Primary Palindrome*

pal·in·drome
Pronunciation: 'pa-l&n-"drOm
Etymology: Greek palindromos running back again, from palin back, again + dramein to run; akin to Greek polos axis, pole
: a word, verse, or sentence (as "Able was I ere I saw Elba") or a number (as 1881) that reads the same backward or forward

I love word games. I'm a compulsive punster, a habit fostered and cultivated by my father, encouraged by (certain) friends, and now endured by my boyfriend. Barely.

Now, I admit, most of the time they are corny as all get out, and even I cringe immediately upon releasing them on the world. But, not unlike other by-product 'functions', some things you just cannot hold in. It wouldn't be good for you.

And the raw material is all around us. Last week I met up with two friends at Hidden Vine, a basement level wine bar, and we perused the night's offerings list, highlighting wines from South Africa.

A: I'm looking at the reds. Maybe the Cabernet flight.
Me: I'm doing the pinot/cab/syrah grouping.
P: I'm going to try the whites.
-pause-
Me: Seriously? You're supporting White Flight out of South Africa?

[pa-dum, CHA!]

S audibly groans when the puns fly. Part of it is just ribbing me, though, because he happens to be a word geek, too. He loves palindromes.

Now, aside from the 'a man, a plan, a canal, panama', I can't recite palindromes. S can. It somehow ties into his other fascinations, I suspect.

One evening, we had settled in to watch a movie after dinner, and he excitedly opened up his Greencine shipment and announced the movie selection. Todd Solondz' latest film, Palindromes. I was game for it, being that Solondz's Welcome to The Dollhouse is on my list of favorite dark comedies.

We loaded up the DVD, and then spent the next 100 minutes in absolute agony, watching the most painfully disjointed, socially offensive and just downright CONFUSING films I've ever seen. It got to the point where we couldn't turn it off, because we were sure there HAD to be some redeeming element that would bring it all home, have it all make sense, and somehow - somehow - tie in to the title. Didn't happen.

After the closing credits, we both sat in stunned silence. I then cleared my throat and announced, "I think I get carte blanche on all my forthcoming puns, after that bomb of a palindrome."



* 11

A list of english sentance palindromes (oddly enough, some sound perfectly normal!)