PALINDROMES Are Words Or Sentences That Read the Same Backward Or Forward

PALINDROMES are words or sentences that read the same backward or forward. Here are some of our favorites (from “HOW STUFF WORKS”)

1. Go hang a salami. I'm a lasagna hog.

2. Do geese see God?

3. Was it Eliot's toilet I saw?

4. Are we not drawn onward, we few, drawn onward to new era?

5. A nut for a jar of tuna.

6. Dennis and Edna sinned.

7. Oozy rat in a sanitary zoo

8. A man, a plan, a canal: Panama!

9. Ana, nab a banana.

10. Borrow or rob?

11. Vanna, wanna V?

12. We panic in a pew.

13. Never odd or even.

14. Madam in Eden, I'm Adam.

15. Murder for a jar of red rum.

An OXYMORON is a combination of words that contradict each other.

1. virtual reality

2. original copy

3. old news

4. act naturally

5. pretty ugly

6. living dead

7. jumbo shrimp

8. rolling stop

9. constant variable 10. exact estimate

11. paid volunteers

12. civil war

13. sound of silence

14. clever fool

15. only choice

A PANGRAM, or holoalphabetic sentence, includes every letter of the alphabet at least once. The most challenging pangrams are the ones with the fewest letters. Here are a few of the best.

1. Waltz, bad nymph, for quick jigs vex. (28 letters)

2. Quick zephyrs blow, vexing daft Jim. (29 letters)

3. Sphinx of black quartz, judge my vow. (29 letters)

4. Two driven jocks help fax my big quiz. (30 letters)

5. Five quacking zephyrs jolt my wax bed. (31 letters)

6. The five boxing wizards jump quickly. (31 letters)

7. Pack my box with five dozen liquor jugs. (32 letters)

8. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. (35 letters)

9. Jinxed wizards pluck ivy from the big quilt. (36 letters)

10. Crazy Fredrick bought many very exquisite opal jewels. (46 letters)

11. We promptly judged antique ivory buckles for the next prize. (50 letters)

12. A mad boxer shot a quick, gloved jab to the jaw of his dizzy opponent. (54 letters)

13. Jaded zombies acted quaintly but kept driving their oxen forward. (55 letters)

14. The job requires extra pluck and zeal from every young wage earner. (55 letters)

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Helen Davies, Marjorie Dorfman, Mary Fons, Deborah Hawkins, Martin Hintz, Linnea Lundgren, David Priess, Julia Clark Robinson, Paul Seaburn, Heidi Stevens, and Steve Theunissen