longest palindrome

This is generally accepted as the longest palindrome

A foof, a Man, a Plan, a Canal -- Panama foofa

But this one claims to beat it : http://www.norvig.com/palindrome.html

Others are
Draw, O coward!
Niagara, O roar again!
Nurse, I spy gypsies. Run!

Sex at noon taxes
Dennis and Edna sinned
Live not on evil

Also, to rival Convenants KINNIKINNIK, OOLOOPOOLOO (dialect spoken in Australia) is also 11 letters

Haha, I found that one also MusicMan, I'd assumed blobajob implied single word palindromes.  

>>This is generally accepted as the longest palindrome
>>A foof, a Man, a Plan, a Canal -- Panama foofa

OK then...

Ha Fool, a Man, a Plan, a Canal -- Panama loofah

(Would this be what Mr T uses in the bath? - or have I just had too much to drink - hic)

These are supposedly the world's longest palindromes.

http://www.norvig.com/palindrome.html

http://www.palindromelist.com/longest.htm

This one was written by Ronald McDonald:

Stressed? No Tips? Spit on Desserts

LIVE ON NO EVIL

LIVE NOT ON EVIL

rise to vote, sir

the longuest palindrome is: loooooooooooooooooooooooool

;)

The longest single-word palindrome I have seen is "detartrated" as noted above by Covenant40K, and it is of questionable origin i.e. it was probably invented for the sole purpose of being the longest single-word palindrome.

However, Dmitri Borgmann, one of the most active palindrome writers, penned this amusing article about how to create a much longer palindromic word:

http://www.wordways.com/evolutio.htm

As for palindromes that are NOT one word, entire palindromic books have been written. Not very good ones, mind you. As I wrote in another palindrome question, longer palindromes are NOT harder to write: you can easily write a huge list of things and extend it virtually infinitely. Single-sentence palindromes that make sense are much harder. The ideal palindrome in my opinion is one where people read it and don't realise it is anything other than a normal sentence.

I have written over 300 original palindromes - I manage to come up with a few each week. Here are a handful:

------

Wolf drowned Logan in a golden wordflow.

On Enola's yawl at Aceh port sat a catastrophe cat ... always alone, no?

No clear sides: Palestinian erases arena in its elapsed Israel con.

All in a van, an able Ma races in a gelato total e.g. anise, caramel, banana, vanilla.

Won't Neil lube Mai's ass as I am ebullient now?

S/M retro slang is semantic: illicit names, signals or terms.

As I leave to help Martin act, can I trample hot Eva-Elisa?

------

There are lots more on Tim Van Ert's palindrome page at www.mockok.com ... well worth a look for those interested in palindromes. There is also an essay I wrote on palindrome-writing.

Martin C
 
 

>Therefore it contains words like Tarrarrattat that are considered "nonce words".  


"Nonce" is British slang for a kiddie-fiddler!

MusicMan said:

> OOLOOPOOLOO (dialect spoken in Australia) is also 11 letters

but unfortunately, it is not a real word either. It's a Western mishearing of the Aboriginal language "Ngulubulu".

From:

http://www.samuseum.sa.gov.au/tindale/HDMS/tindaletribes/karanja.htm

On the plus side, Australia does have palindromic localities named Tumut, Civic and Glenelg, they're just not very long.

Martin C

Even though Ooloopooloo is a mis-hearing

http://www.samuseum.sa.gov.au/tindale/HDMS/tindaletribes/karanja.htm

It is recorded as a word, therefore it should stand.

A language in India is called MALAYALAM

abdriver thats funny and good observation. Actualy the name of the language sounds differently for which english does not provide sufficient phonetics. the last sequence of LA is not realy LA it is totaly a different alphabet.

World's longest palindrome.

17000 + words

pretty crap in that it doesnt make any sense...but hey, it's a palindrome nontheless.

http://www.norvig.com/palindrome.html

apparently,

"sums are not set as a test on Erasmus"

so my maths teacher said

Don't forget the earliest palindrome - Adam introducing himslef in the garden of Eden:-

Madam, I'm Adam.

or

Able was I ere I saw Elba

and

a Man, a Plan, a Canal -- Panama

was actually a newspaper headline, also the title of a 1974 movien no idea where the foof came from, or this version of it

