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We dare you to say that 7 times fast!
What is an Anagram?
What are those? An anagram is a word or phrase that is created by rearranging the letters of another word or phrase. This is a common game at parties (i.e. wedding showers take the name of the bride and groom and try to create new words.) Below are some very clever anagrams because they mean practically the same thing.
word anagram when composed into an anagram becomes:
History of the Anagram
Historians differ on the origin of the anagram. Some feel that they started as far back as the 4th century B.C. with the Greek. In particular someone named Lycophron (poet) who was a favorite entertainer of the wealthier society folks by making up flattering anagrams of their names. (I assume he was well rewarded for this too!) Another idea is that Pythagoras in 6th century B.C. used anagrams to find deep philosophical meanings in words. And yet, many want to give the Romans credit for the ones who created the anagram, although the examples today that still exist are a bit flawed. However, the most famous example of of an anagrammatic word play is the SATOR square. This square was first discovered at Cirencester in Rome (evacuation site) and it looks like this:
OK, it's not very square-like here when I type it, but I think you get the idea? The words read across and down the same. According to the translation of all four of the words, it means "Arepo the sower, guides the wheels at work" or if you want to go a bit deeper and more philosophical some say, "God controls the Universe." As a result, this infamous word square was believed to be of Christian origin for many years. And if you went with that idea, then these letters also got rearranged with the word "APATERNOSTEROS" going horizontal and diagonal with the "N" being the central letter making the cross. (Unfortunately I can't type that here.)
Anagrams seemed to somehow disappear after the Greeks and Roman times until suddenly popping up again around the 13th century by the Jewish Cabbalists, who used them for mystical importance.
anagrams represented a sign of intelligence and learning among people
throughout Europe in the Middle Ages. They quickly spread
throughout the continent, but were especially popular in France.
Thomas Billon actually got to be appointed the "Official Royal
Anagrammatist" to King Louis XIII. Another French King,
Charles IX had a mistress named Marie Touchet whose anagrammed name
became Je Charme Tout (I guess they interchanged the letters I and J
and U and V in those days?), and the King found this especially
humorous? ;) The term "Je Charme Tout" in French means
"I charm all."
Andre Pujon (another Frenchman) transposed his name as Pendu A Rion, and then committed a murder in the town of Rion so that he could be hanged there in belief that this was his mystical anagram destiny.
However, the real priority of anagrams (especially in the Middle Ages) was for religious purposes. And I assume that since the most intelligent could do this, (remember a lot of folks were iliterate?) then it was only the aristocratic, wealthy and religious men or monks who could afford an education that were really skilled to create these anagrams. The most famous Mediaeval anagram was based on the trial of Jesus and on Pilate's question (in Latin) "Quid Est Veritas?" or What is Truth? The reply could be reformed as "Vir Est Qui Adest" or "It is the man before thee."
In the 17 centuries, scientists often recorded their results using anagrams to protect their discoveries from being stolen. Galileo, Hygens and Robert Hooke used anagrams on purpose so that they could be the first to claim fame in whatever it was they were seeking.In more recent days, many authors who want to choose a pen name often take their real name and form an anagrammed name from it. For example: A female author who is named Anne B. Wopweski might want to write as a male with an anagramed version of her name being "Weson K. Pinneba."
In the Victorian era, it was the thing of the time to rearrange the letters of a common word or phrase to form another word or phrase that had the same relevance or was pretty similar. An example: Astronomer = Moon Starer. In the 19th Century it was also the ta-dah thing to take the names of a famous or popular personality and transpose the letters. An example of this is: Florence Nightingale = Flit on, Cheering Angel. The person who came up with that was none other than Lewis Carroll (author of "Alice in Wonderland") who playfully challenged his readers to form one word from the phrase "New Door." Ironically if you rearrange the letters you get New Door = One Word!
