Antimetabole Explained

In rhetoric, 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.

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.^[1]

Examples

• "Unus pro omnibus, omnes pro uno" ("One for all, all for one")
• "Eat to live, do not live to eat." —attributed to Socrates
• "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country." —John F. Kennedy, 1961 inaugural address
• "There is no 'way to peace'. Peace is the way." —A. J. Muste
• "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath." —^[2]
• "When the going gets tough, the tough get going."
• "With my mind on my money and my money on my mind." —Snoop Dogg in the song "Gin and Juice"
• "In America, you can always find a party. In Soviet Russia, Party always finds you!" —Yakov Smirnoff
• "The great object of [Hamlet's] life is defeated by continually resolving to do, yet doing nothing but resolve." —Samuel Taylor Coleridge on William Shakespeare's Hamlet
• "We didn't land on Plymouth Rock. The rock was landed on us." —Malcolm X^[3]
• "He was just the man for such a place, and it was just the place for such a man." —Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass^[4]
• "Are you the strongest because you're Satoru Gojo? Or are you Satoru Gojo because you're the strongest?"—Suguru Geto, Jujutsu Kaisen
• "Fair is foul, and foul is fair" —William Shakespeare, Macbeth^[5]
• "And we'll lead, not merely by the example of our power, but by the power of our example." —Joe Biden, 2021 inaugural address^[6]
• "All crime is vulgar, just as all vulgarity is crime" —Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray^[7]
• "I'm hoping that somebody pray for me, I'm praying that somebody hope for me." —JID in the song "Enemy"
• “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” – Taylor Swift, “Mastermind"
• ""Son, I am able," she said. "Though you scare me." "Watch" said I. "Beloved," I said, "Watch me scare you, though." Said she, "Able am I, son."" —They Might Be Giants, "I Palindrome I"
• "Putin...wanted to see the Finlandization of NATO. I told [the [[President of Finland]]], he's...gonna get the Natoization of Finland." —Joe Biden, in interview with Time Magazine^[8]

Etymology

It is derived from the Greek Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: ἀντιμεταβολή, from Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: ἀντί ('against, opposite') and ('turning about, change').

See also

• Anadiplosis
• Chiasmus
• Figure of speech
• In Soviet Russia
• Rhetoric
• Symploce

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
• Web site: The Hottest Rhetorical Device of Campaign '08. Juliet . Lapidos. . September 5, 2008. October 8, 2021.
• Web site: https://web.archive.org/web/20091023071816/http://www.onthemedia.org/transcripts/2008/09/19/04. The Old Switcheroo. dead . Juliet . Lapidos. On The Media. National Public Radio. September 19, 2008. October 23, 2009. October 8, 2021.
• Antimetabole detector at lingfil.uu.se

Notes and References

1. Book: Fahnestock, Jeanne . Rhetorical Figures in Science . 1999 . Oxford University Press . 123–134.
2. Web site: Mark 2:23-28 NIV . Bible Gateway .
3. Web site: Malcolm X: Speech excerpt "Ballot or the Bullet".
4. Book: Douglass, Frederick . Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass . 1995 . Dover Publications, Inc. . Mineola, New York . 0-486-28499-9 . 13 .
5. Book: Shakespeare, William. Macbeth. Act I, Scene 1, 12.
6. News: . Inauguration Speech . The New York Times . US Capitol . January 20, 2021 .
7. Book: Wilde, Oscar. The Picture of Dorian Gray. Penguin Classics. 2000. London. 203.
8. News: . Read the Full Transcript of President Joe Biden’s Interview With TIME . Times Magazine . The White House . May 28, 2024 .