A palindrome can be read forward or backwards.
In Greek is where we find the etymological origin of the word palindrome . We have to explain that it is a term that is made up of the sum of two elements of said language:
• “Palin”, which can be translated as “again”.
• The noun “dromos”, which is equivalent to “race track”.
A palindrome is a term or expression that can be read either from left to right or from right to left (that is, it expresses the same thing when read in the traditional way or the other way around). This is the equivalent of what, with respect to numbers , is known as capicúa .
Examples of palindromes
For example: “Anita washes the tub” is a palindrome since, if we reverse the order of the letters, the same expression will still be read. Of course, any change (no matter how minimal) to the structure of the sentence will end up with the palindrome. In this way, “Ana washes the tub” or “Anita washes a tub” are not palindromes.
Beyond phrases , there are words that are palindromes in themselves. That is the case of “ala” , “pineapple” , “gold” , “dad” and “here” , among many others. Typically, words that are palindromes have few letters, although there are exceptions (such as “we submit” ).
Use of the resource in literature
Many writers have shown their interest in palindromes, creating a large number of expressions of this type. The Cuban Guillermo Cabrera Infante , the Spanish Víctor Carbajo and the Argentine Juan Filloy are some of them.
Among the literary works, whether poems or narratives, that use palindromes we could highlight the following:
• “Songbook called Sarao de Amor.” The 16th century writer Juan de Timoneda is the author of this work where palindromes such as these can be found: “Give rice to the fox the abbot.”
• Poem “Blue Light” by Julio González Cabillón. In this case, some of the various examples presented are these: “love the lady”, “I take her as such”, “the ivy is already burning”…
Discovering or creating palindromes can be difficult.
Palindromes in proper nouns
It is interesting to note that there are various geographical places throughout the planet whose name is also a palindrome. Specifically, examples of this are Selles, who is in Spain; Ibi, which is also located in Spanish territory; Okonoko, in the United States; Oruro, in Bolivia or Neuquén, in Argentina.
In the same way, it is curious to highlight that there are also well-known figures from before and now whose names are palindromes. Among the most significant are the following:
• The Spanish flamenco dancer Sara Baras.
• The former president of Argentina, Ménem.
• U Nu, a former former prime minister of Burma.
• Lon Nol, who also served as Prime Minister of Cambodia in the past.
Expressions from other languages and the case of two-sided expressions
Palindromes, of course, are not the exclusive property of the Spanish language . It is possible to find palindromes in English ( “Was it a car or a cat I saw” ), in French ( “Un soleil du Sud lie l»os nu” ) and in any other language.
When the palindrome can be read in both senses but with different meanings, it is classified as two-sided : “Silk of yesterdays” is read backwards as “I will already be solitudes.”