Mark Saltveit

Writer. Comedian. Palindromist. (

[Mark Saltveit @msalt]

@IanKarmel Merch blems.

[Mark Saltveit @msalt]

@badiniadones Stay Goth!

[Mark Saltveit @msalt]

@Nariko_Ott Silent Gen is over 80. You might be thinking of Boomers who, well, boom.

[Mark Saltveit @msalt]

@Logological Thanks for the shout out! (BTW the twitter account I use more often is @taoish. )

If you like palindromes, check out the new documentary "The @palindromists" starring "Weird" @alyankovic, @danicamckellar, Will Shortz and, you know, #palindromes.

[Tristan Miller @[email protected] @Logological]

The Dmitri Borgmann #SatorSquare mystery has been solved, by none other than palindromist extraordinaire @msalt! His response to my article has just appeared in Notes & Queries: https://t.co/9YLlKOZxoE #palindrome

[Mark Saltveit @msalt]

@monicaMedHist @PennPress We know the square flourished from the 6th-12th c. in Coptic and Ehtiopian, mostly in magico-Christian healing amulets (beg. with SATOR/CATOP). But it's absent in the PGM. When it returns to West in 9th C., the ROTAS form mixes w/ SATOR so there must be an alternate source.

[Mark Saltveit @msalt]

@monicaMedHist @PennPress Thank you! I'm speaking at IMC-Leeds this year. Also just did this (warning: long) with Prof. Michael Fontaine (Classics, Cornell). https://t.co/uBcxXzTVy1

[Andrew Nadeau @TheAndrewNadeau]

professor: so what did we learn from the trolley problem?

me: that it’s alright to murder one guy if you don’t murder five

professor: that is absolutely not the lesson

me: ok well then I need a lawyer

[Mark Saltveit @msalt]

@monicaMedHist @PennPress Fascinating! Thanks for the pointer. I'm researching the history of the square, which disappears from Western European codices for several centuries then reappears (reversed). But codices were predominantly male... 🤔

[Mark Saltveit @msalt]

@monicaMedHist @PennPress That sachet is the example you want, I suspect. IIRC the Manchester square was on an amphora associated with soldiers; more about drinking and military might than healing.

[Mark Saltveit @msalt]

@McrMuseum Sorry but the Paternoster theory has been discredited. The Pompei squares are too old; the Our Father prayer and Alpha-Omega symbolism were decades if not a century later.

Besides, anagrams prove nothing; there are hundreds, including satanic, English and Norwegian anagrams too.

[Mark Saltveit @msalt]

@rhicrtr @SpankyAKAPepe @ContraPoints Latin has a different, much more common meaning (the language) and when used for people is associated with the really corny 1950s ethnic stereotype of the "Latin Lover."

[Arne Duncan @arneduncan]

2/3s of Republicans in Congress signed onto a lawsuit attempting to disenfranchise millions of voters, and somehow @Kaepernick7 was the one disrespecting our American values?

Race impacts...basically everything

[Mark Saltveit @msalt]

@IanKarmel My next batch, I'm excited for it!

[ian karmel @IanKarmel]

DEMOCRATS WILL MAKE EVERY CITY LOOK LIKE PORTLAND!

[human aaron @humanaaron]

Behind every great man is the drawer I need to get into why are you even in the kitchen right now

[Mark Saltveit @msalt]

@badiniadones Ha! My ex and I used to say that joke.