Saturday, January 01, 2005

The International Registory of Backward Names

*Update new email address

The International Registry of Backward Names

[La Registerio Della Backuwardo Nominattoes Globella]


A huge global list of backwards names in use worldwide, compiled by Leinad Moolb in cyberspace

[Please send nominations and sightings to DanBloom@gmail.com ]

Doing it backwards................................

The International Director of Backwards Names ignites a worldwide craze as hundreds of people across the globe join Nad Moolb's international registry of individuals listing their names or company names in reverse, the Associated Press wrote in 1990.


Spell your name right and Dan Bloom just yawns with boredom. But dare to spell it backwards and you join a select crowd, members of Nad Moolb's International Registry of Backward Names. What's it all about, and the big question -- why?

It started as a lark in the USA in 1990 but has turned into a longterm hobby as hundreds of Americans -- and others from as far away as Europe, Africa and Asia -- have sent Bloom email letters and postcards with their names in reverse. There's now a free website on the Internet, and the call is going out now for more nominations and signups.

Tim Rae of Baltimore, Maryland, also known as ''Ear Mit'', signed up in when the registry first went public in the early 1990s. He told Bloom that he has used his backward name ever since friends dubbed him Ear Mit during his college days.

So has Ed Clayfoot of Dallas, Texas, who name reversed is listed as De Tooftalc, in Nad Moolb's whimsical little registry. Toofyalc also sent in the names of 27 Toofyalf family members, including the family dog, Leber (Rebel).

Derf Semloh (Fred Holmes) of Irving, Texas, has used his backward name in organizing a dart tournament for the last 35 years.

In Tokyo, there's a coffee shop called "Alucard" in both English and Japanese signage. When Bloom asked the Japanese owner why he chose that name, the owner said he was a big fan of the Dracula movies from Europe and the USA, and Alucard is, well.....read it backwards!

Over 1000 people from 15 countries have signed up for the real but imaginary registry since it was first launched in 1990, Bloom said in a recent e-mail from his spartan open-air office on the subtropical island nation of Taiwan in the Western Pacific ocean.

For 2005, Bloom, aka Nad Moolb, has taken his registry into cyberspace, set up a website that allows for comments and free membership requests and is now putting out cyber-feelers around the globe for new members and name and word nominations worldwide.

"With the Internet, distance no longer exists, and we can sign people up, add their names to our registry and email back to them in Internet Time," says Bloom, a 45 year old Boston native who has made his home in Japan and Taiwan since 1991.

"I'm just doing this to give people around the world a chuckle, in times when we all need a chuckle. The real world news right now is not very good at the moment," Bloom says. "How did I get into this hobby? I kind of just stumbled into it. Now the New York Times, CNN, the BBC, NPR and a host of newspaper reporters from around the world are calling me to verify if this thing is real. It is. I am. We are."

There's no cost and no obligation for those who sign up. All prospective members must do is send in their names by e-mail, backwards. of course, to Nad Moolb's official backward e-mail account at leinadmoolb ATMARK gmail DOT com

Bloom says that he eventually plans to donate the entire file and list of names over to the SmithsonianInstitution's popular culture division in Washington, DC. For free-- he doesn't want any money for this project. It's just a hobby "to keep me sane in an at times insane world," he says.

Moolb, er, Bloom, first got the idea for the registry back in 1983 when he started writing a weekly newspaper humor column for a newspaper that he edited in Alaska, signing his name as "Leinad Moolb." "It was a far-fetched, tall-tales view of Alaska and the world in general," Bloom said about the column. "In fact, some of my columns worked their way, I believe, into the popular Hollywood TV show called 'Northern Exposure,' which was about life in a small Alaskan town.

"I thought it might be fun to have someone else's name on the stuff I wrote, since I was the editor of the paper."

