rec.puzzles Archive

What words are synonymous with their reversals in other languages?

language/synonymous.reversals Added material

Problem

What words are synonymous with their reversals in other languages?
Show solution
Dutch: nier (kidney), French: rein

Almost:
French: etats (plural), English: state (singular)

Additional material

Long ago I read in a book that the word "grasshopper" or "locust", in
Finnish "sirkka", is the reversal of its Greek synonym "akkris".

However, the small English-Greek dictionary that we have at home does
not have "akkris" but "akrida".

Maybe they meant Ancient Greek.  My wife checked her dictionary of
Ancient Greek, and yes, she found "akris" (English transcript).  The
Ancient Greek print could be transcribed with long k to another language
to preserve the presumed pronunciation in the other language, as
"akkris".

-- Pertti Malo <pertti@tmxbris.mhs.oz.au>