Anagrams Facts & Best of Anagrams

An anagram is a word or phrase made by transposing or rearranging the letters of another word or phrase.

 

Anagram Facts

Anagram FactsLouis XIII, the King of France during early seventeenth century, appointed a Royal Anagrammatist for a handsome salary.

The word "anagrams" is an anagram of "ars magna", Latin for "great art".

The word stifle is an anagram of itself.

Japan's former capital city (Kyoto, A.D. 794-1868) and present capital city (Tokyo) names are anagrams of each other.

Kingdom of Java's (Indonesia) former capital city was Kartasura and then moved to Surakarta.

Ever wondered why there isn't another word that can be made by rearranging the letters of the word anagram?

Anagrammist n. : one who composes anagrams and when asked for the four points of the compass is likely to reply thorn, shout, seat, and stew.

An anagram which has reverse spelling of a word and itself spells a proper word is called a semordnilap.

The name of synthetic fiber Spandex is an anagram of expands.

Clabbers is a variant of the Scrabble game. In this game, all the rules are the same as for Scrabble except for one: all words have to be anagrams of real words.

 

The following are exceptionally clever. Someone out there either has far too much spare time or is deadly at Scrabble. I feel sure you could have done these without the answers; but here they are just in case you might miss one.

Listen

When you rearrange the letters: "Silent"

Evangelist

When you rearrange the letters: "Evil's Agent"

Dormitory:

When you rearrange the letters: "Dirty Room"

Desperation:

When you rearrange the letters: "A Rope Ends It"

The Morse Code:

When you rearrange the letters: "Here come dots"

Slot Machines:

When you rearrange the letters: "Cash Lost in 'em"

Animosity:

When you rearrange the letters: "Is No Amity"

Mother-in-law:

When you rearrange the letters: "Woman Hitler"

Snooze Alarms:

When you rearrange the letters: "Alas! No More Z's"

A Decimal Point:

When you rearrange the letters: "I'm a Dot in Place"

The Earthquakes:

When you rearrange the letters: "That Queer Shake"

Eleven plus two:

When you rearrange the letters: "Twelve plus one"

Schoolmaster

When you rearrange the letters: "The classroom"

Elvis

When you rearrange the letters: "Lives"

Clint Eastwood

When you rearrange the letters: "Old West Action"

Madam Curie

When you rearrange the letters: "Radium came"

Western Union

When you rearrange the letters: "No Wire Unsent"

The country side

When you rearrange the letters: "No City Dust Here"

 

Astronomers

When you rearrange the letters: "Moon starers / No more stars"

Postmaster

When you rearrange the letters: "Stamp Store"

A telescope

When you rearrange the letters: ""To see place

The eyes

When you rearrange the letters: "They see"

The ears

When you rearrange the letters: "Hear set"

The cockroach

When you rearrange the letters: "Cook, catch her"

Waitress

When you rearrange the letters: "A stew, Sir?"

The centenarians

When you rearrange the letters: "I can hear ten "tens""

Desperation

When you rearrange the letters: "A rope ends it"

I run to escape

When you rearrange the letters: "A persecution"

The Morse Code

When you rearrange the letters: "Here Come Dots"

Slot Machines

When you rearrange the letters: "Cash Lost in'em"

Conversation

When you rearrange the letters: "Voices Rant On"

Clothespins

When you rearrange the letters: "So let's pinch"

Mr. Mojo risin'

When you rearrange the letters: "Jim Morrison"
(from the Doors song, "L.A. Woman")

Butterfly

When you rearrange the letters: "Flutter-by"

Funeral

When you rearrange the letters: "Real Fun"

A domesticated animal

When you rearrange the letters: "Docile, as a man Tamed it"

The Railroad Train

When you rearrange the letters: " Hi! I Rattle and Roar"

The Hilton

When you rearrange the letters: "Hint: Hotel"

Vacation time

When you rearrange the letters: "I am not active"

The Detectives

When you rearrange the letters: "Detect Thieves"

A Gentleman

When you rearrange the letters: "Elegant Man"

The Public Art Galleries

When you rearrange the letters: "Large Picture Halls, I Bet"

A Decimal Point

When you rearrange the letters: "I'm a Dot in Place"

Statue of Liberty

When you rearrange the letters: "Built to Stay Free"

Admirer

When you rearrange the letters: "Married"

New York Times

When you rearrange the letters: "Monkeys write / Monkey writes"

Debit card

When you rearrange the letters: "Bad credit"

Naturalist

When you rearrange the letters: "A trails nut"

Church of Scientology

When you rearrange the letters: "Rich-chosen goofy Cult"

 

Celebrity Anagrams

Al Pacino = A Pal Icon
Alec Guinness = Genuine Class
Andre Agassi = Grass An Aide
Bette Midler = Diet? Tremble!
Billy Graham = Big Rally Ham
Britney Spears = Presbyterians
Bruce Springsteen = Bursting Presence
Camilla Parker Bowles = Workable Caramel Lips
Carly Simon = Moans Lyric
Celine Dion = No, I Decline
Clint Eastwood = Old West Action
Danny Devito = Native Noddy
David Letterman = Nerd Amid Late TV
Drew Barrymore = Merry Wardrobe
Eddie Murphy = Rude? I'm Hyped!
Elvis = Lives
Eric Clapton = Narcoleptic
Francis Ford Coppola = Cold Popcorn Affairs
George W. Bush = Begs Huge Row
Gillian Anderson = No Aliens, Darling
Gloria Estefan = Large Fat Noise
Greta Garbo = Bogart Gear
Howard Stern = He Drowns Art
Jay Leno = Enjoy L.A.
Jerry Seinfeld = Friendly Jeers
Julia Roberts = Just a Broiler
Katie Holmes = Likes a Tom, eh?
Lady Diana Spencer = Ascend in Paris
Leonardo da Vinci = O, Draconian Devil
Leonardo Dicaprio = Docile Or Paranoid
Marie Osmond = Mormon Ideas
Melanie Griffith = Right Fee in a Film
Monica Seles = Slice So Mean
Placido Domingo = God I Do Complain
Robert De Niro = Error On Bidet
Robin Williams = I Warm Billions
Sharon Stone = No Near Shots
Shirley Maclaine = American Yells "Hi"
Sigourney Weaver = Review Agony? Sure!
Stephanie Beacham = I'm As Cheap Beneath
Steven Spielberg = Best PG Never Lies
Sylvester Stallone = Slovenly Steel Star
Ted Turner = Utter Nerd
Tom Cruise = So I'm Cuter
Venus Williams = Values Slim Win
Whitney Houston = In Tone - Why Shout?
William Clinton = I'm It, An Ill Clown
William Shakespeare = I Am A Weakish Speller
William Shakespeare = I'll Make A Wise Phrase
Woody Allen = Wooed All NY