Socially today, anagrams live on in games, crossword puzzles and even on pages like this on the internet. Dabbling with words doesn't seem to be as amusing today as it was hundreds of years ago.
that I think is funny as we are all not
Every generation also creates its own words according to how it is living. Words such as Internet, Cell Phone, and Scanner didn't exist years ago, along with many of the popularities of our day such as Beanie Babies, GameBoy, Teflon, Jim Henson, Charles Schultz or even Monica Lewinsky! Our society not only is always inventing new items and "in phrases" and "Who is In and Cool", but also the words and phrases to go along with them.
Challenge yourself to take some of the newer words and phrases of today and try to make anagrams from them.
Below are some older examples to help keep the fun alive in today's new millennium of words!
The following have been
sent to me in e-mail over time.
I don't know who the clever person or people are who discovered these.
These are called "Cognate Anagrams" because the letters of a word or phrase transpose to form another word or phrase that redefines the original word or phrase.
The Morse Code
The Public Art Galleries
A Decimal Point
Eleven Plus two
Year Two Thousand
A Decimal Point
An Old Shoe
The Washington Post
Pub's Motto =
Life's Aim =
Actions Speak Louder than Words
Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott
Many a true word is spoken in jest
The leaning Tower of Pisa
The Mona Lisa
Miguel Cervantes De Saavedra
Oliver Wendell Holmes
One Good Turn Deserves Another
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Say it with flowers
A Sentence of Death
Silver and Gold
Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter
A Stitch in time saves nine.
Absence makes the heart grow fonder.
The active volcanoes.
An alcoholic beverage.
The amateur thespians
The American Indian
The Arabian Desert
The Arctic Circle
The Artesian wells
The Associated Press
Big mean huns
The Blarney Stone
The California Gold Rush
The cantakerous man
The Carnegie Library
The compulsory education law
A confirmed bachelor
Crime does not pay
The Emerald Island
Fluctuations of stocks in Wall Street
The Ford touring cars
The game of billiards
Garnet, Amethyst, Emerald
A good name is better than great riches.
Jesus Christ, the savior of the world
The judgment day of the blessed savior
The Leaning Tower of Pisa
Leprachaun (variant spelling)
"The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby."
The liquor habit
The lost paradise
Love's young dream
Many a true word is spoken in jest
The married man
Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island
The nude in art
An old-time Christmas
One's birthday suit
A pair of patent leather shoes
The paths of glory lead but to the grave.
Polly wants a cracker?
Positively no admittance.
The Postmaster General
A promissory note
The railroad train
The reckless automobilist
The Red, White and Blue
A Remington Rifle
The Republican Party
The rings of Saturn
A rolling stone gathers no moss.
Roosevelt's Rough Riders
Saint Elmo's Fire
Say it with flowers
The Secret Service of the United States
A sentence of death
A set of harness
Shakespeare, the immortal Bard of Avon
The shoe manufacturer
A signal of distress
The sign of the cross
Arthur Conan Doyle's "The Hound of the Baskervilles."
Six and three
The soldier of fortune
The Soprano Singer
Special Delivery Stamps
Spirit of the dead
The Star Spangled Banner
A state reform school
Statue of Liberty
A stick of chewing gum
The submarine warfare
Sunshine and Shadow
A telephone girl
That settles it
The Thirteen Original Colonies
To be your valentine
To cast pearls before swine
The trained nurses
The treason of Benedict Arnold
Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil
"Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea"
An unmarried woman
The U.S. Library of Congress
Volunteer Fire Departments
Washington at Valley Forge
A Dirty Room
A Rope Ends It
Here Come Dots
Cash Lost in 'em
Is No Amity
Alas! No More Z's
Is No Meal
Large Picture Halls, I Bet
I'm a Dot in Place
That Queer Shake
Twelve Plus One
Accord Not In It
A year To Shut Down!
I'm a dot in place.
Had No Sole
No City Dust Here
Ah, Spotting Hot News!
Hot Sun or Life in a Car?
Swen or Inga
Hot Cereal Fiasco
Life On Mars
He's Got a Hot Relic
Cash Lost in 'em
Try our steak?
Sit, Chat, Pay, Sir.
