[Lexicog] When Semantics Doesn't Matter

[John Roberts]

bolstar1 wrote:
> "Better a witty fool than a foolish wit." Is this the use of 
> antistrophe or chiasmus? Well, here the use, or frequency of use, 
> would take precedence over any particular dictionary, because "it's 
> all one" according to the dictionaries. My gut tells me "chiasmus," 
> but the OneLook Reverse Dictionary doesn't list it under "inverse," 
> but it does list "antistrophe" (both alluding to the reverse order of 
> parallel phrases.)
I am not sure if this is antistrophe or chiasmus. Your expression has 
ADJ + N and ADJ + N. So where is the reverse of grammatical categories? 
It is like in the Popeye cartoon:

Olive Oil to Popeye "Your awful pretty."
Popeye to Olive Oil "I think your pretty awful too."

John Roberts


-- 
********************
John R Roberts
SIL International Linguistics Consultant
dr_john_roberts at sil.org
********************


 
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