ANANYM

[Dr. Goodword]

• ananym •

Pronunciation: æ-nê-nim • Hear it!

Part of Speech: Noun

Meaning: A word spelled backwards, as draw is the ananym of ward (and vice versa).

Notes: Ananym is a peculiar word; its pronunciation is identical to that of anonym "an anonymous person". Perhaps this is why many dictionaries do not recognize it. No adjective has been proposed, either. Following the examples of other 'nyms, the adjective should be ananymous, though it sounds a bit odd. Apparently, no one has been brave enough to commit themselves to an adjectival form in print.

In Play: Before Theodore Geisel became Doctor Seuss, he published several children's books under the name Theo LeSieg, an ananym of Geisel. Back in the 50s a very popular tonic was Serutan, which was touted in commercials as Nature's spelled backwards. Intentional or not, the popular French bottled water, Evian, is naive spelled backwards. The best, however, is the name of the Welsh town where the action of Dylan Thomas's famous radio play, "Under Milkwood", takes place. Llereggub looks very Welsh with its initial double L but it is, fact, "bugger all" reversed.

Word History: Today's Good Word comprises Greek ana "up, throughout, back(ward)" + onyma "name". Greek onyma, of course, comes from the PIE root nomen "name". This same root went on to become German Name, English name, Latin nomen, Russian imya, imeni, and Old Irish ainm "name", which may be the source of English moniker. (God must love dogs a lot since their name is an ananym of His, a thought suggested by the Old Stargeezer of the Alpha Agora. Thanks, Larry.)

[bnjtokyo]

Excuse me, but shouldn't the ananym of "Llereggub"
be bugger Ell, not bugger All?

But based on Wikipedia, "Llereggub" is a typo for
"Llareggub"

[dougsmit]

Quick searching on the word suggests many limit the term to names done for secreting the identity. Some get lucky and the result seems natural as in Oprah/Harpo.

Can anyone cite usage of the word in reference to a ward/draw type situation rather than a pseudonym?

[gailr]

Note sure if this is what you're looking for, dougsmit, but John Langdon generates some remarkable graphics by manipulating alphanumerics. Whether true palindromes or "just" ananyms, all of his examples use some type of reflection. Single words (e.g.: "philosophy" or "Galileo") are arresting enough; longer phrases ("normal distribution") are very impressive. I've also seen virtuoso examples where the word or phrase read one way is different than the word or phrase in a reversal. (My copy of Wordplay has been a useful reference over the years; however, I still always flash on old Yes album covers when I see much his work.)

Of course, the grand master of manipulating graphic elements rather than alphanumerics was M.C. Escher. Click on the Galleries link if you are unfamiliar with his birds-to-fish or angels-to-devils Metomorphoses; lizards crawling between 2 and 3 dimensions; or architectural mind benders.

-gailr

[Stargzer]

...(God must love dogs a lot since their name is an ananym of His, a thought suggested by the Old Stargeezer of the Alpha Agora. Thanks, Larry.)

Any time, Doc! Glad to be of service, even inadvertently!

[Perry]

Gosh, you would think that such a word would be called a mynananym. Well maybe that is for palindromes.

How about sdrawkcdellepsdrow?

[Stargzer]

Gosh, you would think that such a word would be called a mynananym. Well maybe that is for palindromes.

How about sdrawkcdellepsdrow?

sdrawkcdellepsdrow?

Or did you mean sdrawkcabdellepsdrow?

[skinem]

Ba!

[Stargzer]

Ba!

[Perry]

Gosh, you would think that such a word would be called a mynananym. Well maybe that is for palindromes.

How about sdrawkcdellepsdrow?

sdrawkcdellepsdrow?

Or did you mean sdrawkcabdellepsdrow?

Indeed. Hard to spellcheck words spelled backwards.

[gailr]

Indeed. Hard to spellcheck words spelled backwards.

I loved the syndicated columns by the late Art Buchwaldcarried in my hometown paper. He had a piece about the letters from schoolkids assigned to write famous people asking about their lives. He said his standard response to, "Is your name really Art Buchwald?" was that it was actually Dlawhcub Tra, spelled backwards. Tra, shgual eht rof sknaht.

-gailr

[skinem]

Indeed, Gailr, Art will be missed quite a bit by many people.

[Perry]

Certainly by me as well!

Art, are you having a cigar up there with George Burns?

Perry that's-my-apostrophe Dror

[Palewriter]

Indeed. One of the last of the great mid-20th Century literary comics. Perelman, Thurber, Nash, Buchwald. Who's next? Who's funny?

-- WP

[Stargzer]

Ba!

Ba!

Gosh, you would think that such a word would be called a mynananym. Well maybe that is for palindromes.

How about sdrawkcdellepsdrow?

sdrawkcdellepsdrow?

Or did you mean sdrawkcabdellepsdrow?

Indeed. Hard to spellcheck words spelled backwards.

Aw, dangnabbit Perry! Ya Blew it! The next post in the series should have been:

Blacksheep!

And for you of all people to miss it!