See, it's not live
Talk or airs can not show up deeds
An Aisle Grab
I play all the ABC
Care is noted
A flaring end
A novel by a Scottish writer
Act, Rub, Oil in
Men joke and so win trusty praise
What a foreign stone pile
Man uses meter
Ah, not a smile?
Gave us a damned clever satire
Every Cent Paid Me
He'll do in mellow verse
No, rogues never do endorse that!
A Cent Tip
Person whom all read
We all make his praise
We flirt so this way
Faces one at the end
To recant, sir
Grand old evils
"Time's running past" we murmur.
This is meant as incentive?
He wants back dearest gone from here.
Cones evict hot lava.
Hated for ill.
Is a lane.
Gal, can I have a cool beer?
I play all the ABC.
Inapt hams use theatre.
I am in a thinned race
No artists are as comic
It's a heated barren
Chart ice circlet
Water's in all these
Had editor's set space
An Aisle Grab
In slight garb
Blather sent on ye
Where it's beer
Fools hunt a real rich dig.
Thus note a mean crank
Be literary -- charge in!
I can hear ten "tens"
I can bless earth
Charity's in it
So let's pinch
Stamps one as so nice
Pass coin to men
To do sum in per cent
You must learn; police do watch.
I face no bold charmer.
Care is noted.
No city dust here
Damper on society?
Do it in a still
Love can discard
That queer shake
Ireland lads' theme
A loony taint is in me
I'd sell for a V
A little luck wins: fortunes scoot fast
Aim ball for this edge
Three neat art gems, my lad!
Be not a hoarder; right acts gain esteem.
A flaring end
Is to run in
Great on visits
Tis the just child who saves of error
Jesus, thy advent so famed be our delight
A foreign heap tilts enow
Fine tale; find thou a novel by Charles Dickens
Quit! I rob health
Earth's ideal spot
Go luny over dames
Oil acts in rub
Men joke and so win trusty praise
I'm her darn mate
Two Canadian province: lands I dread!
St. Nicholas made trim
This nudity so bare
Thereat a foot-apparel shines
Pies, tarts, eh?
The poet Gray doubts that Hell forgave.
Ah, part chemist
A cent tip
Helps a row
Sly wan parrot, cackle.
O, our hopes!
Use pin crop
No place to visit any d___ time.
He's letter-post manager
I put on care
I'd remain on top
At times I ponder
Presto! A digit in it.
Payor remits soon
Hi! I rattle and roar.
He kills; some courts abet it.
Hah, we bled under it.
I'm long neat firer
A public partner, they
O, hunt star fringes
Stroller on go, amasses nothing.
Gov. R's true hero soldiers
Is lit for seamen
So we flirt this way?
An old curse
Closes us in
stout detectives ferret each sin
One is apart
Fastens a horse
Oh, this remarkable man's a favored poet.
Ouch! A man's feet-hurter
Has to pilfer
It's S.O.S. read in flags
right to confess
To hustle friend or foe
So boy demands girl
Her top noises rang
Price speeds mail vastly
This is of departed
Blest pennant has regard
Home to foster rascal
A style of tribute
Seen as mist
In shorthand workers'
Thing of magic we suck
Fine rare water ambush
Show in sun and shade
Smart curing utensils
Sing high, sweet Linda
She we treat
I beat on drum
Let this attest
I am art's cute clothes
One coalition retireth English
Yet none but a lover I
One's labor is perfect waste
Tender hearts in us
As stronger sins
Lo! None defend the traitor scab
God grew food in Eden! Eve took fall.
Huge water tale stuns. End had you tense.
Write pretty, eh?
A man-admirer unwon
It's only for research bugs
Lead in a victor
Run to divert flame ere spent
A few, they all go on starving
Thing we dream, Sir
Ah, veer at N.E.S.W.
No wire unsent
Best in prayer
"Palindromes and Anagrams" by Howard W. Bergerson
Dover Publications, NY © 1973
This books listed 1,169 anagrams. I picked out the most interesting.
No individual credit for each one was given in the book.
If some of mine are the same as on other sites, I assure you I did not steal from another site.
This page was one of the first I made when my site began. I had people email me with some also.
