A schoolmate Nitin would introduce himself with the line: "I'm Nitin, the same backwards and forwards". However cheesy that may be, at least it gave a mnemonic - people didn't forget his palindromic name in a hurry.
Palindromes are words or phrases that read the same in either direction. Words like MUM, DEED, REFER, the famous long one MALAYALAM. Phrases like NURSES RUN and MADAM I'M ADAM and SO MANY DYNAMOS.
When a palindrome appears in a cryptic puzzle, the clue will often make use of its same-both-ways attribute in the wordplay.
Times Sunday 4312: It swivels up and down (7)
FT 13124 (Mudd): Flat food turned over just the same (4)
Times 24250: Standard that may be raised to no effect (5)
Guardian 24502 (Orlando): Witnesses going up and down (4)
- The word "palindrome" is derived from the Greek palíndromos, meaning "running back" (palín = back + dromos = running).
- Other than the traditional palindrome which has character-by-character symmetry, variants such as these are also classed as palindromes:
- Word-Unit Palindrome: A phrase/sentence with symmetry of words rather than letters. e.g. Fall leaves after leaves fall.
- Mirrored Palindrome: A graphically reversible sequence. e.g. WOW, bid. A traditional palindrome is not necessarily mirrored (e.g. DID is not a mirrored palindrome).
- The Shishupala Vadha, an epic Sanskrit poem composed by Magha in the 8th century, has a stanza which is palindromic not just forwards and backwards but also up and down. Read more here.
- The Guardian carried a palindrome-themed puzzle by Araucaria a few months ago. Check it out here: Guardian 24587.
- If you are afraid of palindromes, you're suffering from aibohphobia according to Wikipedia's list of jocular phobias (and if you're really possessed by this fear then don't learn this word as it is itself a palindrome).