A man, a plan, a cat, a ham, a yak, a yam, a hat, a canal: Panama
from http://www.s-t.com/daily/11-96/11-23-96/b03li077.htm
or this even longer version
A man, a plan, a caret, a ban, a myriad, a sum, a lac, a liar, a hoop, a
pint, a catalpa, a gas, an oil, a bird, a yell, a vat, a caw, a pax, a wag,
a tax, a nay, a ram, a cap, a yam, a gay, a tsar, a wall, a car, a luger, a
ward, a bin, a woman, a vassal, a wolf, a tuna, a nit, a pall, a fret, a
watt, a bay, a daub, a tan, a cab, a datum, a gall, a hat, a fag, a zap, a
say, a jaw, a lay, a wet, a gallop, a tug, a trot, a trap, a tram, a torr, a
caper, a top, a tonk, a toll, a ball, a fair, a sax, a minim, a tenor, a
bass, a passer, a capital, a rut, an amen, a ted, a cabal, a tang, a sun, an
ass, a maw, a sag, a jam, a dam, a sub, a salt, an axon, a sail, an ad, a
wadi, a radian, a room, a rood, a rip, a tad, a pariah, a revel, a reel, a
reed, a pool, a plug, a pin, a peek, a parabola, a dog, a pat, a cud, a nu,
a fan, a pal, a rum, a nod, an eta, a lag, an eel, a batik, a mug, a mot, a
nap, a maxim, a mood, a leek, a grub, a gob, a gel, a drab, a citadel, a
total, a cedar, a tap, a gag, a rat, a manor, a bar, a gal, a cola, a pap, a
yaw, a tab, a raj, a gab, a nag, a pagan, a bag, a jar, a bat, a way, a
papa, a local, a gar, a baron, a mat, a rag, a gap, a tar, a decal, a tot, a
led, a tic, a bard, a leg, a bog, a burg, a keel, a doom, a mix, a map, an
atom, a gum, a kit, a baleen, a gala, a ten, a don, a mural, a pan, a faun,
a ducat, a pagoda, a lob, a rap, a keep, a nip, a gulp, a loop, a deer, a
leer, a lever, a hair, a pad, a tapir, a door, a moor, an aid, a raid, a
wad, an alias, an ox, an atlas, a bus, a madam, a jag, a saw, a mass, an
anus, a gnat, a lab, a cadet, an em, a natural, a tip, a caress, a pass, a
baronet, a minimax, a sari, a fall, a ballot, a knot, a pot, a rep, a
carrot, a mart, a part, a tort, a gut, a poll, a gateway, a law, a jay, a
sap, a zag, a fat, a hall, a gamut, a dab, a can, a tabu, a day, a batt, a
waterfall, a patina, a nut, a flow, a lass, a van, a mow, a nib, a draw, a
regular, a call, a war, a stay, a gam, a yap, a cam, a ray, an ax, a tag, a
wax, a paw, a cat, a valley, a drib, a lion, a saga, a plat, a catnip, a
pooh, a rail, a calamus, a dairyman, a bater, a canal--Panama

not telling where that one came from

or a list of sinners names

Dennis, Nell, Edna, Leon, Nedra, Anita, Rolf, Nora, Alice, Carol, Leo,
    Jane, Reed, Dena, Dale, Basil, Rae, Penny, Lana, Dave, Denny, Lena,
    Ida, Bernadette, Ben, Ray, Lila, Nina, Jo, Ira, Mara, Sara, Mario, Jan,
    Ina, Lily, Arne, Bette, Dan, Reba, Diane, Lynn, Ed, Eva, Dana, Lynne,
    Pearl, Isabel, Ada, Ned, Dee, Rena, Joel, Lora, Cecil, Aaron, Flora,
    Tina, Arden, Noel, and Ellen sinned.

or a list of things from a principals memo pad

Test on Erasmus                       Dr of Law
Deliver slap                          Stop dynamo (OTC)
Royal: phone no.?                     Tel: Law re Kate Race
Ref. Football.                        Caps on for prep
Is sofa sitable on?                   Pots- no tops
XI--Staff over                        Knit up ties ('U')
Sub-edit Nurse's order                Ned (re paper)
Caning is on test (snub slip-up)      Eve's simple hot dish (crib)
Birch (Sid) to help Miss Eve          Pupil's buns
Repaper den                            T-set: no sign in a/c
Use it                                Red roses
Put inkspot on stopper                Run Tide Bus?
Prof.--no space                       Rev off at six
Caretaker (wall, etc.)                Noel Bat is a fossil
Too many d*** pots                    Lab to offer one 'Noh' play--
Wal for duo?  (I'd name Dr. O)           or 'Pals Reviled'?
See few owe fees (or demand IOU?)     Sums are not set.
   

and  my car is
A Toyota.

I bow before the Jester ----
I have been palendramatized.....

"Able was I ere I saw Elba"

Was Napolean really that good at english?

racecar

i'm from belgium, so the longest DUTCH one-worded palindrome know is:
KOORTSMEETSYSTEEMSTROOK (23 lettres)

little explanation/translation:
koorts=fever
meet=measure
systeem=system
strook=stroke

another one i know is LEGOVOGEL
LEGO = the lego-blocks you played with as a child:)
VOGEL = bird

i guess i win :P

Dmitir Borgmann designed the following 91-letter palindromic word in his article I mentioned above (www.wordways.com/evolutio.htm):

"DETARTRATER-DETANNATER-DESUFFUSER-YLEVITATIVELY/NONYLEVITATIVELY-RESUFFUSED-RETANNATED-RETARTRATED

The definition of our glorious palindrome? "Recombined with tartaric and with tannic acid, and re-overspread with color, sometimes in a highly levitative manner and at other times not in such a manner at all, depending on the requirements of the particular occasion, by one who combines within himself, normally, the functions of separating substances from tartaric and from tannic acid, and undoing or reversing the process of overspreading them with color."

