rhetoric Rhetoric () is the art of persuasion, which along with grammar and logic (or dialectic), is one of the three ancient arts of discourse. Rhetoric aims to study the techniques writers or speakers utilize to inform, persuade, or motivate par ...

, antimetabole ( ) 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 In rhetoric, chiasmus ( ) or, less commonly, chiasm (Latin term from Greek , "crossing", from the Greek , , "to shape like the letter Χ"), is a "reversal of grammatical structures in successive phrases or clauses – but no repetition of wor ...

. 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.

Examples

* " Unus pro omnibus, omnes pro uno" ("One for all, all for one") * "Eat to live, not live to eat." —attributed to

Socrates Socrates (; ; –399 BC) was a Greek philosopher from Athens who is credited as the founder of Western philosophy and among the first moral philosophers of the ethical tradition of thought. An enigmatic figure, Socrates authored no t ...

*"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. * "There is no 'way to peace'. Peace is the way." —

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

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

When the going gets tough, the tough get going "When the going gets tough, the tough get going" is a popular witticism in American English. The phrase is an example of antimetabole. The origin of the phrase has been attributed to various sources. It appears to come from American football ...

.” * "With my mind on my money and my money on my mind." —

Snoop Dogg Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. (born October 20, 1971), known professionally as Snoop Dogg (previously Snoop Doggy Dogg and briefly Snoop Lion), is an American rapper. His fame dates back to 1992 when he featured on Dr. Dre's debut solo single, " ...

in the song " Gin and Juice" * "In America, you can always find a party. In Soviet Russia,

Party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often featu ...

always finds you!" —

Yakov Smirnoff Yakov Naumovich Pokhis (russian: Яков Наумович Похис; born 24 January 1951), better known as Yakov Smirnoff (russian: Яков Смирнов; ), is a Ukrainian-American comedian, actor and writer. He began his career as a stand ...

* "The great object of amlet'slife is defeated by continually resolving to do, yet doing nothing but resolve." —

Samuel Taylor Coleridge Samuel Taylor Coleridge (; 21 October 177225 July 1834) was an English poet, literary critic, philosopher, and theologian who, with his friend William Wordsworth, was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lak ...

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

's ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

'' * "We didn't land on

Plymouth Rock Plymouth Rock is the traditional site of disembarkation of William Bradford and the ''Mayflower'' Pilgrims who founded Plymouth Colony in December 1620. The Pilgrims did not refer to Plymouth Rock in any of their writings; the first known writt ...

. The rock was landed on us." —

Malcolm X Malcolm X (born Malcolm Little, later Malik el-Shabazz; May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965) was an American Muslim minister and human rights activist who was a prominent figure during the civil rights movement. A spokesman for the Nation of I ...

* "He was just the man for such a place, and it was just the place for such a man." —

Frederick Douglass Frederick Douglass (born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, February 1817 or 1818 – February 20, 1895) was an American social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. After escaping from slavery in Maryland, he became ...

, ''

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass ''Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass'' is an 1845 memoir and treatise on Abolitionism in the United States, abolition written by famous orator and former slave Frederick Douglass during his time in Lynn, Massachusetts. It is generally hel ...

'' * "Fair is foul, and foul is fair" —

, ''

Macbeth ''Macbeth'' (, full title ''The Tragedie of Macbeth'') is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those w ...

'' * "And we'll lead, not merely by the example of our power, but by the power of our example." — Joseph R. Biden, "Inaugural Address" * "All crime is vulgar, just as all vulgarity is crime" —

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...

, ''

The Picture of Dorian Gray ''The Picture of Dorian Gray'' is a philosophical novel by Irish writer Oscar Wilde. A shorter novella-length version was published in the July 1890 issue of the American periodical '' Lippincott's Monthly Magazine''.''The Picture of Dorian G ...

'' * "I'm hoping that somebody pray for me, I'm praying that somebody hope for me." —

JID Destin Choice Route (born October 31, 1990), better known by his stage name JID (also stylized J.I.D), is an American rapper. He is a part of the musical collective Spillage Village, founded by EarthGang in 2010, with Hollywood JB, JordxnBryant ...

in the song "

Enemy (Imagine Dragons and JID song) "Enemy" is a song by American pop rock band Imagine Dragons and American rapper JID. It was released through Interscope Records and Kidinakorner on October 28, 2021, from the soundtrack of the animated streaming television series ''Arcane''. ...

Etymology

It is derived from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

(), from (, "against, opposite") and (, "turning about, change").

References

*Corbett, Edward P.J. ''Classical Rhetoric for the Modern Student''. Oxford University Press, New York, 1971.

External links

Audio examples of antimetabole
at americanrhetoric.com * *

at lingfil.uu.se Rhetoric {{rhetoric-stub

Examples

Etymology

See also

References

External links