Frazz by Jef Mallett for August 28, 2023

chi·as·mus (kī-ăz’məs)

n. pl. chi·as·mi (-mī′)

A rhetorical inversion of the second of two parallel structures, as in “Each throat / Was parched, and glazed each eye” (Samuel Taylor Coleridge).

[New Latin chīasmus, from Greek khīasmos, syntactic inversion, from khīazein, to invert or mark with an X; see CHIASMA.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.

Two online references claim that a real chiasmus (ki AZ muss) cannot use the same words, but must invert the ideas using other words.

“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, November 10, 1942

Yay! Dr Spaetzle.

Chiasmus Definition. Chiasmus is a two-part sentence or phrase, where the second part is a reversal of the first. “When the going gets tough, the tough get going” is a simple example of this literary device.

Mallett definitely struck a spark with this one. The early comments track.

On the other hand, Mr Spaetzle has a practical view. Try not to judge the results before you reach the end of the trek.

As I get it, he sees returning home after his walks as a pause [dash] not a conclusion. He also could be thinking in terms of his life line. I like his thinking in either case.

Another part of the adventure on the journey of life.

Spaetzle is channeling his inner Billy.

With all the walking/virtual hiking why is he still being drawn as plump? Give him his reward.

I think it’s antimetabole, not chiasmus.

Looked up the definition in Wiki and Merriam Webster and read all the comments above. What did I find out? I discovered I will never have to use the word CHIASMUS as long as I live. :-D

I’m confused about the virtual part of this hike. He’s not wearing any VR gear. Is he {GASP!} using his imagination?

Since it’s English, it isn’t the province of linguists, specifically. A linguist might tell you it comes from the Greek letter chi, which looks like an X, though.

The study of such figures of speech is the province of rhetoric, not linguistics.

Actually, Jef, linguists call that “antimetabole,” since it uses the exact same words. Chiasmus affects the expected ORDER of words… the structure, but the words are different.

check out the quotes from The Sphinx in the movie Mystery Men One example_ When you care what is outside, what is inside cares for you.

Speaking of dots and dashes:   • • •   – – –   • • •

Is a “dash in a dotted line” some special expression or an intended contradiction to stress a special point in a row of occurrences?

Really it is an antimetabole. >