Thoughtful readers will recognize instantly that the mainstream of modern living demands just such a word. Help spread the good word, so as to insure its emergence from the matrix of language. Look for it in books, magazines and newspapers. It is the word of the future!"

That was in 1970. I'm still yet to see it used ...

MartinC

I'm still curious...

What is with the English language that makes it such a quirky communication tool?
We all love to show our literary prowess and our intellectual command on the English language
by discussing obsequious functions found within it.

For instance, homonyms are words that sound the same but are spelled differently.
But we have no words that SOUND like homonym.  Even to try and rhyme such a word would be an effort,
and sound more like a stretch than poetry.

Similarly is the term Synonym, which has no other single word with the same meaning (Oxford describes the synonym of Synonym as 'Exquivalent Word').  This ties closely with the concept that there is no other word for Thesaurus.

Wouldn't it make more sense that the shortest abbreviation for a word be for 'Abbreviation'?  Rather than it being 4 letters long?  

It would certainly make life easier, and much more efficient to remember what Onomatopoeia meant, if it actually imitated a sound that it represents.  

But then again, if it were easy, we wouldn't be able to feel good about the rubric of remembering meanings to such obscure disassociated words.  We could focus on the metonomy of our language, and continue to use computer programming languages as a metaphor to our desires for change.
 

So I guess my campaign for introducing the word Palindrordnilap as the official definition for a word spelled the same backwards and forwards, will simply have to wait.

-H

Well since we expounding the virtues, if you want to use that term, of the english language, consider that it is one of the hardest languages in the world to learn fluently, yes many other languages may seem difficult but few have the vagaries of the english language. consider the follow words

bow
row
polish
set
tough
trough
through

when you read the word bow, did you think of  something you tie or the back end of a ship?
what about row, did you think of a boat or an argument?
set - a three letter word with over 100 separate definitions/uses
tough - pronounced tuff
trough - pronounced troff
through - pronounced throo, why not throff or thruff?

ough - at least three different pronunciations

and then you get the differences in spelling between American english and English english
Canada is a neighbor to America but
America is a neighbour to Canada

then there is the proliferation of made-up words, as explained for the word DETARTRATED

but the real problem is that englsh is realy made up of words borrowed from latin, greek, teutonic, germanic, french ....etc

You forgot Slough!

Irregular pronunciation is not peculiar to English.  Generally most westerners who do not have English as their first language find it easier than French, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish and, most definitely, Japanese.

strange i found Japanese pretty straight forward, the one thing i know i have a problem with is yokka and yoka, i can't tell the difference, i usually have to have it repeated a couple of times, reading it is another matter.... as for french it was conjugating past imperfect and future imperfect ... never got it

but no matter what the laguage three phrases will alway get you through
2 beers please.
where's the party?
take me to my hotel.....

I had a problem with Latin.  I found there were 30 words for "this" and 60 words for "that" so I declined it (hic, haec, hoc).

Perhaps it's time to declare this thread "past historic".

English is tough to learn because of its awful spelling, but other Europeans have always pointed out to me that at least you don't have to worry too much about gender. I could never work out why in French, the tourist information bureau was male while the post office was female (le Syndicat d'Initiative, la Post).

And lest you think this kind of tomfoolery is limited to French, the German for "little girl" (das Madchen) takes the NEUTER not the feminine gender. Work for Dr. Freud there!

Martin C

Also in Arabic you have male and female for objects. And on top of that, you have one person, two person, three person and more. In English objects are neuter and there is singular and plural. That's it.

In Arabic there are "movements" to the letters and they act as vowels. It depends on the sentence and not the word for a person to be able to put these "movements". It's very complicated. Programming in English is best. English is clear to the point.

I know Arabic, English, French, German and Armenian. I use English the most even in coversations because it's easy. Armenian is also great but it's alphabet is only for Armenians. French is very sophisticated. Arabic is a mess. :)

I use English for reading, writing, speaking on the radio while flying, in business and almost everywhere else.

I notice in my country that people who know French don't have hard time learning English. But the reverse is very hard.

>>I could never work out why in French, the tourist information bureau was male while the post office was female (le Syndicat d'Initiative, la Post).
you think that's bad, figure this one out

le Quebec
La Quebec

both are correct .... one is for refering to the province of Quebec, the other for refering to the city

>>Programming in English is best. English is clear to the point
have you seen obfuscated C?

yea it's nice having code in english, but i can't count the number of times i've been working in HTML and typed in centre only to load the page and wonder why the damn thing was left aligned.

Yawn...
http://www.worldofnumbers.com/intro.htm
http://www.worldofnumbers.com/palrecs.htm
http://www.worldofnumbers.com/weblinks.htm

or more aptly...

ZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzZ

:)

Another Dutch one:

Nelli plaatst op 'n parterretrap 'n pot staalpillen.

Try Going here for a long sentence

http://www.ubersite.com/m/38304

:o}

I like this one:

Satan oscillate my metallic sonatas

I maim nine more hero men in Miami.