← Glossary · wordplay & rhetoric
Palindrome 回文
huíwén · from Greek
What is a palindrome?
A palindrome is a word, phrase or number that reads the same backwards and forwards, like level, or Chinese 上海自來水來自海上.
The word comes from Greek for running back again. Chinese has a long tradition of 回文詩 huíwén shī, palindromic poems that can be read in both directions or in circles. Japanese palindromes (kaibun) work on kana rather than letters.
Examples
level; A man, a plan, a canal: Panama; 上海自來水來自海上 Shànghǎi zìláishuǐ láizì hǎishàng (Shanghai's tap water comes from the sea); Japanese たけやぶやけた takeyabu yaketa (the bamboo grove burnt)
Kungfucius says: Read it backwards and it still makes sense, which is more than most corporate emails manage forwards.