AWADmail Issue 17
                             October 22, 2000

             A Compendium of Feedback on the Words in A.Word.A.Day
             and Other Interesting Tidbits about Words and Languages

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From: Anu Garg (anu@wordsmith.org)
Subject: semordnilap and dna palindromes

Great response to the call for semordnilap/palindromes. Here are a few
selections. On another note, do you think Mets will stem Yankees or will
the latter seek nay for the former?

And yes, there is something called "DNA palindrome". Look it up.

Maria Go (maria_victoria.go@roche.com) Avid singing does not a diva make.
Eric Shackle (eshackle@ozemail.com.au)  He lived like a devil - evil and vile!
Michael Nicholls (michael.nicholls@sap.com) Regal lager (Beer drunk by a 
king).
David Franks (davidfranks@kscable.com) Be an informed voter: know your wonk
Eric S. Rabkin (esrabkin@umich.edu) Careful: spay a dog and she yaps more.
Andrew Robinson (akr@eircom.net) 1. I read the Iliad daili. 2. If movies
  without blood are anemic, should splatter movies be classed as Cinema?
John Ganio (ganioj@sunyulster.edu) I find it interesting that Eros spelled
  backwards is sore.
Duane Richards (darich@libby.org) The motto of a proud hurricane might be, "I
  maim Miami."
George Hartley (george.hartley@stpaul.com) Yo, Jesus, use joy.
Nik Hemmeryckx (nik.hemmeryckx@chello.be) He's drownin' in words, eh.

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From: Doug Keeslar (dfinagle@frontiernet.net)
Subject: semordnilaps

Did you hear about the dyslexic Agnostic? He refused to acknowledge the
existence of Dog.

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From: Deborah Weber (demmpw@xmission.com)
Subject: (Fwd) GOA-PVF: Stupak And Yob

Thanks for AWAD. It is a great delight, especially when strange coincidences
occur. Just after I got my first semordnilap, I got this activist letter
about two candidates. Their real, honest-to-goodness names: Stupak (kaputs)
and Yob (boy)!

   Unbelievable but true. Search the Web for these two names to know more
   about their race for the 1st Congressional District in Michigan. -Anu

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From: Dennis Martinez (notsiwel@aol.com)
Subject: palindromes/semordnilap

I love palindromes and spelling words backwards for fun.
There is a remodeling business in the Niagara Falls, NY area named Aragain
Products. I always wondered about that name, so when they were doing some
work for me remodeling my kitchen, I asked where they got the name Aragain
and the answer was, "It's Niagara spelled backwards".

Also, my own aol screen name is Notsiwel is a semordnilap for my home town
of Lewiston, NY.

Sinned Zenitram/ Dennis Martinez

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From: Theresa Cunningham (tmcunnin@hotmail.com)
Subject: palindromes

Hi there! I read a great book recently called The Poisonwood Bible. There is
a character in the book who loves to use palindromes. Here are a few that she
uses in the book:

Evil, all its sin is still alive.
Do go Tata to God.
Drawn onward.

   Also noted by Karen-Maya Kaapcke (karenmaya1@yahoo.com), Carol Ricketts
   (cricketts@midwestgrain.com) and Zoe Friedberg (zoefri@hotmail.com). -Anu

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From: Brian Mitchell (skinner41@webtv.net)
Subject: Just Noticed This One

I work at the El Rey Inn, a tourist hotel in Santa Fe, NM. On the front door
is a sign that says unmistakably, "NO PETS." Backwards, it reads 'STEP ON,"
and there is indeed a step to be scaled.

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From: Joe Kolb (joe.kolb@enron.com)
Subject: an example of a reversible word

A friend of mine, Don Cram, has several brothers. When the youngest of these
brothers was about to be born, their mother told them she was going to name
the new son Mark. The older ones insisted that they name him, Marc, so that
it would be Cram spelled backwards. She did. It is the only example in
English I know of a real, normal first and last name that were reversible.

