SAW LANA and A SLUT WAS I ERE I SAW TULSA. In the last example, the two words A SLUT are balanced by TULSA.

Recommended Citation

Richler, Howard (1996) "Variations on a Palindromic Theme," Word Ways: Vol. 29 : Iss. 2 , Article 15.
Retrieved from: https://digitalcommons.butler.edu/wordways/vol29/iss2/15