But, to keep a record of all those emails is impossible. In no way can I provide individual credits. Sorry!
Every day spoken examples:
They are often the result of what happens when a person talks faster than he thinks.
Include me out.
Nowadays, every Tom, Dick and Harry is named Mike.
If people don't want to come to your party, nobody can stop them.
This feels like deja vu all over again.
That restaurant is so crowded, nobody goes there anymore.
Either way, you win or lose.
It ain't that I'm pessimistic; it's just that we ain't got a chance.
For your information, I would like to ask a question.
The future just ain't what it used to be.
I feel a draft. Raise that window down.
All right, I want you to listen very slowly...
A verbal contract isn't worth the paper it's written on.
While I write this letter, I have a pistol in one hand and a sword in the other.
They intend to cut off our heads and throw them in our faces.
I can't remember if I told you to stop forgetting?
If English was good enough for Jesus Christ, then it's good enough for me.
To ___ with the public. I'm here to represent the people.
I'm not guilty and I won't do it again.
I am defending the right of this girl to be judged innocent until she is proved innocent.
Don't use a big word where a diminutive one will suffice.
I'm scared to death to get sick.
I'm scared to death to marry you.
This is so well-written, one can hardly comprehend it.
If you've never seen it, it's worth seeing again.
I can't eat on an empty stomach.
For a change, give me the usual.
It hasn't been touched by human hands, only me.
Say "No!" to negativity.
It's the people I tell things to that can't keep a secret, not me.
Generally speaking, can you be more specific please?
It didn't hurt at first, but then I got used to it.
No one is faster than me. I take my time.
If you want instant coffee, please wait one minute.
Just how long have you had your birthmark?
This could be done much faster if we only had more time.
It's twelve in the morning.
Half of all children born are boys or girls.
I can be brainless if I put my mind to it.
Occasionally I decide to be impulsive.
I'll be there when I get there.
Anonymity is my claim to fame.
There's a certain universality of feeling which is almost worldwide.
If God had meant people to go nude they would have been born that way.
I've known him since he was born.
Every number is greater than the one that follows it.
Bless you, Sister. May all your sons be bishops.
I'm not trying to belittle you. I'm just trying to knock you down to size.
For your information, I'd like to ask you a question.
If you can't keep quiet, shut up!
Go see it and see for yourself why you shouldn't see it.
I made that before I died.
Predictions about the future are difficult.
If you don't know where you are going, you must be careful or you might not get there.
There's just no stopping tomorrow.
The only way to beat them is to get more points.
99% of this is half-mental.
You can observe a lot by watching.
When you come to a fork in the road, take it.
Our similarities are different.
Malapropisms of Samuel Goldwyn
Hollywood director Samuel Goldwyn was very popular for his verbal potpourri and mixed metaphors. It got to the point where they were quoted in the press, and then re-quoted over and over until his publicity department simply started to makeup crazy Goldwyn quotes for promotions. So the following quotes are said to come from Mr. Goldwyn, but many feel they are the creations of his publicity team to help promote his films. Below are just a few that I feel are the best:
I'm having a bust made of my wife's hands.
Don't talk to me while I'm interrupting you.
Go ahead and destroy those old files, but make copies of them first.
This book has too much plot and not enough story.
The scene is dull. Tell him to put more life into his dying.
I'll give you a definite maybe.
If you won't give me your word of honor, will you give me your promise?
We're overpaying him, but he's worth it.
Our comedies are not to be laughed at.
You're going to call him William? Every Tom, Dick and Harry is called William.
I don't care if it doesn't make a nickel. I just want every man, woman and child in America to see it.
I've gone where the hand of man has never set foot.
taken from "The Confused Quote Book" by Gwen Foss
© 1997 by JSA Publications, Printed by Gramercy Books
40 Engelhard Avenue, Avenel, NJ 07001
hundreds of humor, joke and word books. When I first started my site, I was
about listing book credits at the bottom. I began first on a free page on Erols Internet (now gone).
Then, I was in Yahoo Geocities, before I bought my own domain.
So, this page is one of the first I made and originates back to 1995.
