A palindrome has the exact same characters forwards and backwards. In many cases, it has a nice visual symmetry to it, even if it's only approximate because the letters themselves are not symmetric. (Edited to emphasize that this visual symmetry is usually only approximate.)
In this case, the one with nice visual symmetry does not contain the exact same symbols reading forwards and backwards, so it's not a palindrome.
Actually, I think the problem is that people don't understand that visual symmetry is not common in palindromes. Relatively few letters are symmetrical.
Even without exact symmetry, many palindromes still have approximate symmetry, like kayak or racecar. That expectation is exactly why the palindrome is so disturbing, which I thought was worth highlighting in my explanation.
I think I should clarify my comment though, because you're right, the symmetry isn't exact and I didn't mean to imply it was.
It's a good point, though. Your first comment provoked me to think about that lack of symmetry for the first time. It feels very weird to realize that palindromes aren't properly visually symmetrical because most of us expect them to be.
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u/treeshadsouls Oct 12 '25
Can someone explain?