FUN WITH
WORDS
NURTURING 21st CENTURY CHILDRENFUN WITH
WORDS
NURTURING 21st CENTURY CHILDRENT
he sentence ‘Fair is foul and foul is fair’ hits a
lyrical and rhetorical note because of the place-
ment of words in reverse order. This repeating
of a phrase in reverse order is known as an
antimetabole.
Antimetabole is derived from the Greek words anti
which means against or opposite and metabole i.e change.
This literary device has been used since 450 BC, from the
time of Greek philosopher Socrates. His famous quote:
‘Eat to live, not live to eat’ is one of the earliest examples
of an antimetabole.
However merely reversing the meaning is not enough
to create an antimetabole. The words and grammatical
structure should also be swapped to contrast the meaning.
American actress and comedienne Mae West’s memorable
quote: “It's not the men in my life; it’s the life in my men
I'm worried about,” is a classic example of creating a con-
trast in meaning. Here, the words, rhythm, and grammati-
cal structure in the second phrase are exactly similar to the
first, but the meaning is the mirror opposite.
An essential component of an effective antimetabole is
that it should have a logical premise. Reversing a phrase for
the sake of it is not enough. If the first half of the antime-
tabole is relatable, the listener will be able to make sense
of the second. Thus, “It is not about the years in your life,
but about the life in your years that matter,” is logically and
grammatically correct and conveys a message to readers.
This literary device is most popular with world leaders
and politicians because antimetaboles are rhetorical, easy
to remember, memorable and appeal to audiences. An
oft-cited example is “Ask not what your country can do for
you, but ask what you can do for your country,” by the late
US President John F. Kennedy. Another popular example
is Winston Churchill saying “It is not even the beginning
of the end but is perhaps, the end of the beginning,” in his
1942 speech about the second battle of El Alamein.
Dr. Martin Luther King, renowned for his powerful
oratory skills famously said, “Hate destroys a man's sense
of values and his objectivity. It causes him to describe the
beautiful as ugly and the ugly as beautiful, and to confuse
the true with the false and the false with the true.” In a
more recent example, former US President Barack Obama
Turning a phrase with an
antimetabole
said, “You stood up for America, now America must stand
up for you” (2011).
Antimetaboles are also popular with advertising copy-
writers. For instance the tag line of Band Aid reads: “I am
stuck on band-aid, because band-aid’s stuck on me”. Scuba
diving enthusiasts would have often heard this from their
instructors, “Plan your dive, dive your plan.” Other ex-
amples: “When the going gets tough, the tough get going”
and “Fail to prepare and you prepare to fail”.
Literature abounds in antimetaboles. The legendary
playwright William Shakespeare used it in many plays.
“Fair is foul, and foul is fair” is from Macbeth and “Virtue
that transgressed is but patch’d with sin, And sin that
amends is but patch’d with virtue,” from Twelfth Night.
The British poet John Keats wrote, “Beauty is truth, truth
beauty, that is all ye need to know,” in his iconic poem Ode
to a Grecian Urn. Children will be familiar with American
children’s author Dr. Theodor Seuss’ lines “I meant what I
said, and I said what I meant” from his book Horton Hatches
the Egg.
In a good antimetabole, the entire argument is summed
up in a short sentence. The reversal of phrases shifts em-
phasis to show what’s important. This can take the reader
or listener by surprise as it mostly challenges a commonly
held belief. Sometimes, however, antimetaboles can be-
come somewhat corny, especially in jokes such as: “What is
the difference between a crocodile and a baby? One makes
its bed in a river and the other makes a river in its bed.”
To conclude, here’s a grammatical witticism which is an
intelligent antimetabole: “A cat has claws at the end of its
paws; a comma is a pause at the end of a clause.”ROOPA BANERJEEThe repeating of a phrase in reverse order is known as an antimetabole