Never Let a Fool Kiss You or a Kiss Fool You: Word Play for Word Lovers

Never Let a Fool Kiss You or a Kiss Fool You: Word Play for Word Lovers
ISBN-10
0142000574
ISBN-13
9780142000571
Category
Humor
Pages
148
Language
English
Published
2002-02-26
Publisher
Penguin
Author
Mardy Grothe

Description

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.

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