a weblog of wordplay by Eric Harshbarger
Anti-Palindromes
My recent analysis of literary texts looking for the lengthiest palindromic substrings got me thinking of a related curiousity. Related, but basically the the opposite condition.What is the longest, sensible text one can concoct that does not contain ANY palindromic substrings (nothing longer than degenerate, single-letter palindromes)?
Here's a sentence I thought of fairly quickly that shows off this property:
"We view uncopyrightable material on Wednesdays."
There are no palindromic substrings (no double letters, no 'ABA' constructions, etc) contained in it.
It would be interesting to try to write a lengthy work that adhered to this condition. Readers are welcome to submit their examples in the comments below.
-- Eric
[10 December 2021]
Archive
Comments about this article:
Here are some well-known expressions that fit the bill:- one man's trash is another man's treasure
- check yourself before you wreck yourself
- you could have knocked me over with a feather
- you can't live with 'em, you can't live without 'em
- the darkest hour is always just before the dawn
- don't count your chickens before they are hatched
- the more things change, the more they stay the same
- a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step
It's great to see new posts on Logolog again! :)
Posted by: Tyler M
Leave a comment on LOGOLOG about the article: Anti-Palindromes