Antimetabole
Antimetabole is the repetition of words in successive clauses, but in reverse grammatical order (ex: "I know what I like, and like what I know"). It is similar to chiasmus although chiasmus does not use repetition of the same words or phrases.
Examples"Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country." John F. Kennedy, Inaugural Address, January 20, 1961."Johnson having now explicitly avowed his opinion of Lord Chesterfield, did not refrain from expressing himself concerning that nobleman with pointed freedom: 'This man (said he) I thought had been a Lord among wits; but, I find, he is only a wit among Lords!' " James Boswell Life of Johnson It is derived from the Greek anti ("against",“in opposite direction”) and metabole (“turning about”)
ReferencesCorbett, Edward P.J. Classical Rhetoric for the Modern Student. Oxford University Press, New York, 1971.
See AlsoFigure of SpeechRhetoric
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