Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedinShare via emailShare via Facebook Messenger

16 Surprisingly Funny Palindromes

Updated on May 16, 2019Literary Devices

What is a palindrome? According to The Oxford English Dictionary the word is based on Greek root words meaning “back” and “running.” Palindromes are words or phrases that read the same backward and forward, letter for letter, number for number, or word for word. Some palindromes seem philosophical. Do geese see God? Others tell a story. A man, a plan, a canal: Panama. Still others are silly and rather nonsensical. Straw? No, too stupid a fad; I put soot on warts. Which of the following palindromes is your favorite?

Here’s a tip: Want to make sure your writing shines? Grammarly can check your spelling and save you from grammar and punctuation mistakes. It even proofreads your text, so your work is extra polished wherever you write.

Your writing, at its best
Grammarly helps you communicate confidently

1 A great bargain

A nut for a jar of tuna.

2 A permissive friend

Al lets Della call Ed “Stella.”

3 An Italian palindrome

Amore, Roma.

4 A long example

Are we not pure? “No, sir!” Panama’s moody Noriega brags. “It is garbage!” Irony dooms a man—a prisoner up to new era.

5 A moral dilemma

Borrow or rob?

6 Follow the words, not the letters

King, are you glad you are king?

7 A weird concept

Taco cat

8 Bad eyesight

Was it a car or a cat I saw?

9 A list of naughty people

Dennis, Nell, Edna, Leon, Nedra, Anita, Rolf, Nora, Alice, Carol, Leo, Jane, Reed, Dena, Dale, Basil, Rae, Penny, Lana, Dave, Denny, Lena, Ida, Bernadette, Ben, Ray, Lila, Nina, Jo, Ira, Mara, Sara, Mario, Jan, Ina, Lily, Arne, Bette, Dan, Reba, Diane, Lynn, Ed, Eva, Dana, Lynne, Pearl, Isabel, Ada, Ned, Dee, Rena, Joel, Lora, Cecil, Aaron, Flora, Tina, Arden, Noel, and Ellen sinned.

10 A news report

Ed, I saw Harpo Marx ram Oprah W. aside.

11 A record set straight

Madam, in Eden, I’m Adam.

12 A hitman for hire

Murder for a jar of red rum.

13 Call your mother

Mom.

14 A gross creature

Oozy rat in a sanitary zoo.

15 Verbal abuse

Yo, banana boy!

16 Would you try . . .

UFO tofu?

These are just a few examples. There is a great palindrome poem called “Doppelgänger” by James A. Lindon that you might enjoy. It reads the same from bottom to top as it does from top to bottom. Though a poem might be too hard for your first attempt, why not try to create your own palindrome phrase?

Your writing, at its best.
Works on all your favorite websites
iPhone and iPad KeyboardAndroid KeyboardChrome BrowserSafari BrowserFirefox BrowserEdge BrowserWindows OSMicrosoft Office
Related Articles