Antimetabole

Antimetabole Definition
Antimetabole is derived from a Greek word which means “turning about.” It is a literary time period or device that entails repeating a word in opposite order. For instance:

“You like it; it likes you.”
“Fair is foul and foul is fair.”
Chiasmus and antimetabole are usually expected to be overlapped in usage, and this overlap is likewise regularly used as a synonym for epanados (the repeating of a word or sentence in reverse order) in modern-day day books. However, the writer could make them wonderful through his use.

Famous Antimetabole Examples
Since the time of Socrates, we see the use of antimetabole. Some of them are:

“Eat to live, not stay to eat.” – Socrates
“I go where I please, and I please where I go.” – Attributed to Duke Nukem
“In America, you can constantly discover a party. In Soviet Russia, Party always reveals you!” – Yakov Smirnoff
“If you fail to plan, you propose to fail.”
“Ask not what your united states can do for you; ask what you can do for your u . S . A ..” – John F. Kennedy, Inaugural Address, January 20, 1961.
“He who questions training best trains himself at asking questions.” – The Sphinx, Mystery Men (1999)
“The wonderful object of [Hamlet’s] life is defeated with the aid of constantly resolving to do, but doing nothing but resolve.” – Samuel Taylor Coleridge on Shakespeare’s Hamlet
“We do what we like and we love what we do.” – Andrew W.K., “Party Hard”
“We didn’t land on Plymouth Rock. Plymouth Rock landed on us.” Malcolm X, “Malcolm X”
“If you may’t be with the only you love, love the only you’re with.” – Billy Preston
“You stood up for America, now America must arise for you.” – Barack Obama, December 14, 2011.
Difference Between Chiasmus and Antimetabole
Antimetabole and chiasmus are very intently related, and some experts even use them interchangeably. However, both the phrases nevertheless exist to refer to two wonderful literary devices. According to scholars, when a sentence is repeated through reversing it, in order to deliver an concept or strain a point, it is called chiasmus. Antimetabole isn't very much special from chiasmus, best that in an antimetabole the words and grammatical structure is also reversed, due to the fact just reversing the which means is not enough. So in the light of these facts, it is able to be deduced that all the antimetaboles are chiasmus, however now not all instances of chiasmus are antimetaboles.

A chiasmus is a sentence repeated inversely. The handiest circumstance of a chiasmic sentence is that the two clauses in the phrase are contrary in that means. For instance, the famous saying by way of Havelock Ellis: “Charm is a woman’s energy, energy is a man’s charm,” the sentence is an example of chiasmus, but isn't always an antimetabole. This is due to the fact the two clauses have opposite meanings, however the phrases and the grammatical makeup are dissimilar.

In an antimetabole the phrase order in a sentence is reversed to contrast the meanings. One excellent instance is Mae West’s catchphrase, “It’s now not the men in my life; it’s the life in my guys.” As you can see, in this sentence the phrases, rhythm, and grammatical structure within the second phrase are exactly just like the primary one, but the that means is opposite. Many experts refer to antimetabole as a subtype of chiasmus.

Functions and Effectiveness of Antimetabole
For antimetabole to be effective, it does now not only should be grammatically correct, but have to also be logical. People, after studying literature for a while, start wondering that they could churn out antimetaboles with a snap of a finger. They fail to recognize the fact that a sentence can't be called an antimetabole if it isn't based totally on a logical theme.

Antimetaboles are popular and powerful solely because they enchantment to reason and are clean to remember. If the primary half of is relatable, then the reader or listener will mechanically make feel of the second half. For example: “It isn't approximately the years on your life, however about the lifestyles to your years.” A sentence like this will be referred to as an antimetabole because it's miles appealing, correct (logically and grammatically) and has a message to carry to the readers.
Anti-Hero Antiphrasis