Anagram

An anagram (Greek ana- = "back" or "again", and graphein = "to write") is a type of word play, the result of rearranging the letters of a word or phrase to produce other words, using all the original letters exactly once. Anagrams are often expressed in the form of an equation, with the equals symbol (=) separating the original subject and the resulting anagram. ?Earth = heart? is an example of a simple anagram expressed so. In a more advanced, sophisticated form of anagramming, the aim is to ?discover? a result that possesses linguistic meaning which comments on the original subject in a humorous or ironic way; e.g., Roll in the hay = Thrill a honey (discovered by Sir Anthony Fortesque-Crafter). When the subject and the resulting anagram form a complete sentence, a tilde (~) is used instead of an equal sign; e.g., Semolina ~ is no meal.

Pseudonyms

The pseudonyms adopted by authors are often transposed forms, more or less exact, of their names; thus "Calvinus" becomes "Alcuinus" (V = U); "Francois Rabelais", "Alcofribas Nasier"; "Edward Gorey", "Ogdred Weary"; "Vladimir Nabokov", "Vivian Darkbloom", "Vivian Bloodmark" or "Dorian Vivalcomb", "Bryan Waller Proctor", "Barry Cornwall, poet"; "Henry Rogers", "R. E. H. Greyson"; "(Sanche) de Gramont", "Ted Morgan", and so on. It is to be noted that several of these are "imperfect anagrams", letters having been left out in some cases for the sake of easy pronunciation.

Related Topics:
Pseudonym - Author - V - U - Francois Rabelais - Edward Gorey - Vladimir Nabokov - Bryan Waller Proctor - Ted Morgan

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"Telliamed", a simple reversal, is the title of a well known work by "De Maillet". One of the most remarkable pseudonyms of this class is the name "Voltaire", which the celebrated philosopher assumed instead of his family name, François Marie Arouet, and which is now generally allowed to be an anagram of "Arouet, l j", that is, "Arouet the younger". Anagramming may also be used to good effect in farce or parody. A writer might take an unpleasant person he knows, base a character in a book on him, and then transpose the letters in the source's name. For example, controversial Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon might be satirized as, say, local greengrocer "Leon A. Shirra"—a rather inventive way to avoid a libel lawsuit.

Related Topics:
Voltaire - Philosopher - Farce - Parody - Ariel Sharon - Libel

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Anagrams have also shown up in rock music. The Doors' lead singer Jim Morrison invoked his name as "Mr. Mojo Risin'" on the song "L.A. Woman", the band Sad Café released an album called Facades, the new wave band Missing Persons recorded an album called Spring Session M, and the Guns'n'Roses singer Axl Rose's stage name is an anagram of "oral sex".

Related Topics:
Rock music - The Doors - Jim Morrison - L.A. Woman - New wave - Missing Persons - Axl Rose - Oral sex

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