Antimetabole

In rhetoric, antimetabole (/æntɪməˈtæbəliː/ AN-ti-mə-TAB-ə-lee) is the repetition of words in successive clauses, but in transposed order; for example, "I know what I like, and I like what I know". It is related to, and sometimes considered a special case of, chiasmus.

An antimetabole can be predictive, because it is easy to reverse the terms. It may trigger deeper reflection than merely stating one half of the line.

Etymology

It is derived from the Greek ἀντιμεταβολή (antimetabolḗ), from ἀντί (antí, 'against, opposite') and μεταβολή (metabolḗ, 'turning about, change').

Examples

Proverbs

"Unus pro omnibus, omnes pro uno" ("One for all, all for one")
"Eat to live, do not live to eat." (Often attributed incorrectly to Socrates.)
"When the going gets tough, the tough get going."
“If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” (Often misattributed to Benjamin Franklin.)

Literature

"Fair is foul, and foul is fair" — William Shakespeare, Macbeth
"The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath." —Mark 2:27
"All crime is vulgar, just as all vulgarity is crime" — Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray
"He was just the man for such a place, and it was just the place for such a man." — Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
"Are you the strongest because you're Satoru Gojo? Or are you Satoru Gojo because you're the strongest?" — Suguru Geto, Jujutsu Kaisen
"Because I could not stop for Death, he kindly stopped for me" — Emily Dickinson, "Because I Could Not Stop for Death"
"I meant what I said, and I said what I meant. An elephant's faithful, one hundred percent!" — Dr. Seuss, Horton Hatches the Egg

Literary criticism

"The great object of [Hamlet's] life is defeated by continually resolving to do, yet doing nothing but resolve." — Samuel Taylor Coleridge on William Shakespeare's Hamlet

Politics

"Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country." — John F. Kennedy, 1961 inaugural address
"And we'll lead, not merely by the example of our power, but by the power of our example." — Vinay Reddy, author of Joe Biden's 2021 inaugural address
"There is no 'way to peace'. Peace is the way." — A. J. Muste

Music

"She's got everything it takes, to take everything you've got." — Loretta Lynn, "Everything It Takes"
"With my mind on my money and my money on my mind." — Snoop Dogg, "Gin and Juice"
"I'm hoping that somebody pray for me, I'm praying that somebody hope for me." — JID, "Enemy"
"We run things, things don't run we [sic]" — Miley Cyrus, "We Can't Stop"

Television

"Too crazy for Boystown, too much of a boy for Crazytown." — Dr Hibbert, "The Simpsons"

Comedy

"In America, you can always find a party. In Soviet Russia, Party always finds you!" — Yakov Smirnoff

References

↑ Fahnestock, Jeanne (1999). Rhetorical Figures in Science. Oxford University Press. pp. 123–134.
↑ "antimetabole". Etymonline. Retrieved September 11, 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
↑ Shakespeare, William. Macbeth. Act I, Scene 1, 12.
↑ "Mark 2:23-28 NIV". Bible Gateway.
↑ Wilde, Oscar (2000). The Picture of Dorian Gray. London: Penguin Classics. p. 203.
↑ Douglass, Frederick (1995). Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. Mineola, New York: Dover Publications, Inc. p. 13. ISBN 0-486-28499-9.
↑ Coleridge, Taylor (1907). "The Twelfth Lecture". In Rhys, Ernest (ed.). Colerdige's Essays & Lectures on Shakspeare & Some Other Old Poets & Dramatists. London: J. M. Dent; New York: E. P. Dutton. p. 479. Retrieved 2025-09-21.
↑ Riotta, Chris (20 January 2021). "Meet Vinay Reddy, the man behind Biden's powerful inaugural address". The Independent. Retrieved 23 October 2026.
↑ "Inauguration Speech". The New York Times. US Capitol. January 20, 2021.

Corbett, Edward P.J. Classical Rhetoric for the Modern Student. Oxford University Press, New York, 1971.

External links

Audio examples of antimetabole at americanrhetoric.com
Lapidos, Juliet (September 5, 2008). "The Hottest Rhetorical Device of Campaign '08". Slate.com. Retrieved October 8, 2021.
Lapidos, Juliet (September 19, 2008). "The Old Switcheroo". On The Media. National Public Radio. Archived from the original on October 23, 2009. Retrieved October 8, 2021.
Antimetabole detector at lingfil.uu.se

This rhetoric-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by adding missing information.

[1] Fahnestock, Jeanne (1999). Rhetorical Figures in Science. Oxford University Press. pp. 123–134.

[2] "antimetabole". Etymonline. Retrieved September 11, 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)

[3] Shakespeare, William. Macbeth. Act I, Scene 1, 12.

[4] "Mark 2:23-28 NIV". Bible Gateway.

[5] Wilde, Oscar (2000). The Picture of Dorian Gray. London: Penguin Classics. p. 203.

[6] Douglass, Frederick (1995). Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. Mineola, New York: Dover Publications, Inc. p. 13. ISBN 0-486-28499-9.

[7] Coleridge, Taylor (1907). "The Twelfth Lecture". In Rhys, Ernest (ed.). Colerdige's Essays & Lectures on Shakspeare & Some Other Old Poets & Dramatists. London: J. M. Dent; New York: E. P. Dutton. p. 479. Retrieved 2025-09-21.

[8] Riotta, Chris (20 January 2021). "Meet Vinay Reddy, the man behind Biden's powerful inaugural address". The Independent. Retrieved 23 October 2026.

[9] "Inauguration Speech". The New York Times. US Capitol. January 20, 2021.

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Schemes	Alliteration Anadiplosis Anaphora Antimetabole Antithesis Aposiopesis Assonance Asyndeton Chiasmus Climax Anti Consonance Epanadiplosis Epiphrase Epistrophe Epizeuxis Exergasia Hendiadys Homeoteleuton Hypallage Hyperbaton Hysteron proteron Isocolon Parallelism Paraprosdokian Polyptoton Polysyndeton Schesis onomaton Spoonerism Symploce Synathroesmus Syndeton Tmesis Zeugma
Tropes	Allegory Allusion Antiphrasis Antonomasia Aphorism Apostrophe Catachresis Ecphonesis Ekphrasis Epanorthosis Found manuscript Hyperbole Adynaton Dysphemism Euphemism Meiosis Innuendo Irony Apophasis Sarcasm Litotes Metaphor Metonymy Oxymoron Onomatopoeia Personification Pleonasm Procatalepsis Pun Antanaclasis Rhetorical question Simile Synecdoche Tautology
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