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Emordnilap Palindrome

The palindrome is a word or grouping of words that, when spelled backwards, has the same spelling as it does forwards (spaces not withstanding). Noon, for example, is a palindrome. Do you know what isn't a palindrome? Palindrome! Palindrome spelled backwards is some nonsensical string of letters, emordnilap. Of course, emordnilap isn't possible a word...

Except... that maybe it is? Google the definition of emordnilap, and you'll find that an emordnilap is a word that, when spelled backwards, spells a different but still functional word. A dog's emordnilap pair is god. A pot's emordnilap pair is top. And perhaps more relevant to the discussion, a emordnilap's emordnilap pair is palindrome. That's right, emordnilap and palindrome aren't palindromes, but they are emordnilaps.

This also means that "emordnilap palindrome" spelled backwards is "emordnilap palindrome." In other words, emordnilap palindrome is both an emordnilap and a palindrome!

That's actually kind of cool, except for one thing. Emordnilap isn't really a word.

Oh, if you google it, it'll come up. However, the reason it comes up is because people googled asking if this was in fact the definition. Since 2014 when this "meme" started spreading, it's been googled so much and recognized by so many people that for all intent and purposes, emordnilap has not only become a word, but also taken on the definition people have grown to accept.

While the likes of Webster have dragged their heels on this, less scrupulous dictionaries have built-in algorithms that add words and definitions based on their popularity on the internet. Urban dictionary is a site that thrives on providing the definitions of words otherwise known as slang. And to be honest, there is nothing disagreeable about using slang in your books, if you so choose.

This all ties back to a previous chapter I wrote, "Write Whatever You Want". You can write whatever you want, as long as you take into account the people you're writing it for. The ultimate goal any writer should have is effectively communicating the story they want to tell to the target audience they want to tell it to. Big English, Webster Dictionary, or Oxford are just giant institutions desperately trying to standardize the language, but despite the grammar nazi's best efforts, that language is continuing to grow, change and evolve every day.

And to me, it takes a certain kind of arrogance and stupidity to say things like "The English language is getting stupider." Human being are social animals, and effective communication is important to us. If we can effectively communicate our feelings and ideas, we will do so as efficiently as we can. The only point of language isn't to sound snooty or to make you sweat, it's there to effectively share those ideas.

Like biology and the theory of evolution, language also evolves and changes over time. However, also like evolution, it's messy and random. Many people have this idea that evolution is growing towards something, that every change is to make something more complex, more sophisticated, and just generally better. They see us, humans, at the forefront of evolution, where something else, like an ant, must be lagging behind.

This isn't a science book, so I'll simply say that this belief is wrong. Evolution goes both ways. Things become simpler and more complicated. Some things remain while other things are removed. There are redundancies, errors, and mistakes. The same holds true with language. Language wasn't created by a machine. It was developed over many many years by people, who are desperately working to make sense of their world while simultaneously trying to find ways to communicate their findings. Like animals, English has developed inconsistencies, errors, redundancies, and mistakes.

Before you think this is all relegated to the fringes of urban dictionaries and slang, note that Webster themselves has to continuously update the dictionary to stay relevant. Nearly 100 words get added a year to the dictionary as their meaning becomes solidified, and this isn't decided by some stuffy academic, it's decided by culture and relevance.

Words like Bromance, Bling, and Hater are words that have actually only recently been added to the dictionary. Oh, are those words too internet culture for you? How about the internet? That word internet was only first used with something close to its current meaning in the 1970s. It only was added after that point. Texting is another word that had to be added. So was television at some point. Whenever a new technology is created, a word has to be invented to describe that technology.

Emordnilap sits at a stage between becoming a word and not becoming a word. Right now, the times it gets used seem to just be in articles like this one, pointing out how it came to be, or anecdotes that associate with its original conception as a meme. However, in only 3-4 years, it's become a word many people know, and it's a word that if people start to use, will eventually find a place in the dictionary right next to the classics like Tarradiddle and Gardyloo.

So, what was the point of this article? Let's make that crap a word. Use it in your books people! Oh, and also some nonsense about how you're the future and don't be afraid to use English how you want to.

It isn't important what your teachers say (except on homework), what publishers say (except in manuscripts), or even what your readers say (except if you want them to comprehend it). What truly matters is you continuing to find new, better, and especially accepted ways to communicate the ideas and emotions you want to communicate. There is room to debate, argue, and decide the best ways to say things. There is no perfect way to say any given thing. You do you, and if that means pushing out a meme about the emordnilap palindrome, more power to you.

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