But all my stuff does come from published sources or my own creations!
Tell Me A Story - Party Game
This is a game that I played with my friends. What you do is take 5 bowls and label each bowl: NOUN, VERB, ADJECTIVE, GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION and SPECIFIC LOCATION.
Give each person a lot of paper and a pen/pencil. Ask each person (the more people the better) to write down on separate pieces of paper 5 of each of the categories above.
For example: 5 nouns: House, Kleenex, Radio, Glass, Recliner
5 Verbs: Dash, Meander, Hesitate, Think, Sneeze
5 Adjectives: Smooth, Prickly, Impatient, Happy, Wet
5 Geographical Locations: Paris, Nile River, Utah, Disneyland, the Badlands
5 Specific Locations: Mall, Home, Kitchen, Garage, Classroom
(If you want to add adverbs you can. But that's a bit harder)
Now, determine what kind of story this is to be: Sci-Fi, Romance, Western, Soap Opera, Mystery, or Fairy Tale.
(Note: Don't determine the type of story first because that tends to influence the creative input of the players.)
Let everyone dump their slips of paper (they folded them of course) into the proper bowls.
Somehow, (dice, flip coin, whatever...) determine who goes first, then second, third and so on. Each person will pull one slip of paper from each bowl and tell their part of the story using the words on the slips they drew.
They can be presented in any order as long as all of them are used.
You can change the verb tense if necessary. For example if you got the verb "Sing" you could use "sang" "sung" or "singing."
It's OK if you draw one of your own submissions.
( And, if you get stumped it's ok to ask for help. The only points are the laughs. The winners are everyone!)
Here is an example: This will be Sci-Fi story. The first person starts out the story using the words he has drawn. Here is an example using each of the first words I came up with:
"I've got to DASH" said the spaceman as he ran out of his HOUSE that was made of a new SMOOTH aluminum siding that Dupont's main office in PARIS created and that he bought on sale at the MALL on Pluto.
Then the next person continues the story....till you reach
You can also make the game interesting by setting specific rules: 1. All words have to be in one sentence only. 2. Or, you can use up to 5 different sentences and make one sentence per word drawn. (This all depends on the number of players and the time you have.)
The hardest spot is to be last because you have to end the goofiness somehow!
Here is a poem I wrote a while ago. I was born and raised in a small town. We had two movie theatres. The oldest one was called the "State Theatre" and was made in the classical theatre architecture with fancy decorated walls, velvet chairs, a stage with a real curtain, etc. After xx years the owners decided they didn't want to run it any more and sold the property for a parking lot. How sad. :( This building was an architectural legend and an icon of memories for generations. They remodeled the other theatre (I know, building and fire codes right? ) into Cinema 1 and 2. Today those have been replaced by Multi-Plex Theatres or whatever. And, I hate to think what kind of theatre will exist by 2050.
"FAREWELL TO THE STATE"
It seems like only yesterday,
Maybe it was at that
When on Friday or Saturday night
It was at the State theatre I sat.
As I stayed glued to that velvet seat,
By passion, humor or fright,
I picked off the old bubble gum
That belonged to someone else
The previous night.
Many, many times I sat there
Indulging in that gourmet food (?)
While the people behind me
Would be acting very rude.
Some would be throwing popcorn
To all their friends below,
While others were madly passionate
Providing a great sideshow.
There'd be others who were quietly watching
Their idols on that gigantic screen,
And yet others who were silently thinking,
"What does this movie mean?"
I will always remember
Those beautifully decorated walls,
And the smell of freshly popped popcorn
That lingered in the halls;
Those long, dark, steep stairs
That climbed to the top above
Where those of us sat
Who really were in love. :)
Even though the building's gone now,
Our memories we shall keep
Of those irreplacable two hours we had
For only $1.25 each.
We still can go to the movies
For we have something new
They've divided you in half
And now call it Cinema 1 and 2.
Progress comes and so some things must go
All in their due time;
But there's one thing that hasn't changed yet,
There's still that long, long line!
(Sheila Cicchi 1977)
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