An antigram is an expression formed by rearranging the letters of another expression to mean its opposite.
For example, “fluster” rearranges to spell “restful”. Other classic examples: “listen” = “silent”; “antagonist” = “not against”; “earliest” = “arise late”.
The word “antigram” is short for “anti-anagram” – an anagram being any word or phrase formed by rearranging the letters of another.
Readers of this blog know I’m an anagram junkie. The examples above suffer from two defects: (1) They’re not specific to this holiday season, and (2) they’re not mine. So let’s fix that with a mood-lifting antigram that’s timely.
Feeling shabby on a rainy day? Regretting something dumb? (We’ve all been there!) Simply take the letters in
“Shabby rainy day or dummy regret”
and rearrange them to spell
“May your days be Merry and Bright!”
There you have it! Our wish for you (i.e., from Cheri and me) this season and every season.
3 responses to “One Word: Antigram”
Thanks Gary and same to you. Cheers friend.
How fun!! I’m going to archive this and search the net for a site that will suggest words and phrases to play with. Thanks so much!!!
Please let us know, Loree, what things you come up with. The possibilities are infinite.
I used to work mostly with names and short titles of things. But under prodding from fellow anagram buffs, I’ve lately branched out into quotes of all kinds. You can pick almost anything at random from current news headlines, old movies, classic books. The world is your oyster. (Hey, you could even use that last sentence!)
Also, I hope you noticed my reply to an earlier question you posted, about how to get started with anagrams: http://garymatthews.com/2016/12/a-grumpy-old-anagram/#comment-594339. You’re already an accomplished wordplayer, so I’m eager to see what nifty things you create.