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From: Noel Leon (nleon@da.co.la.ca.us)
Subject: FW: A.Word.A.Day--avid

In response to your request for palindromes, my name is "Noel Anna Leon".

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From: James Dignan (grutness@surf4nix.com)
Subject: Re: semordnilaps

Not far from where I live is Glenelg Street, named after the Scottish town
with possibly the world's longest palindromic place-name.

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From: Ra?l Ram?rez L?pez (raulrmzl@ieee.org)
Subject: A Spanish semordnilap phrase

Here is a Spanish phrase with the semordnilapic quality: "Anita lava la
tina", that can be translated as "Little Ana washes the bathtub".

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From: Mike Maguire (maguman@aol.com)
Subject: Palindromes

What a joy it is for me to see a palindromic theme to this week's words! Not
only am I huge and long-time A.Word.A.Day fan, but I am an avid writer of
palindromes. An example of one of my attempts at poetry goes --

See fondness drown me.
Lost, solemn words send no fees.

I have more at my palindrome page, "Red Nun Under," found at --
http://hometown.aol.com/yodabeavis/recipe/index.htm

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From: Danny Birchall (danny.birchall@bfi.org.uk)
Subject: RE: A.Word.A.Day--strop

You might like to know that round these parts (England), 'strop' has another
meaning: to throw a temper tantrum, or act in a moody fashion. Also 'stroppy':
bad tempered, unco-operative. Interestingly, it means something similar to
another semordnilap: 'mard', a Midlands word meaning a mood or temper. 'In a
mard', 'mardy', etc.

   Also noted by a lot of other folks from UK and Australia. -Anu

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From: Andrew Pressburger (andrew.pressburger@primus.ca)
Subject: Nonet

Many years ago (more than I care to remember), perennial panelist and wag
extraordinaire on the BBC radio show "My Music," Frank Muir, gave the
following definition for nonet: "The unconsumed portion of dinner."

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From: Wendy Rothwell (wendyrothwell@nettonettech.com)
Subject: FYI

Today (Oct 16), the birth date of Noah Webster (1843), is Dictionary Day;
established to show our appreciation for all dictionaries and wordsmiths.

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From: Raymond Shiel (rayshiel@mac.com)
Subject: Correction

In fact, Nancy, Viscountess Astor was not the first woman member of
Parliament in England. She was only the first woman to sit in Parliament,
in 1919. The first woman member of Parliament in England was Constance,
Countess Markiewicz who fought in the 1916 Easter rising in Dublin and was
imprisoned. She was elected in 1918 but did not take her seat.

   Also noted by Barry McSweeney (barry_mcsweeney@hotmail.com). -Anu

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From: Ghil`ad Zuckermann (ghil-ad.zuckermann@modern-languages.oxford.ac.uk)
Subject: mondegreen

You might be pleased to hear that although the term mondegreen does not
appear in OED, it will be part of the forthcoming third edition.

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From: Bronwen (bronwen@starpixie.com)
Subject: Word question

If Misanthropy is the hatred of humankind, and Misogyny is the hatred of
women, what is the hatred of men, meaning specifically persons of male gender?

   This is the second-most often asked questions I get, right after the
   infamous angry/hungry/-gry one. The word you are looking for is misandry.
   Can you think of the perfect name for a woman who personifies misandry?
   Why, it has to be Ms. Andry. -Anu

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From: James H. Reynierse (jreynierse@worldnet.att.net)
Subject: Beetle Bailey

Hi Anu - The Sunday comics came through today and compensated somewhat for
the new, weekend emptiness at AWAD. Beetle Bailey lectured Sarge about
"aglets" (shoelace ends), "bibcock" (faucet nozzle), "punt" (indentation at
bottom of wine bottles), and "duff" (decaying matter on forest floors). Was
this a subtle protest or perhaps divine intervention? And who will
"step-up" next week to fill the AWAD weekend vacuum? Keep up the good work.

............................................................................
It is with words as with sunbeams, the more they are condensed, the deeper
they burn. -Robert Southey (1774-1843)

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