Enter Leinad Moolb. Then people began sending him examples of backward names that have come into everyday use:

* A California company that makes cement calls itself TNEMEC.
* An oil additive produced in Boston is named Silogram, after its inventor, Ed Margolis.
* Oprah Winfrey's TV production firm is named Harpo Productions.
* The late Frank Sinatra used to sign his oil paintings with the name "Artanis".
* A street in Annapolis, Maryland, is called Silopanna Street on the street maps there.
* A travel company in San Francisco is called LevartTravel Company.
* A coffee shop in Tokyo called Alucard, for fans of Dracula.
* The names even of some characters in the novels of Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami, or is that Kiruha Mikaramu? [In Japanese, the backwards things are the separate sounds backwards. Japanese entertainers call their coffee, hiko, for exampke, which is kohi sounded out backwards. Saifu, wallet, becomes fusai. Beeru becomes rubee. Gangsters use this backwards vocabulary, too.]
* Fathers named Leon who name their sons Noel; fathers named Amos who name their daughters Soma. Mothers named Selma who name their daughters Amles.
* A burger joint in Davis, California that serves buffalo and ostrich burgers and was originally called Murder Burgers. However, the city council felt the name was too violent and asked the owne to change it. He did: to Red Rum Burgers.
* Nutrimetics used to sell a product called Derits. It was a herbal tablet that helped you to stay awake -- a natural version of caffeine. Hence the name -- ''tired'' spelled backwards.
* The song lyrics to "Work It" by Missy Elliott, 2002, that go:

"Is it worth it? Let me work it
I put my thing down flip it, and reverse it
Ti esrever dna, ti pilf, nwod
gniht ym tup, I...
I you got a big you know what, let me search ya..."
There's more, much more, in Bloom's archives. And he's putting the information on his website now.

"What I am doing is very unimportant and trivial in the big scheme of things," Bloom, a freelance writer and magazine editor who graduated from Tufts University in Boston with a degree in literature, says. "But people around the world apparently find it interesting. I do, too!"

That interest has increased over the years when Bloom began appearing on radio shows across North America and began using the Internet to publicize his campaign in order to prmote his idea of the registry."

"There's a small coffee shop in Tokyo called Alucard, which is Dracula spelled backwards," says Bloom, who lived in Japan in the early 1990s where he learned that many show biz entertainers use backward terms in Japanese for things like beer or coffee (''beeru'' or beer becomes ''rubee'', and coffee or ''cohee'', becomes ''heeko'').

"The owner told me hewas a big fan of the Dracula books and movies, and apparently Count Dracula often used his name backward when he was alive. The sign outside the coffee shop there is written out in Japanese hiragana characters!"

Bloom also learned that popular Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami spices his books with names of characters that are sounded out backwards as well.

Bloom says he is a somewhat surprised at the amount of international interest in his registry, but he thinks the world always need a laugh or two to help it get through the day.

"Maybe in a world that is so mobile .... joining a backwards name club is a way of feeling you are part of something," Bloom, a native of Boston, Massachusetts and a graduate of Tufts University, says. But he says that he likes to think there is a greater meaning.

"This isn't my club, this isn't 'Dan Bloom's Backwards Names Club'. This is 'the International Registry of Backward Names'," Bloom says. "This club belongs to everyone who joins in the fun. People feel they are becoming a part of history by signing up their names in reverse."

[NOTE: To join, send in your backwards name or backward company name or any other backward name you have spotted or heard about to leinadmoolb ATMARK gmail dot com

You, or your backwards better half, will receive a letter validating your registration by return email. It's all free, your email address will never be given out to anyone and everything will remain confidential.

Let's add..................................................................

Zul Airam Senyam of Luz Maria Designs in California who told us about Red Rum Burgers above, and who noted in her email: "Thank you for being different." Hey, that's what life is all about!

Leg of Eel, a wonderful name for Lee Fogel.

20 Comments:

Blogger DANIELBLOOM said...

A Swiss man from France living in Taiwan writes:

Hahaha! Leinad, very funny!

