definitions, examples, opinions, explanations

1.04.2008

The Walindrome

Palindromes are sequences of numbers or letters whose order is the same forward and backward.

Examples
1) 010
2) 012210
3) bob
4) race car
5) do geese see god?
6) a man a plan a canal panama
7) I'm an Ami

(Note: If you wrote '010' on a scrap of paper and then held it up to a mirror,
you would get something other than 010. The small little cap at the top of the 1 would be going the opposite direction. Palindromes are not sequences that look symmetric, but rather sequences in which the order of the elements is symmetric.)

What is a walindrome?

A walindrome is a word or phrase that in reverse order forms a different word or phrase. (Since the word/phrase is different in reverse order, it must NOT be a palindrome.)

Examples
1) stressed
2) diaper
3) devil
4) evil
5) emit
6) tennis (Matt Iverson found this one)

I have not included walindrome phrases in this list because I don't know any. If you can think of a non-trivial phrase, please, let me know.

Things to note

1) Matt Iverson and I coined 'walindrome' (a shortening of 'word palindrome') in 2006 in Salem, Oregon. Matt insisted that the set of walindromes should be distinct from palindromes. Walindromes are derived from a symmetry of existence of meaning in the case when the word/phrase is asymmetric. This is distinctly different from palindromes, which have the same meaning and order when reversed.

2) The walindrome idea may or may not be new. I have never seen the concept elsewhere, but wouldn't be surprise if it was discussed in an OULIPO session.

3) The longer the walindrome, the better.

4) I think the walindrome idea should be added to Wikipedia. But I don't know how to go about doing such a thing. Who officially says - 'yes, this idea/word exists'?

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I'm from Tacoma, Washington in the US. Between 2001 and 2007 I studied math and physics at Willamette University (BA) and Oxford University (MSc). I also made ten videos - documentaries, narratives, art projects. Currently, I'm studying video art at the Hungarian Academy of Fine Arts on a Fulbright Scholarship. My project is to incorporate mathematical ideas into films and videos.