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.

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." —Mark 2:27
• "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
• "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
• "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
• "And we'll lead, not merely by the example of our power, but by the power of our example." —Joe Biden, 2021 inaugural address
• "All crime is vulgar, just as all vulgarity is crime" —Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray
• "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.” —Benjamin Franklin
• ""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

Etymology

It is derived from the Greek ἀντιμεταβολή (antimetabolḗ), from ἀντί (antí, 'against, opposite') and μεταβολή (metabolḗ, '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
• Lapidos, Juliet (September 5, 2008). "The Hottest Rhetorical Device of Campaign '08". Slate.com. Retrieved October 8, 2021.
• Lapidos, Juliet (September 19, 2008). "The Old Switcheroo". On The Media. National Public Radio. Archived from the original on October 23, 2009. Retrieved October 8, 2021.
• Antimetabole detector at lingfil.uu.se