Tonight on NPR’s On the Media there was a segment that talked about the hot trend in politics to use antimetabole. For those who need a refresher from 11th grade english literature class.
antimetabole is the repetition of words in successive clauses, but in transposed grammatical order (ex: “I know what I like, and I like what I know”). It is similar to chiasmus although chiasmus does not use repetition of the same words or phrases.
So I thought it would be fun to challenge you, my readers of the highest intelligence, to create your own antimetebole.
Some famous examples:
#1 Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country. (JFK)
#2 The first shall be last and the last shall be first (Jesus)
#3 “Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end, but it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.” (Winston Churchill)
A couple of my own examples:
#1 Do I love to eat spicy Thai food or does it like to eat me?
#2 Can I find my phone or will my phone find me?
Your turn! It’s a challenge of your brain and antimetobole wit. Leave a comment or start your own blog post with your favorites.