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This is NOT an example of something you can't find online! E.g.,
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History of the Palindrome
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The word palindrome is derived from the Greek ‘palin,’ or “back” and ‘dromos’ or "direction." The actual Greek phrase alluded to the backward movement of the crab. Palindromes date back to about 70AD, when they were first found as a graffito buried in ash at Herculaneum. .This first known palindrome was in Latin and read “sator arepo tenet opera rotas” which means either:.
The sower Arepo holds the wheels with effort.
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The sower Arepo leads with his hand the plough.
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For newcomers to this historical curiosity, the letters were found arranged in a matrix, carved in stone along a public roadway:
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S A T O R
A R E P O
T E N E T
O P E R A
R O T A S
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The thing is remarkable because not only does it have a cryptic meaning (nonsense, or not?) but the words can be read top-left forward to bottom-left forward or top-to-bottom and left to right, or bottom right backwards to top right backwards, or bottom right upwards to bottom left upwards. In case you missed it, the center cross "TENET" is formed with vertical (up or down) and horizontal (from the left or from right to left) which is only possible because the word itself is its own palindrome.
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I find it amusing to think how many people over who knows how many years, would pass by this inscription carved in stone and look at it and pause to think, but what did they think? What did they say? Was it something they looked forward to seeing as they were approaching home again on their return from an arduous journey, or was it the last thing they saw as they were leaving home for who knows how long, perhaps never to return, like during time of war? Or was it a joke? Or, which is possible knowing what we do of that culture, was the mere thought of making it into a joke somehow prohibited by law and a potential basis for severe punishment? The cultural significance could have been immense, or, in the opposite extreme, perhaps it was simply a form of public art or decoration intended to provide a moment of amusement or diversion.
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Be that as it may, there is another, more modern palindrome, that has gained more attention in the modern world, due to its relevant subject matter. After all, who today cares about some sower named Arepo, who was using a plough, or holding wheels for who-knows-what purpose? For the past 130 years, however, the Panama Canal has garnered worldwide attention.
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A man, a plan, a canal, Panama!
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Which BTW is a topic covered on the same page as the article above on the Herculaneum palindrome. So it can be found online!
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I have known people who have not recognized this as being a word puzzle, and thought it was a famous phrase because everyone knew who the man was, and everyone knew what the plan was because everyone knows what the canal is, and they were too embarrassed to ask any questions for being thought of as dense or silly or unintelligent, and while they did NOT know who the man was, or they did NOT know what the plan was, but they DID know what the canal was, for lack of a better excuse they lost sleep over the mystery and never managed to mention their confusion to anyone.
Topic: PUZZLE -- Falling Raindrops (Read 5587 times)