Nuf ffuts!!!

But what can I do with my name??? It's already very hard to pronounce the
right way!!!

YERFDOG TRAGYWZ

or in French:

YORFEDOG TRAGYWZ

By the way, did you know that in France this trend of spelling names
backwards started in the 1980s and has been very popular with youngsters?
It
is very sophisticated because the spelling is changed to match the
pronunciation, and at times it's full spelling, at times syllables
switching.

It's called verlan (l'envers). Some people in France speak
verlan all the time, and can have a real conversation that way
providing
they keep the articles and grammar intact (all the verbs and nouns are
spelled backwards).

July 17, 2004 at 2:40 AM  
Blogger DANIELBLOOM said...

Hello,
To join the IRBN, just list your name (backwards) here, your city or state or country or village or any other kind of identifying place. No need to leave your email address, since SPAMMERS might come here and steal them. However, you can email the registry directly at leinadmoolb@hotmail.com and your privacy will be protected there. Also list any names you know of that are backwards, such as company names, city names, street names, book titles, characters in books or movies, anything that strikes your fancy.
Cheers,
Nad Moolb,
registrar
IRBN in cyber-space, also known as ''rebyc-space''!

January 29, 2005 at 1:18 AM  
Blogger DANIELBLOOM said...

THE INTERNATIONAL REGISTRY OF BACKWARDS NAMES

(Wireless Flash News Service, February 1, 2005, USA)

www.flashnews.com

For some folks,
life is
just a little more fun in reverse.
Just ask the more than 1000 people who belong to
the
International Registry of Backward Names, a website
started
by writer Dan Bloom -- a.k.a. "Nad Moolb."
The registry includes Tim Rae of Baltimore, whose
reverse name is "Ear Mit" and Ed Clayfoot of Dallas,
who goes
by "De Tooftalc."
Registry director Bloom first started using his
backwards name for a humor column in an Alaskan
newspaper,
and the idea of spelling words in reverse really stuck
with
him.
He has since uncovered many backwards names in
English,
including Oprah Winfrey's production company, "Harpo,"
and a
San Francisco travel agency called Levart Travel
Company.
Now, Bloom wants to find reversed names in other
languages and he's asking for registry submissions
from folks
from around the world in hopes that at least 30
countries
participate.
You can send your names to him at
leinadmoolb [AT] hotmail.com

Another example: The company named of "Sorcim" - was an early personal computer manufacturer named "micros" backwards.

February 1, 2005 at 8:21 PM  
Blogger DANIELBLOOM said...

From: Kimberlee Payne
To: leinadmoolb@hotmail.com
Subject: interview
03 Feb 2005

My name is Kim Payne and I am from the radio station 2CC in Canberra,
Australia. We were hoping we might be able to talk to you tomorrow about
your International Registry of Backward names. I was hoping we might be
able to do something at 8:20 am our time, this makes it 5:40am your
time. I hope this is not too early. Can you drop me an e-mail with a
confirmation.

I'd like to add my name to the registry too "Enyap Nosila Eelrebmik"

Kim Payne
Producer Mike Jeffreys Breakfast Show
Canberra's Talk Radio

BE LISTENING, EVERYONE!

February 2, 2005 at 8:14 PM  
Blogger DANIELBLOOM said...

More listees:

10. Lee Fogel writes in, noting: "I'm not sure if I qualify, but if I
do, please add my name to the IRBN. My name backwards is "Leg of Eel",
which was my nickname for my entire childhood. As an adult, a few
people told me that they prefer to call me "Lego feel", but ''Leg of Eel'' is my
first choice, because it is kind of a Zen thing, since eels don't have
legs. Anyway, if spaces are allowed to be inserted [THEY ARE! ANTYHING GOES! -- Nad Moolb], please add my name
to the International Registry of Backwards Names.
Signed, "Lee Fogel (a.k.a., Leg of Eel)"

Nad Moolb notes: "Leg of Eel" is a novel twist on the backwards
phenomenon and sure, you're in. It's a very interesting way to use the
backwards forumla and it's fun. We have now signed you up, and you are
now a "rebmem" in good standing of the IRBN. Thanks for adding your name to our growing, evolving, creative list.

