Sunday, February 26, 2023

Nine Rhetorical Devices - (1) Antimetabole


In rhetoric, antimetabole (/æntɪməˈtæbəliː/ AN-ti-mə-TAB-ə-lee) is the repetition of words in successive clauses, but in transposed order; for example, "I know what I like, and I like what I know". It is related to, and sometimes considered a special case of, chiasmus.

An antimetabole can be predictive, because it is easy to reverse the terms. It may trigger deeper reflection than merely stating one half of the line.

Example:

Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country. 
  -  John F. Kennedy, "Inaugural Address", January 20, 1961.

Further examples.

Unus pro omnibus, omnes pro uno (One for all, all for one)

Eat to live, not live to eat. —attributed to Socrates

The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. —Mark 2:27

When the going gets tough, the tough get going.

Fair is foul, and foul is fair — William Shakespeare, Macbeth

All crime is vulgar, just as all vulgarity is crime — Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray


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