■ A 倒語 is a word formed by reversing the syllable order of a conventional word.

□ Most 倒語 are slang, informal expressions, or nonce words. 倒語 can be invented easily, and often they are used and understood only by people in certain groups. However, a few are widely known. In a few cases, such as ネタ or ダフ屋, most users of the words may not be aware of their etymologies.

Some well-established 倒語 are the following:

• ネタ, from 種（たね）. For definitions, see the entry for ネタ.

• ダフ屋 "scalper, ticket tout," from 札（ふだ）. See ダフ屋.

• どや "flophouse," from 宿（やど） "inn." See どや.

• グラサン "sunglasses," from サングラス. (Note that one syllable, ス, was dropped, and the remaining four syllables were reversed in pairs.)

• しょば "place for setting up an outdoor stall or restaurant," as in しょば代（だい） "the fee levied for such a business," and しょば屋（や） "a person who collects such fees." From 場所（ばしょ） "place."

• もく "tobacco, cigarette," from 雲（くも） "cloud," a reference to tobacco smoke.

This entry was created by Tom Gally.

Created 2000-07-23.