--------------------------

11. Robin Banks of Australia, who heard of the IRBN while listening to
the ''Mike Jeffreys Show'' on Radio 2CC in Canberra (thank you Mike, and
Kim, for getting in touch with us and having us on your show!) --
let's do it again, anytime, night or day -- writes: "At a hospital in
Australia, there was a farm out in the back, for the children. It was
called ''LAMINA park'' -- and it is backwards of course for "animal."
[The hospital was in Goulburn, NSW, Australia, but as far as i know, it
is no longer operational. I would not be surprised if this name has
also been used elsewhere."]

So there you go: A children's park, on a farm in Australia, called
LAMINA. Wonderfully creative. Thank you, Robin Banks.

===============

12. Emily Hendrickson writes by email to the Backwards Names Club: "My name
backwards is ''Ylime Noskcirdneh''. My brother's name backwards is
''Drawde Noskcirdneh''. and an interesting backwards word is
''desserts'' ...which is ''Stressed'' when spelled backwards!"

Thank you, Ylime. And please tell Drawde he is listed here too. And yes, desserts are good to eat when you are feeling stressed! Thanks for the reminder!

-- Nad Moolb, IRBN, registrar.

======================

February 9, 2005 at 7:58 AM  
Blogger DANIELBLOOM said...

* A burger joint in Davis, California that serves buffalo and ostrich burgers and was originally called Murder Burgers. However, the city council felt the name was too violent and asked the owne to change it. He did: to Red Rum Burgers.

* Nutrimetics used to sell a product called Derits. It was a herbal tablet that helped you to stay awake -- a natural version of caffeine. Hence the name -- ''tired'' spelled backwards

March 4, 2005 at 4:57 AM  
Blogger DANIELBLOOM said...

http://japundit.com

Alucard

Higashi-Jujo

Tokyo

backwards

Leinad Moolb

http://japundit.com/archives/2005/07/09/849/#comments



Count Backwards

Not many people know this, but in Tokyo there’s a small, neighborhood coffee shop in Higashi-Jujo called “Alucard” — in both English letters and Japanese hiragana. It is pronounced “ah-loo-kah-doh” in Japanese, and it’s actually the name “Dracula” spelled backwards. Count Dracula.

When I walked into the cafe a few years ago and asked the Japanese owner why he chose that particular name for his coffee shop, he told me that he was a big fan of the Dracula movies from Europe and the USA, and that “Alucard” is his backwards salute to the famous count.

For more information about backwardness, go to the International Registry of Backwards Names, an informal and humorous online record of names and other backwards situations around the world.

By Leinad Moolb

July 8, 2005 at 8:51 PM  
Blogger DANIELBLOOM said...

John notes:

The use of "Alucard" for Dracula dates back to at least the 1943 film Son of Dracula, where Count Dracula uses Count Alucard as an alias. (The Alucard in that film is a descendent of the original, according to the movie.)

Also, quite a few of the Konami-made Castlevania games feature a character named Alucard, who is usually a son of Dracula who fights against vampires.

July 9, 2005 at 8:39 AM  
Blogger DANIELBLOOM said...

