| Front | chiasmus \ki-AZ-muhs\ |
|---|---|
| Back | noun To reverse the order of a phrase in the same sentence. Never let a fool kiss you or a kiss fool you Ask not what your country can do for your but what you can do for you country. [New Latin, from Greek khiasmos, syntactic inversion, from khiazein, to invert or mark with an X.] "As a literary and rhetorical device, chiasmus has woven itself into the fabric of human life. The greatest speeches of all time would be weaker without chiasmus. What other words could JFK have used to rival his famous `Ask not what your country can do for you' line." - Dr. Mardy Grothe; Never Let A Fool Kiss You or A Kiss Fool You; Viking, 1999. |
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