How are madam and level alike?

A palindrome is a word, phrase or sentence(s) spelled the same both forward and backward. Palindrome comes from a Greek word meaning “running back,” according to Webster’s.

One-word examples include eke, ere, eve, ewe, madam, level, refer and redder. An example of a phrase is top spot, according to thinks.com. The site also lists these sentences, among many others:

Flee, elf! Dot sees Tod. Dee saw a seed. Ma has a ham. Was it a rat I saw?

For more palindromes, visit http://thinks.com/words/palindromes/d.htm
 

Er or or?

A senator is someone who serves in a senate. For example, Republican Ken Buck and Democrat Michael Bennett are “shooting for” the opportunity to represent Colorado in the U.S. Senate. As noted in the caption below, Republican Steve King is running against Democrat Claudette Konola for the Colorado District 7 seat.

The letters “or” in senator form a suffix, a word part that comes at the end of a word. “Or” means someone who does something. We can apply that logic to words such as actor, advisor, conductor, counselor, moderator, narrator, orator and sculptor. A verb morphs into a noun with an “or” ending.

A more common English suffix for someone who does something is “er.” Consider these words: biker, driver, reader, rider, runner, skier, teacher, waiter and writer.

If there is a rule on how to decide whether such words end in “or” or “er,” I haven’t run across it. My advice is to read, read and read some more. If a word is seen often enough, committing it to memory is a snap for good learnors learners.

Republican Steve King and Democrat Claudette Konola flank moderator Jeannie Hicks on Monday evening during their debate in their race for state Senate.
 

Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto

“Domo Arigato, Mr. Roboto
(Thank you very much oh Mr. Roboto
For doing the jobs that nobody wants to)”

Listening to “Mr. Roboto” released by the rock group Styx in 1983, we could easily assume that “robot” came into English from Japanese. If so, we’d be thousands of miles off the mark.

According to Wikipedia, the word comes from "robota meaning literally ‘serf labor,’ and, figuratively, ‘drudgery’ or ‘hard work’ in Czech, Slovak and Polish.”

Wikipedia further explains that an influential Czech writer made the word popular. Karel Capek used “robota” in his 1921 play R.U.R. (Russian Universal Robots). Wikipedia also notes that Capek gave credit for the word choice to his brother, Josef Capek, a painter and writer who eventually lost his life in a Nazi concentration camp.

For more about the Capeks and their choice of this word, go to http://www.capekbrothers.net/word_robot.htm.  For more on robot cars, see the print edition or the e-edition of The Daily Sentinel.

photo and signature of Karel Capek courtesy of Wikipedia.

A word to savor

I think words are delicious. Not literally, of course, but delicious as in delightful. Therefore, I savored (enjoyed with appreciation) the headline above.

According to Webster’s, the word “savory” specifically means “pleasing to the taste or smell; appetizing.”  Webster’s also gives a more general definition of “pleasant, agreeable, attractive, etc.”

When “savory” comes before “vampire,” well, all you fans of horror flicks can fill in the rest….

The full story is in today’s Out & About, appearing both in our print edition and e-edition.

Campaign pain

Below, Jeff Parker, a cartoonist for Florida Today, comments on the effectiveness of campaign attack ads.

Many folks would argue that such ads and fiction are both untrue. These ads are unlikely to go away, though. The strategy of “going negative” seems entrenched in the war of words that candidates wage to obtain votes.

It is not a big surprise, then, to read that “campaign” comes from the French word campagne, meaning “open country suited to military maneuvers,” according to Webster’s. Webster’s also notes that the word’s meaning has been broadened to refer to a “military expedition.”

In under a month, the war will mercifully end—for this election season, anyway. With luck, the ultimate victors will be voters who have managed to separate facts from fiction before filling out their ballots.