In doing some research for today’s Word Wrap, I learned in addition to reversible quilts and jackets, there’s a big market in children’s reversible clothing. A woman in the UK, for instance, makes and sells nothing but. And I’ve got to link to her website, if only to type out its name here: two-witt-too-woo. How cute is that?

So maybe it’s the child in me that loves reversible words. Not to be confused with palindromes like “kayak” or “rotator,” reversibles form entirely different words when spelled backward.

Here are some of my favorites:

leper – repel

desserts – stressed

lived – devil

drawer – reward

straw – warts

diaper – repaid

I like reversible words so much, I think we should have more of them! So I’m going to start us off by inventing two, and open the comments section up for suggestions of your own. (Of course, if you’d like to add your favorite “real” reversible words, they’re welcome, as well.)

meta – atem (Definition: an “atem” is really an “item,” but one having trouble finding itself.)

summons – snommus (Definition: I say a “snommus” should be the sticky mass secreted over and around the eye while sleeping. AKA: the eye-booger.)