Yma Sumac to make rare appearance ay Hukilau 2005

Yma Sumac aka AMY CAMUS to make rare appearance ay Hukilau 2005

In February, I posted an entry about outre vocalist Yma Sumac. She is going to make a live appearance at the Hukilau Festival in Ft. Lauderdale, October 6-8.
"Lotsa tiki acts and DJs, a slideshow presentation about Tiki through the years by Charles Phoenix, but most importantly: AN APPEARANCE BY YMA SUMAC," says Richard Butner.
Link




Posted 3 hours ago in IntegrateIT - A weblog by Kyl... 3 links
By Kyle Welsh and Kyle Welsh
The Green Head - Watercooler News
Cory Doctorow: An anime distributor that is planning on reissuing Astro Boy is looking to buy or borrow 16mm prints of a dozen lost episodes for the definitive versions: 16. Secret Agent 3-Z Yma Sumac to make rare appearance ay Hukilau 2005

Posted 10 hours ago in The Green Head - Watercooler N... 227 links
Slackdaddy | A royal fustercluck
the most out of the hard drive's music library Bicycle Bricolage Amazon sex shop Quake III Arena Source Release Lost Astro Boy episodes sought for re-issue Yma Sumac to make rare appearance ay Hukilau 2005 Quake III Arena source is live Cardboard house supplies own water

Posted 11 hours ago in Slackdaddy | A royal fusterclu... 15 links

August 21, 2005 at 3:33 AM  
Blogger DANIELBLOOM said...

Tuesday, February 8, 2005
Outre vocalist Yma Sumac

Yma Sumac is a singer who was known in the fifties for her haunting voice and exotic looks. Sebastian of the incredible PCL LinkDump blog has a short item about Miss Sumac and her new website, along with a link to a 1951 Fate magazine article about her. Link

August 21, 2005 at 3:35 AM  
Blogger DANIELBLOOM said...

mrubinoff@mrubinoff.com

August 21, 2005 at 3:55 AM  
Blogger DANIELBLOOM said...

"Gaijin ni nameareru na! Name kaese!"

April 9, 2006 at 10:00 PM  
Blogger Pamalama Dingdong said...

couldn't e-mail my name to add to ur newsletter.

my work e-mail is pbader@fieldshowell.com

my name backwards is redab f. alemap

June 1, 2007 at 7:51 AM  
Blogger DANIELBLOOM said...

Doing It Backwards -- From Oprah to Frank Sinatra, many people have
spelled their names backwards for fun!

PHOTO OF OPRAH SIGN
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n114/corsiphoto/Harpo.jpg

by Dan Bloom

That's right: Oprah and Frank did it, and you can do, too. Actually,
hundreds, if not mthousands of people around the world spell their
names backwards for fun and profit. Some do it among friends, and when
they sign their email letters. Other do it for business reasons, as
Oprah does when she calls her production company in Chicago -- are you
ready? -- Harpo Productions.

Frank Sinatra used to sign his oil paintings by the name of "Artanis".

To handle all this, there is now an International Directory of
Backwards Names, and they are taking nominations right now. Spell your
name or business backwards and join the community of backwardness, for
free.

Spell your name right and many people will just yawn with boredom. But dare
to spell it backwards and you join a select crowd, members of this
International Registry of Backward Names.

It started as a lark in in the early 1990s but has now turned into a longterm
hobby as hundreds of North Americans -- and others from as far away as
Europe, Africa and Asia -- have sent in email letters and postcards
with their names in reverse. There's a free website on the
Internet, and the call is going out now for more nominations and
signups.

Tim Rae of Baltimore, Maryland, also known as ''Ear Mit'', signed up
in when the registry first went public in 1990. He said
that he has used his backward name ever since friends dubbed him
Ear Mit during his college days.

So has Ed Clayfoot of Dallas, Texas, who name reversed is listed as De
Tooftalc. Toofyalc also sent
in the names of 27 Toofyalf family members, including the family dog,
Leber (Rebel).

Derf Semloh (Fred Holmes) of Irving, Texas, has used his backward name
in organizing a dart tournament for the last 35 years.

In Tokyo, there's a coffee shop called "Alucard" in both English and
Japanese signage. When the Japanese owner was asked why he chose
that name, the owner said he was a big fan of the Dracula movies from
Europe and the USA, and Alucard is, well.....read it backwards!

