Anagrams in liteature, movies, and music (2024)

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Anagram hall of fame

Personal anagrams

Anagrams in Literature, Movies, and Beyond

Here are some instances where authors and other creators consciously used anagrams in their works, as titles, as names of their characters, and so on.

Hover mouse pointer over anagrams (or tap) to animate them.

Literature

Vladimir Nabokov = Vivian Darkbloom

Vivian Darkbloom is a character in Nabokov's novel Lolita.

Tom Marvolo Riddle = I am Lord Voldemort

The author JK Rowling used an anagram to name the two identities of her villain in her Harry Potter series.

Tom Elvis Jedusor = Je suis Voldemort

To make sure his name remains an anagram, Tom Riddle has been renamed in Harry Potter translations. For example, the above is his name in the French edition.

Erewhon = Nowhere

The author Samuel Butler titled his satirical novel as an angram;incidentally, the word "nowhere" is a literal translation of the Greek utopia.

Roast Mules = Somersault

In his novel Son of Rosemary, the author Ira Levin includes the term ROAST MULES whose anagrams must be found out.

O, Draconian devil! = Leonardo da Vinci

Oh, lame saint! = The Mona Lisa

So dark the con of Man = Madonna of the Rocks

Movies

October Sky = Rocket Boys

October Sky is a movie based on Homer Hickam's book Rocket Boys.

Miss Hester Mofet = Miss the rest of me

Louis Friend = Iron Sulfide

In the 1991 movie, The Silence Of The Lambs, the villain, Dr. HannibalLecter (Anthony Hopkins), was fond of anagrams. He hid a murder victim'ssevered head in a rented storage garage under the name "Miss Hester Mofet"which FBI Agent Starling (Jodi Foster) figured out was an anagram.
Later when officials demand he give up the name of a serial killer, he liesand tells them it's "Louis Friend". Once again Agent Starling concludes thatit's an anagram for "Iron Sulfide" (fool's gold).

Redrum = Murder

Magazines

Metamagical Themas = Mathematical Games

Mathematical Games was the title of a column Martin Gardner started in the Scientific American magazine. When Douglas Hofstadter took it over, the column's name became an anagram of the original: Metamagical Themas. (reference )

Television

Bart = Brat

Matt Groening claims that he named Bart in his animated cartoon show by anagramming the word brat.

Torchwood = Doctor Who

BBC science fiction series Torchwood is a spinoff of Doctor Who.

Gregory House = Huge ego, sorry

In the television series House, in the episode titled "Housetraining", the character Dr. House says his name, Gregory House, is an anagram for "Huge ego, sorry."

Music

Jim Morrison = Mr. Mojo Risin'

Mr. Mojo Risin' appears in the song L.A. Woman in the band The Doors. Jim Morrison was the lead singer and lyricist of band.

Memory Almost Full = For my soulmate LLM

Paul McCartney's 2007 album is titled Memory Almost Full. LLM are the initials of Linda Louise McCartney, his wife who died of breast cancer in 1998.

Lyrics and poems that makes use of anagrams:
doG (When a Child Says a Prayer), a song by Bill Pere

I, Megaphone = Imogen Heap

The album title "I, Megaphone" is an anagram for the artist's name Imogen Heap.

"Spring Session M" = "Missing Persons"

The album title "Spring Session M" is an anagram of the band name "Missing Persons".

Will.i.am = William
Musician William Adams is known by his stage name will.i.am.

Art

Salvador Dali = Avida Dollars

Andre Breton, the founder of surrealism, came up with this anagram to refer to Dali. Avida Dollars means, roughly, 'eager for dollars' in Spanish.

Do you know an anagram that belongs on this page? Write to us at (words at wordsmith.org).

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