National Backward Day is a holiday that’s observed annually on January 31st. As the name of this holiday suggests, this is a day on which people are encouraged to wear something backward, to talk backward, or to eat their meals in reverse for the day. It’s a day to turn your shirt inside out, wear your hat backward, or do something else to celebrate this wacky, fun-filled holiday. Sure, some people are going to look at you oddly, but that’s all part of the fun. The point of the day is to cut loose and to look at things in a different way.

The History of National Backward Day

National Backward Day was created by Megan Emily Scott and Sarah Nicole Miller. These two were working on a farm and came up with the idea while they were milking cows. While they were milking the cows, they were actually thinking about crafts, and that’s when the idea dawned on them. Once they had come up with the idea for this holiday, they then invented the rules for it. They chose January 31 as the day to celebrate it because this date is 1/31, which, if turned backward, is 1/31! It’s been a holiday ever since.

Some Words That Are Spelled Backwards

Since National Backward Day is a holiday on which things are done backward, we thought it would be appropriate to talk about some words that are actually other words spelled backward, and there are more of them than you might think. Below are a few of them that we found.

• The sorcerer in Fantasia is named Yensid. That’s Disney spelled in reverse.
• Oprah has a production company named Harpo. That’s Oprah spelled in reverse.
• The word “Yob” is the word “boy” spelled in reverse. It’s slang in Great Britain for a young man who is up to no good.
• The cheese made in Cornwall known as Yarg is the backward spelling of the dairy farmers credited with inventing it. Their last name is Gray.
• During the 1920s, the word “okay” was reversed to make the more humorous slang word “Kayo.” Despite its reversed spelling, it still means okay.

Observing National Backward Day

We know that you’re just waiting to celebrate this holiday, so allow us to give you some pointers. If you want to celebrate National Backward Day, then you’re going to want to do some of the things you do on this day in reverse. This can be turning a shirt or sweatshirt inside out. It can mean wearing a dress backward or wearing your favorite baseball cap backward. Or, it can mean adding coffee to your milk, watching a movie in reverse, or even watching the movie Memento. Don’t forget to use the hashtag #NationalBackwardDay on your social media accounts, or maybe it should be #yaDdrawkcaBlanoitaN.