Often confused with chiasmus, this is the correct term for the rhetorical trick of reversing two words in two clauses of a sentence for a clever bit of wordplay. For instance,
We must master our fear, or fear will be our master
President George W. Bush's speechwriters seem especially fond of this technique, almost to the point of caricature.
For those readers from Mars who wonder about the origins of this, this phrase is of course the perfectly sarcastic retort to George W. Bush's explanation of 9/11, and the with-us-or-against-us mentality in the years that followed. Rather than explore the complex origins of terrorism against the US, he summarized their motivations as being solely that "they hate our freedoms."
Comments by harrisj
harrisj commented on the word antimetabole
Often confused with chiasmus, this is the correct term for the rhetorical trick of reversing two words in two clauses of a sentence for a clever bit of wordplay. For instance,
President George W. Bush's speechwriters seem especially fond of this technique, almost to the point of caricature.
September 3, 2008
harrisj commented on the word why do you hate freedom
For those readers from Mars who wonder about the origins of this, this phrase is of course the perfectly sarcastic retort to George W. Bush's explanation of 9/11, and the with-us-or-against-us mentality in the years that followed. Rather than explore the complex origins of terrorism against the US, he summarized their motivations as being solely that "they hate our freedoms."
September 3, 2008