ANANYM
- Dr. Goodword
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ANANYM
• 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.)
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.)
• The Good Dr. Goodword
names only?
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?
Can anyone cite usage of the word in reference to a ward/draw type situation rather than a pseudonym?
Doug Smith
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
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
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- Great Grand Panjandrum
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Re: ANANYM
Any time, Doc! Glad to be of service, even inadvertently!...(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.)
Regards//Larry
"To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them."
-- Attributed to Richard Henry Lee
"To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them."
-- Attributed to Richard Henry Lee
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- Great Grand Panjandrum
- Posts: 2578
- Joined: Tue Feb 15, 2005 3:56 pm
- Location: Crownsville, MD
sdrawkcdellepsdrow?Gosh, you would think that such a word would be called a mynananym. Well maybe that is for palindromes.
How about sdrawkcdellepsdrow?
Or did you mean sdrawkcabdellepsdrow?
Regards//Larry
"To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them."
-- Attributed to Richard Henry Lee
"To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them."
-- Attributed to Richard Henry Lee
Indeed. Hard to spellcheck words spelled backwards.sdrawkcdellepsdrow?Gosh, you would think that such a word would be called a mynananym. Well maybe that is for palindromes.
How about sdrawkcdellepsdrow?
Or did you mean sdrawkcabdellepsdrow?
"Time is nature's way of keeping everything from happening all at once. Lately it hasn't been working."
Anonymous
Anonymous
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.Indeed. Hard to spellcheck words spelled backwards.
-gailr
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- Lexiterian
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Indeed. One of the last of the great mid-20th Century literary comics. Perelman, Thurber, Nash, Buchwald. Who's next? Who's funny?
-- WP
-- WP
"Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention to arrive safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming: Wow!!! What a ride!"
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- Great Grand Panjandrum
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- Joined: Tue Feb 15, 2005 3:56 pm
- Location: Crownsville, MD
Ba!
Ba!
Aw, dangnabbit Perry! Ya Blew it! The next post in the series should have been:Indeed. Hard to spellcheck words spelled backwards.sdrawkcdellepsdrow?Gosh, you would think that such a word would be called a mynananym. Well maybe that is for palindromes.
How about sdrawkcdellepsdrow?
Or did you mean sdrawkcabdellepsdrow?
Blacksheep!
And for you of all people to miss it!
Last edited by Stargzer on Fri Feb 02, 2007 2:38 am, edited 1 time in total.
Regards//Larry
"To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them."
-- Attributed to Richard Henry Lee
"To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them."
-- Attributed to Richard Henry Lee
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