Never Let a Fool Kiss You or a Kiss Fool You

by Mardy Grothe

What do Mae West, John F. Kennedy, Victor Hugo, and H. L. Mencken have in common? They all indulged in chiasmus-a literary device in which word order is reversed to hilarious or poignant effect. When Mae West said, "It's not the men in my life, it's the life in my men," she was using chiasmus; when John F. Kennedy said, "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country," he was doing the same. Dr. Mardy Grothe has compiled hundreds of examples of chiasmus in this whimsically illustrated collection, bringing this witty and thought-provoking device out of obscurity and into the public imagination.

Genres: Nonfiction, Language, Humor, Writing, Reference

126 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1999

Reviews

[Ian "Marvin" Graye · Rating 3 out of 5]

First Things First (But Not Necessarily in That Order)

The subject matter of this short, fun book (though it's more an appetiser than a meal) is chiasmus, of which its title is a great example.

But, first, how do you pronounce it? That's easy:

"ky-AZ-mus"

The Meaning of Chiasmus

Second things second. What does this weird looking word mean?

Here are some definitions:

"A reversal in the order of words in two otherwise parallel phrases." (OED)

"In rhetoric, chiasmus (Latin term from Greek χίασμα, "crossing", from the Greek χιάζω, chiázō, "to shape like the letter Χ") is the figure of speech in which two or more clauses are related to each other through a reversal of structures in order to make a larger point; that is, the clauses display inverted parallelism." (wiki)

The reversal of the phrases or clauses is important.

If there are two words in each phrase and they are reversed, then Dr Mardy represents the reversal as an X, a crossing or a criss-cross.

In the book title, the words "fool" and "kiss" are reversed or criss-crossed.

There's a more detailed explanation on the author's website:

http://www.drmardy.com/chiasmus/defin...

Examples

Even if you couldn't already define chiasmus (or understand the definitions above!), you will know one when you see it.

Ultimately, the best way to comprehend a chiasmus is to sample an example (and there are ample listed in the book).

Here are some that appealed to me, some already familiar, others I wish I'd encountered earlier:

Mae West's Count

"It's not the men in my life that count, it's the life in my men."

Dorothy Parker's Shortcut

"I've been too fucking busy, and vice versa."

Voltaire's Image

"If God created us in his own image, we have more than reciprocated."

Nietzsche's Blunders

"Which is it: is man one of God's blunders, or is God one of man's blunders?"

Ingersoll's Reversal of A Pope

"An honest God is the noblest work of man."

Epictetus' Appetites

"You should punish your appetites rather than allow your appetites to punish you."

Alfred Knopf's Book Returns

"Gone today, here tomorrow."

Interactive Chiasmus

You can't really appreciate the skill behind a chiasmus, until you try to compose one yourself.

On the first night I started reading this book, just before I went to bed, this sentence wormed its way into my mind:

"Sunday's mourner revives in Monday's sauna."

I think it's a chiasmus. Perhaps there's a dash of Spoonerism or letter reversal as well?

Anyway, let me know if you come up with one yourself!

[Matt Sager]

When I was watching a movie with my dad, I told him I hate when sentences are flipped on themselves and couldn’t think of a word for them. He apparently had a book full of them and they’re called chaismuses. I groan when I hear them but some are nice little nuggets of wisdom. Writing a review so I remember what these types of sentenced are called later

[Demi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome, fun read. Perfecting for reflecting or while at the gym!

I loved this title and adored the book itself even more! You don’t have to enjoy in order and it’s brilliant no matter where or when you pick it up.

[Mark A.]

""

[C · Rating 5 out of 5]

💋

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Apparently, I'm a total language geek, because I saw this book and had to read it. This one focuses on chiasmus, which is a literary device that switches word order to impact meaning. There are tons of them, but a few are so well done (like the title, and JFK's "Ask you country") that they end up as quite memorable. Here are a few of my favs:

"Those who mind, don't matter. Those who matter, don't mind." - Bernard Baruch

"The stage can be defined as a place where Shakespeare murdered Hamlet and a great many Hamlets murdered Shakespeare." - Robert Morse

"Political freedom cannot exist in any land where religion controls the state, and religious freedom cannot exist in any land where the state controls religion." - Sam Ervin, Jr.

"With Congress - every time they make a joke, it's a law. And every time they make a law, it's a joke." - Will Rogers

And a slightly naughty one from the glorious Mae West:
"A good man is hard to find, and a hard man is good to find."

[Erica · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was somewhat odd to read, as it is mostly lots of chiastic phrases. However, the author places them in context and gives you information about how they have been used to great effect over the years by thousands of people - philosophers, comedians, politicians, and many others. My favorite chiasmus from the book comes from Blaise Pascal: Earthly things must be known to be loved; divine things must be loved to be known. A fun book, but really best read in snippets since there is no story line.

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

The title is the best part of this book.

Good advice, eh? Too bad kissing tends to make us into fools, making it rather hard to follow...

The rest of the book is a collection of more chiasmic sayings, most of which are forgettable.

Here's another good one, though:

"You go without sleep to study philosophy;
on the contrary, you ought to
study philosophy to learn how to sleep."
--Baron de Montesquieu
(p. 101)

Amen.

[Beth Lequeuvre · Rating 3 out of 5]

I adore wordplay, so any book about wordplay is going to thrill me. There were a lot of good examples of chiasmus (otherwise known as inverted parallelism). The second half of the book the examples were less witty but it was still worth the 62 cents I paid on Amazon to get it.

[Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is fabulously fun. I picked it up and didn't set it down until I was finished. Anyone who likes to write should read this book. It is a definate read it again and again. Some examples are explicit and rude therefore I can't reccommend it without a caution, but I do recommend it.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

chiasmus

[Vineeta · Rating 3 out of 5]

ok..

[Al Durgin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This compilation is so much fun. Spicy, naughty, wise and funny.

[Yujeong Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hilarious and simply witty. My only dislike is patriarchal notions and objectification of women that came from some well-meaning jokes. Aside from this oppression, I thoroughly enjoyed the book.

[Laurie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Clever. Fun read.

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick entertaining read of chiastic quotations.