Taking in a time of need

At dinner recently with a group of friends, someone reflected on the shortage of food in "remote" parts of the world. Certainly, remote to our own, preferred experiences.

One thinks of names and corresponding images from Darfur, Sudan, Sri Lanka, Ethiopia. One clearly sees the starving children, their gaunt faces, their weary eyes devoid of promise.

Annoyance at the timing of such a deflating relflection before a bounteous meal among friends would be understandable. After all, ambience counts, it establishes mood, and mood affects appetite. Happily, all tolerated the reflection. One friend was even moved to offer a toast in the form of an antimetabole*:

"Take what you need so long as you need what you take."

Quiet agreement, followed by a savory meal, promoted by an elegant thought.

*In rhetoric 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").

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Turning phrases to make a point

Clever and not so clever writers use old rhetorical devices as antimetabole and chiasmus to get our attention. What separates good from bad turns of phrases (or clauses) we leave up to you.

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 repete the same words or phrases.

chiasmus 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. (Wikipedia). Example: I went to school, to work went they.

"We are in the business of educating, not the education business." -- JET Tutoring Company, Santa Monica, California)
(The larger point: Your child's eduction will not suffer at the expense of our bottom line profit)

It is easy to see you in your kids, but sadly not the kid in you. -- Jack Sands
(The larger point: Someone who has perhaps lost the joy in life?)

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