rjw@ptsfc.UUCP (Rod Williams) (08/15/85)
There has been a spate of palindromes in net.bizarre recently
which got me thinking about one I remember reading about years
ago. It's a Latin phrase, dating from mediaeval times and
apparently loaded with occult significance. If I remember
correctly, it goes like this:
SATOR
AREPO
TENET
OPERA
ROTAS
In this format you can see that the palindrome works both
horizontally and vertically. I'm sure that the five words each
with five letters add to the occult value. Does anyone know
what, if anything, it means in English or the significance or
origin of the phrase?
--
rod williams | {ihnp4,dual}!ptsfa!ptsfc!rjw
-------------------------------------------
pacific bell | san ramon | californiacjh@petsd.UUCP (Chris Henrich) (08/18/85)
[] In article <442@ptsfc.UUCP> rjw@ptsfc.UUCP (Rod Williams) writes: >There has been a spate of palindromes in net.bizarre recently >which got me thinking about one I remember reading about years >ago. It's a Latin phrase, dating from mediaeval times and >apparently loaded with occult significance. If I remember >correctly, it goes like this: > > SATOR > AREPO > TENET > OPERA > ROTAS > >In this format you can see that the palindrome works both >horizontally and vertically. I'm sure that the five words each >with five letters add to the occult value. Does anyone know >what, if anything, it means in English or the significance or >origin of the phrase? >-- > Flatfootedly translated, it "means" "The sower* Arepo holds the wheels by his works." If you think that means much. *As in he who sows grain etc. At that, it isn't very grammatical Latin - the fourth word ought to be "operibus", but this would bust out of the square. And *w*h*o* is Arepo? I think it's a joke, myself. In the same spirit as the constructor of palindromes, some Latin-speaker found this up-down-and-backwards pattern which was pronounceable and almost made sense. Claiming great magical/occult significance is a legitimate extension of the joke. I have seen this "magic square" in print, in a book entitled "Science For The Citizen" by Lancelot Hogben. What it was doing there I don't know, since Mr Hogben professed a fastidious disdain for all things magical, occult, traditional, unscientific, or unutilitarian. My favorite pseudo spell is to intone REX QUID CARGO ANGUS SUBGUM SIBELIUS MUMBO. My favorite palindrome is "Named undenominationally rebel, I rile beryl? La, no! I tan. I'm, O Ned, nude, Man." Regards, Chris -- Full-Name: Christopher J. Henrich UUCP: ..!(cornell | ariel | ukc | houxz)!vax135!petsd!cjh US Mail: MS 313; Perkin-Elmer; 106 Apple St; Tinton Falls, NJ 07724 Phone: (201) 758-7288
mmar@sphinx.UChicago.UUCP (Mitchell Marks) (08/20/85)
S A T O R
A R E P O
T E N E T
O P E R A
R O T A S
This is more than a palindrome, it's a word square. (Indeed, it's
not very palindromic -- only TENET is reversible by itself.) This
was found as an inscription and, so far as I know, its authenticity
has never been challenged. If authentic, it's the earliest known
example.
Martin Gardner discussed word squares a few times, but I can't
put my finger on specific comments about this one in any of the collections
of his I have. So the remainder of this paragraph is based on possibly
inaccurate memory. Attempts have been made to construe it as a coherent
sentence, but it seems to be obscure. The problem is a word or two that
doesn't occur anywhere else in Latin. Taking the problem word as a
proper name (I think it was AREPO), one translation was "The farmer Arepo
holds the wheel at work".
One reference on word squares that I do have at hand is _Word_
_Recreations_from_Word_Ways by A. ross Eckler (Dover #23854-7, 1979).
Though the book is under a 1979 copyright, original serial publication
of some of the material goes back to 1969, so comments on records
and state of the art are probably out of date. Eckler distinguishes
`regular word squares', like the Latin one, in which the same words are
used horizontally and vertically, from `double word squares', in which
the sets of horizontal and vertical words are disjoint.
The best pre-1976 6x6 double square was the following from
Dmitri Borgmann:
SAPPER
ADIATE
MARTHA
UNITER
ECTENE
LEERED
In 1976 M. D. McIlroy made a computer survey for 6 x 6 squares at
Bell Labs. He came up with 117 different squares, most of which were
less dependent on rare or obscure words than the above, including
several in which 11 out of the twelve words could be found in Webster's
Pocket Dictionary. Some of them come in families involving minor
substitutions, but others remain singlets. Picking one at random
from those Eckler lists:
P R I M A L
R E C I P E
O T I T I S
S E C R E T
E N L A C E
R E E L E R
Frank Rubin of Wappingers Falls NY made a computer search for a
10 x 10 square, using a list of 35,000 words from Webster's Second
Unabridged (Eckler doesn't say when this was). He didn't find one.
His best result was a square in which the last two columns and
rows were not filled with real words:
A C C O M P L I S H
C O O P E R A N C Y
C O P A T E N T E E
O P A L E S C E N T
M E T E N T E R O N
P R E S T A T I O N
L A N C E T O O T H
I N T E R I O R L Y
S C E N O O T L
H Y E T N N H Y
In 1976 Paul Remley proposed the problem of a 6x6x6 word cube, and
the author (it seems to be Eckler) says he constructed one in a
few hours, using the OED as his word list. He also constructed a
non-symmetrical 6x6x6 cube, relaxing the criteria for words somewhat.
He also provides a 7x7x7 symmetrical cube. Rather than listing them,
I'll cross-post this to net.puzzle, and see what people can come up
with.
As a guide to the level of stringency or laxity involved, here
are the questionable words Eckler had to allow himself:
For the 6x6x6 symmetrical: all in OED.
For the 6x6x6 non-symmetrical: 82 of the 108 from OED, or
inferred from OED. 5 from Webster's Third. 4 from English Dialect
Dictionary. 2 foreign words. 3 place names from Webster's New
Geographical Dictionary. The remaining 12 include `inferred terms'
like REPERE and ANT-EGS, two-word forms like HE MENT (archaic past of mend),
and citation-form plurals like SWESH'S.
For the 7x7x7 symmetrical, oddities include ARREESTS, ELAATER,
EMERYES, GYANTER, ILLECTE, NAYANTE, NIBLICS, SERRITA, SLASTER, SSSSSSS,
STEININ', TELMEST, TINTILY, and TUTELLE.
Wait! It's not Eckler, it's Jeff Grant.
--
-- Mitch Marks @ UChicago
...ihnp4!gargoyle!sphinx!mmar