Anadrome

Anadrome (pronounced an-uh-drohm)

A word which forms a different word when spelled backwards.

Circa 1961 (in this context): The construct was ana- +‎ -drome.  Ana was from the Ancient Greek ἀνα- (ana-), from ἀνά (aná) (backward in direction, reversed) and drome was from the Ancient Greek δρόμος (dromos) (running; racetrack); the surface analysis of anadrome thus can be understood as “going backwards”.  Confusingly however, the Greek prefix aná was appended also to convey the notion of “up, above, upward”, (2) “again”, (3) “thoroughly”, (4) “against”, (5) “distal, away from” and (6) “to grow or change in place; functionally similar”.  So, a deconstruction alone would not be definitive and the meaning is established through context.  The longest accepted anadrome in English is believed to be the pair desserts/stressed but among the dozens which exist, it is god/dog which seems most to amuse students.  The coining of anadrome was credited to Martin Gardner (1914–2010) who is said to have added it in a 1961 re-publication of Oddities and Curiosities of Words and Literature (1875) by Charles C. Bombaugh (1828-1906) but the word doesn't appear in at least some of the 1961 editions and at least the spike in use may better be attributed to the reclusive and eccentric Dmitri Borgmann (1927–1985) a German-American author regarded still as something of the “high priest of recreational linguistics”.  In his introduction, Mr Gardner does pay tribute to Mr Borgmann as one of the “outstanding creators of word puzzles”.  Anadrome & anadromy are nouns and anadromous & anadromic are adjectives; the noun plural is anadromes.

An young anadromous Atlantic salmon, still resident in the freshwater in which it was born.  The young salmon are called smolts after they gain a silvery hue and migrate to the ocean.

The adjectival form is used in ichthyology, the term “anadromous fish” describing those species born in freshwater rivers or streams that migrate to the ocean to mature and forage, subsequently returning to freshwater to spawn.  First appearing in scientific papers in 1753, the construct of anadromous was ana- (used here in the sense of “up, above, upward”) + dromos (a running), from dramein (to run).  Though the usual natural processes, anadromous fish have evolved with an environmental adaptation called osmoregulation which enables them seamlessly to adapt to changing salinities; that’s what makes it possible for them to live in both aquatic habitats (salt & freshwater).  The process is dynamic as it must be because while some notional freshwater species might move into a sea or ocean only for weeks, others can stay there for years because that’s where they undergo most of their growing cycle.  Remarkably, and using a mechanism not wholly understood (use of the Earth’s magnetic field an intriguing theory), after perhaps years the fish return to their exact natal streams to reproduce.  For freshwater ecosystems, the behaviour is not a mere zoological curiosity because as schools return from their time in saltwater, they bring with them marine-derived phosphorus & nitrogen, “topping up” the elements on which the health of the spawning grounds depends.  Anadromous fish are thus listed as keystone species, some salmon the best known examples.  An anadromic fish swimming to or from the ocean could be said to be proceeding anadromically but the adverb is non-standard.

A catadromous freshwater American eel, slithering out of a pipe, possibly heading back to the ocean, catadromically (again, a non standard adverb).

The companion term is “catadromous fish”, describing species born in salt water that mature in fresh water and return to the sea to spawn, certain eels the best known.  The mysterious European eel exerted a particular fascination upon the natural scientists of Antiquity, Aristotle (384-322 BC) writing the earliest known study although the findings truly were speculative, his novel idea being the creatures were born of “earth worms” which, he suggested, were formed of mud, growing from the “guts of wet soil”.  In the absence of any better theory or observational data, the notion for some time held sway and not for centuries was spontaneous generation disproven.  It wasn’t until the eighteenth century researchers perfected their techniques of dissection and confirmed eels really are fish although, while in recent years it has been possible to effect breeding of eels in captivity, because of the difficulty of replicating at scale the multi-aquatic environment needed for the life-cycle, it’s unlikely any time soon to become commercially viable.  Largely because of demand from the Far East (especially Japan) the European freshwater glass eel has become threatened with smuggling rife, the decline in availability encouraging a trade in the American eel, something which has created problems because of the involvement of transnational crime groups.

Although in a sense belonging to the discipline of structural linguistics, the word anadrome (in this context) seems to have been coined only in the mid twentieth century and it emerged not from academia but recreational wordplay: it was a “fun word” which migrated to reference books when editors and compliers noticed it appearing in published word games, logology and puzzle culture.  While it has no place in formal linguistic theory, it is used as a teaching aid, apparently on the basis it “trains the mind to be flexible”.  The model is believed to be the better known “palindrome” (a word, line, verse, number, sentence, etc reading the same backward as forward).in used since the 1630s.  In logology (recreational linguistics, puzzle and word-game writing etc), there is a great satisfaction in having a coined word “succeed” in the sense of even a limited, specialized acceptance which is why the community has come up with synonyms including: (1) semordnilap (“palindromes” spelled backwards) (2) levidrome (the “Levi” element from the given name of the coiner), (3) reversgram and (4) heteropalindrome (the hetro- prefix a learned borrowing from Ancient Greek ἕτερος (héteros) (other, another, different).  There was a suggestion such words should be called "a volta" (from the Italian volta (to turn)) but the idea never caught on. 

Google Ngram

Google Ngram (a quantitative and not qualitative measure): Because of the way Google harvests data for their Ngrams, they’re not literally a tracking of the use of a word in society but can be usefully indicative of certain trends, (although one is never quite sure which trend(s)), especially over decades.  As a record of actual aggregate use, Ngrams are not wholly reliable because: (1) the sub-set of texts Google uses is slanted towards the scientific & academic and (2) the technical limitations imposed by the use of OCR (optical character recognition) when handling older texts (typically a scanner might misread an “f” for a long “s” or a “u” for an “n”) of sometime dubious legibility (a process AI (artificial intelligence) should improve).  Where numbers bounce around, this may reflect either: (1) peaks and troughs in use for some reason or (2) some quirk in the data harvested.

