This week is palindrome week—every date reads the same forwards and backwards. 4/12/14, 4/13/14, 4/14/14... you get the point. Just like words and phrases can be palindromes—mom, racecar, level, live not on evil—so too can numbers. The palindrome has a long history that goes all the way back to the ancient Greeks, who would inscribe palindromic phrases on fountains. One of the most popular fountain inscriptions was "wash the sin as well as the face." Although that phrase isn't a palindrome in English, it is one in Greek.
Palindrome week is only really celebrated in the United States, as it's the only country that uses the mm-dd-yyyy format when writing out dates. Most countries around the world use the dd-mm-yyyy style, although China and Japan are notable for using yyyy-mm-dd. In any case, Twitter has been abuzz with tweets about the week-long holiday. Some have taken to Twitter to celebrate the wordsmith holiday.
Happy Palindrome Week! Did you know every date this week reads the same forwards and backwards? Mind = blown! http://t.co/Cp10CvYXyY
— Noodles & Company (@noodlescompany) April 15, 2014
Taco cat backwards is Taco cat. I love a palindrome. pic.twitter.com/CGnEm3C3Oy
— Dressed up Animals (@DressedAnimaIs) April 14, 2014
The days of this week are palindromes pic.twitter.com/bUD5hCT3Ys
— Yashvir Dalaya (@Yashvir) April 15, 2014
41414: Happy palindrome week (if you're in the US or a country that formats dates in a similar fashion) !
— WayForward (@WayForward) April 14, 2014
In Spanish the palindrome number is called #CAPICÚA pic.twitter.com/bvNFzAxmd1
— JC (@drajcumes) April 15, 2014
Did you know that it's "hey, did you know that it's palindrome week" week?
— Jeff Grubb (@JeffGrubb) April 15, 2014 Photo Credit: Getty Images/Image Source