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.

The word anagram when composed into an anagram becomes:
Ars magna (in Latin)
Meaning: Great Art!

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 an anagrammatic word play is the SATOR square.  This square was first discovered at Cirencester in Rome (evacuation site) and it looks like this:

ROTAS
OPERA
TENET
AREPO
SATOR

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.

Suddenly, 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."
 (Note: Meaning of this was sent to me by Jade Tibbals. Thanks.)

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.

Single Word Anagrams are:
Agree = Eager
Aloft = Float
Angled = Dangle
Arises = Raises
Auction = Caution
Below = Bowel
Beta = Beat
Marginal = Alarming
Misusers = Surmises

Here's one that I think is funny as we are all not
very perky on Mondays...
Mondays = Dynamos

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!

Malapropisms
Malapropisms are twists of the language that, somehow, make sense even though they are seemingly senseless. 
 Does that make sense to you?  If so, then you've come to the right spot.  

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.

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

"THE END."

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!

Good Luck!

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)

Enjoy some clean, fun limericks here. Plus links to kids limericks and Valentine limericks are on this page.

What are those?
Palindromes are words that spell the same backwards and forwards.  Or sentences, or in one case an entire story.
Learn more!

Enjoy some very strange words from our past; or, ones very seldom used today.

Those little negative, but yet
funny comparative digs that are like...
He's a burp shy of Nexium.

Fun, not too complicated
Tongue Twisters for children.

Phrases just slip into our language.
Get passed down for generations.
And do we ever know why?
Learn a bit about why you say what you say.