As Google’s Ngram reports, “anadrome” was in use in the nineteenth century, the earliest citation dating from 1840, the use a classic illustration of “lexical overlap” a phenomenon which delights word nerds (an easily delighted lot).  In the mid-late 1800s, anadrome (often written as anadromé, reflecting both the Greek roots and the backgrounds of those using the word) was a technical term seen mostly in botanical and medical publications; it was direct borrowing of the Ancient Greek anadromē (ἀναδρομή) (“an ascent”; “running up”).  Medical dictionaries in the era weren’t new but revised editions were common because advances in observational technologies and techniques meant new entries constantly were required and anadrome seems first to have been used of a variety of “physiological ascents” including (1) Ascending Pain: physical pain starting in the lower limbs or torso and migrating upward, (2) The “upward determination of blood: A rush of blood toward the head or upper body and, best of all (3) Globus Hystericus: The “lump in the throat” sensation described at the time also as the “ascent of the womb”.  Although scientifically inaccurate it was memorable and dated from the era (which lasted well into the twentieth century) when the condition “hysteria” was part of the diagnostic toolkit for physicians assessing female patients.  In botanical use, the meaning was most analogous with the idea of blood flow, botanists describing “sap flow” (the ascent of sap through a plant’s vascular system).  What the Ngram has in this case captured is a genuine heteronym (a word that looks the same but has a completely different meaning and subtly different lineage).

Between consenting players only: At least 11 points but don’t try insisting on it in competition or you’ll be blackballed; the Scrabble crew neither forgive nor forget.

The proliferation of synonyms of a word which is little more than a curiosity is an example of why the English language has so many words most are which are never or rarely used.  The estimates notoriously are vague because there exists no consensus on just what is the definition of a “real word” (which sounds silly but in language there’s no concept like the “real number” in mathematics and, at the margins, disputes are legion).  If one is most accommodating of the definitional spectrum, there may in English be as many as a million words but only 15-20% are thought to be in regular or occasional use.  However, although it has appeared in many lists (often of the strange or obscure) anadrome has not received the imprimatur of the major sanctioning bodies for the game of competitive Scrabble.  It never appeared in the Collins SOWPODS (an anagram of the two abbreviations OSPD (Official Scrabble Players Dictionary) & OSW (Official Scrabble Words)) or the replacement CSW (Collins Scrabble Words) and nor is it in the NASPA’s (North American Scrabble Players Association) NWL (NASPA Word List).  The NASPA Dictionary Committee does accept submissions so anadrome advocates can pursue that course but as a non-standard form, the adverb anadromically has no good prospects.  Why Collins drove the wonderful sounding SOWPODS to extinction remains a mystery. Those playing at home can of course accept a bit of linguistic promiscuity and, provided all players agree, if used, it’d be at least an 11 point score (before any double/triple letter or word bonuses).  For word nerd dissidents unhappy with the dictatorial ways of Scrabble’s ruling ancien régime, there is the scrabblesque (also not a “real word”) “Anadrome the Game” in which anadromes attract high scores.

A brunette era Lindsay Lohan wearing Nahol dress in a black and white rose print by Masai of Copenhagen, rendered as a line drawing by Vovsoft.  The anadrome of “Lohan” is “Nahol”.

Masai describes the Nahol as “a loose, oversized, and comfortable midi-dress, characterized by a V-neck, ¾-length length sleeves, side pockets and an elasticized hem creating a slight balloon effect.”  That it has pockets may be enough of a selling point for women, many designers loath to include them in women’s clothing because any additional bulk might “spoil the line”.  Made with what the manufacturer describes as a “sustainable” (a word that has become the industry’s “new black”) mix of 15% polyamide blend & 85% viscose (said “often” to be FCS (Forest Stewardship Council) certified), the material had a “crinkled” finish in black or printed designs.  It does look comfortably accommodating and, on the move, would "swish" nicely.

Nahol as a proper noun (surname): Dalia Nahol.

While not a recognized word in English or other European languages, Nahol is a proper noun and the village of Nahol (bp) (नहोल (bp) is in the Shimla District of Himachal Pradesh State, India.  In the anthropological record, it seems most often mentioned as used a name in PNG (Papua New Guinea) and East Africa although many of those texts were derived from oral histories so what was recorded as a phonetic “Nahol” may in some cases have been variants.  Whether there’s any link in origin between the uses in PNG & East Africa isn’t known and as a relatively simple (five letter, two syllable) form, it is likely Nahol came independently to be used as a name in more than one place.  The best documented origin is from Ethiopia where the name Naol often was transliterated as Nahol, Nawol or Naoll; it’s a masculine form from Oromo culture meaning “one who brings the peace” or “peaceful”. 

Nahol as a proper noun (surname): Isaac Amu Nahol.

There is an ancient linkage between Jewish traditions and Ethiopia but there’s no evidence the surname Nahols (most prevalent in Eastern Europe, notably among Jewish communities in Poland and Ukraine) has any connection with the Oromo culture; the similar form Nahal (or Nahaul) from the Hebrew (נחל) (nahal) meaning “stream, brook, valley” (and, by extension, “inheritance” (the idea of an estate “flowing” to the descendants)).  Nahols may have been derived from a Yiddish or Hebrew personal name (on the model of English names such as Stevenson (ie the son of Steven)).  In Arabic, the cognate root yielded Nahel & Nahil which although often understood as “generous” or “successful”, is linked also to “bees & honey”, the latter perhaps accounting for why one Bangladeshi source cites the name Nahol meaning “the queen of bees”.