Over 1000 people from 15 countries have signed on
the free global registry since it was first launched almost 20 years ago.

"With the Internet, distance no longer exists, and we can sign people
up, add their names to our registry and email back to them in Internet
Time," according to the website that promotes "doing it backwards".

No, it is not about sex and it is very safe for work!

"I'm just doing this to give people around the world a chuckle, in
times when we all need a chuckle. The real world news right now is not
very good at the moment," according to the website. "How did we get
into this hobby? We kind of just stumbled into it. Now the New York
Times, CNN, the BBC,
NPR and a host of newspaper reporters from around the world are
calling to verify if this thing is real. It is. We are."

There's no cost and no obligation for those who sign up. All
prospective members must do is send in their names by e-mail,
backwards. Use the email address at the end of this article to sign
yourself up. Never a dull moment in the backwards universe.

The registry eventually plans to donate the entire list
of names over to the Smithsonian Institution's popular culture division
in Washington, D.C.

People have been sending in examples of backward
names that have come into everyday use. For example:

* A California company that makes cement calls itself TNEMEC.
* An oil additive produced in Boston is named Silogram, after its
inventor, Ed Margolis.
* As stated above, Oprah Winfrey's TV production firm is named Harpo
Productions.
* Also, as you already know, the late Frank Sinatra used to sign his
oil paintings with the name "Artanis".
* A street in Annapolis, Maryland, is called Silopanna Street on the
street maps there.
* A travel company in San Francisco is called Levart Travel Company.
* And in Japan, as you know already, a coffee shop in Tokyo called
Alucard, for fans of Dracula.
* There's more: Fathers named Leon who name their sons Noel; fathers
named Amos who
name their daughters Soma. Mothers named Selma who name their
daughters Amles.
* A hamburger joint in Davis, California that serves buffalo and ostrich
burgers and was originally called Murder Burgers. However, the city
council felt the name was too violent and asked the owner to change it.
He did: to "Red Rum" Burgers.
* Nutrimetics used to sell a product called Derits. It was a herbal
tablet that helped you to stay awake -- a natural version of caffeine.
Hence the name -- ''tired'' spelled backwards.
* And get this! The song lyrics to "Work It" by Missy Elliott, 2002, that go:

"Is it worth it? Let me work it
I put my thing down flip it, and reverse it
Ti esrever dna, ti pilf, nwod
gniht ym tup, I...
I you got a big you know what, let me search ya..."

The website says it is somewhat surprised at the amount of international
interest in the backwards registry, but they think the world always need a laugh
or two to help it get through the day, noting: "Maybe in a world that
is so mobile .... joining a backwards name club
is a way of feeling you are part of something. This club belongs to
everyone who joins in the fun. People feel they
are becoming a part of history by signing up their names in reverse."

Once you join the backwards registry, you, or your backwards better
half, will receive a letter validating
your registration by return email. It's all free, your email address
will never be given out to anyone and everything will remain
confidential.

LINK
http://nadmoolb.blogspot.com/

AUTHOR ID OF DAN BLOOM with email address of danbloom@RUSHPRNEWs.COM

September 13, 2008 at 9:02 PM  
Blogger DANIELBLOOM said...

hi

August 24, 2012 at 7:40 AM  
Blogger Unknown said...

see #backwardsnames at twitter hashtag now

February 7, 2014 at 8:16 PM  
Blogger DANIELBLOOM said...

Hi map!

March 9, 2018 at 6:43 AM  
Blogger DANIELBLOOM said...

Adding: "Mot Salguod" from wawa

March 9, 2018 at 6:46 AM  
Blogger DANIELBLOOM said...

New email address to send in ananyms, backward names... DanBloom@gmail.com

June 23, 2019 at 11:08 PM  
Blogger DANIELBLOOM said...

Email us at
Danbloom at gmail dot com

February 2, 2020 at 3:41 AM  

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