WORDplay

—words or sentences that read the same forwards and backwards. 

"Madam, I'm Adam." 

Palendromes date back to ancient Greece, and medieval monks loved them as puzzles. The Romans inscribed the famous "Sator Arepo Tenet Opera Rotas," a 5-word Latin palindrome, on walls, including Pompeii (79 CE). It was written as a 5x5 square (five letters, five words, five lines) that reads the same left-to-right, right-to-left, top-to-bottom, bottom-to-top.

Google translates it: "The Maker of Arepo Holds the Works of the Wheels.

ChatGPT translates it: "The sower Arepo holds the wheels with effort."

—words or ideas repeated in reverse order, often lending elegance or emphasis.

John F. Kennedy used a brilliant chiasmus in his inaugural address (1961): "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country." 

This line has become one of the most quoted examples of rhetorical balance.

"When the going gets tough, the tough get going."

The name Chisamus comes from the Greek letter chi (X), meaning "cross." 

—a special type of chiasmus where the same WORDS are repeated in reverse order.

"You like it; it likes you."

"Eat to live, not live to eat."

Used in Greek and Roman rhetoric. Writers and politicians love its punchy symmetry.

"to reduplicate." It refers to the repetition of a word or words in successive clauses in such a way that the second clause starts with the same word that marks the end of the previous clause.

"When I give, I give myself.”  

—short, comic verse about a person, usually four lines, whimsical.

"Sir Christopher Wren
Said, I am going to dine with some men.
If anyone calls,
Say I am designing St. Paul's."

Invented by Edmund Clerihew Bentley (1875-1956) when he was a student at Oxford. Bentley was the author of the enduring murder mystery, Trent's Last Case.

—five-line, often humorous poem with an AABBA rhyme scheme and a set rhyme.

There once was a man from Peru,
Who dreamt he was eating his shoe.
He woke with a fright,
In the middle of the night,
To find that his dream had come true.

Written and illustrated by Edward Lear, his Book of Nonsense (1846) introduced the form to a wide audience. The verses were often nonsensical, accompanied by quirky sketches. While limericks existed earlier, Lear's book made them a staple of English comic verse. Today, limericks remain a playful form for wit, humor, and sometimes a bit of mischief.

—swapping sounds between words.

"You have hissed all my mystern lectures" (instead of "missed all my history lectures.")

Named for the Reverend William Archibald Spooner (1844-1930) who often misspoke this way.

—a punny adverb after a quotation.

"I'm reading a book on antigravity," Tom said lightly.

Popularized in the mid-20th century, Tom Swifties are puns that pair a quotation with a playful adverb. The name comes from a children's book series about Tom Swift.

—a similar-sounding wrong word is used in place of the correct one.

"Texas has a lot of electrical votes" (instead of "electroral votes.")

"He is the very pineapple of politeness" (for pinnacle).

Named after the character Mrs. Malaprop who consantly misuses words in Richard Brinsley Sheridan's play, The Rivals (1775).

—transposition of sounds, letters, or syllables within a word.

"pasketi" for "spaghetti"

"perfessor" for "professor"

"calvary" for "calvalry"

Metathesis is both a serious linguistic process (languages evolve this way) and a playful or accidental slip of the tongue. Linguists consider it one of the regular forces that shape how words change over centuries.

—word or design that can be read the same way when rotated or flipped.

The word WOW rotated 180 deg. still reads WOW.

Popularized by graphic designers in the 20th century, ambigrams often appear in logos and book covers. Angles & Demons by Dan Brown made them famous.

—words arranged into a picture related to the text's meaning.

The word spiral written in a spiral shape.

The French poet Guillaume Apollinaire (1880-1918) created beautiful calligrams, blending poetry and visual art.

—poems in which the arrangement of the text on the page forms a visual image of the poem's subject.

A poem about a tree written in the shape of a tree.

This form emerged strongly in the 1950s-60s, though it has roots in much older traditions of shaped poetry.