Cacophony: no coy chap

What’s a rag man, you ask? Why, it’s an anagram of the word anagram. I spend far too much time thinking up anagrams for different words. Which is why the Internet Anagram Server — or the I, rearrangement servant — is my new best friend.

The word juggling usually starts on the drive to work. I live in the suburb of Maida Vale – of which I long ago satisfied myself that ‘a male diva’ was the best arrangement. On the way to East Perth, license plates, shop signs, street names and words I hear on the radio are stirred and swivelled like wine in the bottom of a glass, unleashing a potent mix of letters for my enjoyment.

The way the Internet Anagram Server works is simple — just type in a word or a phrase and it will spit out a long list of possibilities. For example, some of my favourites for the name Simon Elliott are ‘no slim toilet’, ‘emotion still’, ‘I moot lentils’ and ‘oo smell init?’ I just typed my boss’s full name and it came up with ‘a bristled newt’. Too good.