Types of Chiasmus: Implied Chiasmus

Even though all examples of chiasmus share the same distinctive structure—a reversal in word order that can be "marked with an X"—there are a number of interesting variations on the chiastic theme. We'll examine all of them here on "Types of Chiasmus." In this edition, we take a look at one of the most interesting types, something I call Implied Chiasmus.

Look over the following familiar sayings:

Now look over the following quotes:

Each quote reverses the words of the earlier expressions.

I've coined the term implied chiasmus for quotes like these because the original saying that is being reversed is only implied. In all examples of implied chiasmus, the words of a saying—generally a popular or well-known saying—are reversed, but without explicit reference to the saying being altered.

Reversing the words of familiar sayings has been a common practice over the centuries. To the best of my knowledge, though, there has never been an accepted word or phrase to describe the practice. I'm hoping that implied chiasmus will fill the void. To be honest, I'm even hoping the expression will eventually show up in dictionaries of literary terms and in discussions of the practice among academics and other literate people.

Many examples of implied chiasmus are extremely clever, like the Kermit the Frog quote earlier. Others are extremely thought-provoking, like Thorstein Veblen's observation. From one point of view, necessity is the mother of invention because so many inventions are based on attempts to solve important problems. But invention is also the mother of necessity, for countless inventions—like electricity, automobiles, and telephones—have a way of quickly becoming necessities.

The same is true with the Ralph Hodgson quote. The proverb he reverses is certainly true—some things are so incredible they must be seen to be believed. But his reversal is equally true—some things are so mysterious or shrouded in doubt they must be believed to be seen.

Some examples of implied chiasmus have become so popular they're part and parcel of the popular culture, like Mae West's signature line:

Or this popular definition of a hangover:

Some are well-known in philosophical circles, like Robert G. Ingersoll's:

Half of the fun of implied chiasmus comes from appreciating the quote itself. The other half comes from figuring out the saying that is being reversed (sometimes it's immediately obvious, sometimes it takes a little effort). When the two experiences are combined, the result is pure intellectual pleasure.

Once expressed, implied chiasms can seem pretty obvious. Sometimes I even find myself thinking, "Why didn't I think of that?" after seeing one for the first time. But then I usually remind myself, "If it was so obvious, why didn't you think of it first?"

It's not just familiar sayings that are reversed in implied chiasmus, but anything that writers want to set in contrast to their central message. A powerful example occurs in the 1915 poem, "The Golf Links," a stinging portrayal of the evils of child labor by American poet, Sarah Norcliffe Cleghorn:

"The golf links lie so near the mill That almost every day The laboring children can look out And see the men at play."

Cleghorn was passionately devoted to social causes and wrote poems to express her rage at social injustice. What makes this poem so effective is not simply the alteration of a familiar saying, but the powerful reversal of what is—children working and men playing—with what should be—men working and children playing. It's the most powerful example of implied chiasmus I've found.

Many implied chiasms play around with the theme of "reversing the natural order of things." A wonderful illustration comes from the English writer, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, who was so struck by the beauty of his future wife, Elizabeth Linley, that he said upon first meeting her:

"Why don't you come into my garden? I would like my roses to see you."

This line—and a "line" it was, in both senses of the word—proved that Sheridan was a pretty smooth talker as well as an accomplished writer. By reversing the words of the expression "I'd like you to see my roses," Sheridan was telling Elizabeth that she was so beautiful that the normal rules about who admires what had to be reversed in her case.

Implied chiasmus is a favorite technique of humorists and satirists. A few years ago, the gang at Saturday Night Live did a spoof of that famous U.S. Navy commercial which ends with the tag line, "It's not just a job, it's an adventure." Shot on what looks like an aircraft carrier, the SNL parody features a sailor scrubbing floors, cleaning latrines, and performing other menial duties. At the end of the 30-second spot, the announcer's voice says:

In 1983, a naval captain named Barney Kelly grounded the USS Enterprise on a sandbar in San Francisco Bay. The grounding of the huge ship was the talk of the town, as people wondered how such a thing could have happened, given the highly trained personnel and their sophisticated equipment. While everyone was wondering how it could have happened, Herb Caen of the San Francisco Chronicle reported that a clever San Franciscan named John Bracken described what had happened in a most unusual way. Of Captain Kelly, he said:

Bracken threw in a neat little pun as he reversed the words of the saying about worshipping the ground someone walks on. A truly brilliant observation.

Another example of a pun combined with implied chiasmus comes from Ziggy, the character from cartoonist Tom Wilson, who reversed the slogan of the United Negro College Fund to express his philosophy about dieting and weight control:

Some of the best examples of implied chiasmus come from the most unheralded wordsmiths in the world, the anonymous folks who write headlines and captions for newspapers and magazines. Two examples will make the point.

One of the most famous dates on the Boston sports calendar is the "Head of the Charles" regatta, an annual event that brings together some of the best rowing crews in the world. In 1995, an article in the Boston Globe featured one of the pre-race favorites. Reversing the words of the popular expression "The Head of the Class," the headline at the top of the article couldn't have said it better:

As impressive as this headline is, the next one surpasses it. In the mid-1980s, Sports Illustrated ran an article that included a photograph of some official timers at a track meet. The caption said:

An ingenious reversal of the saying, "These are the times that try men's souls."

Now that you're familiar with implied chiasmus, don't be surprised if you begin seeing examples of it everywhere. I've already found about a dozen book titles that employ the technique, including:

Reversing the words of familiar sayings has been a favorite practice of humorists and comedians over the years, as they turn things around to get a laugh. Mark Twain once offered this remark about a book by Henry James:

In the 1960s, comedian Ed Wynn spent some time directing and performing in plays on Mississippi Showboats. Reflecting on his experience, he once said:

Some of the most famous comics in history have favored the device of implied chiasmus:

It takes some people awhile to "get" the meaning of the last quote (and, to be honest, some people don't get it at all). It's a very creative reversal of the words of the familiar remark, "Drugs are a crutch for people who can't cope with reality."

In a fascinating variation on the theme of implied chiasmus, take a look at this observation by George Burns:

In this quote, George Burns doesn't reverse a saying, but rather what might be called the normal order of things. In his observation, he's comparing the good old days to the current state of affairs, when sex has become clean, and the air dirty. By "turning things around" in this way, comedians help people see things from a fresh, new perspective. In my view, observations like these still meet the essential criterion of implied chiasmus. Here are two more examples:

It's not just comedians who are able to drive home some important points with observations that reverse the natural order of things. When the Duke of Windsor visited America in 1957, he said in a famous Look Magazine article:

Somewhat similarly, in his 1895 play The Importance of Being Ernest, Oscar Wilde observed:

Consider this observation from the feminist leader Gloria Steinem:

The quote became a signature line for Steinem in the 1970s. In my opinion, it's a perfect example of implied chiasmus, for it reverses the pattern for "traditional" women, who have jobs before marriage and sex after.

Sometimes, reversals of this sort have a paradoxical feel to them. The pianist and conductor George Szell once observed:

As with the prior quotes, we can consider this an example of implied chiasmus, since Szell's point is that music is an endeavor where one must do exactly the reverse of what people normally do, which is to think with the brain and feel with the heart.

In the past six months, some of the best entries in our monthly "Chiastic Quotes Competition" have been examples of implied chiasmus. Here are some of my favorites (in some cases, when the saying being reversed may not be obvious, I'll mention it).

Every "Dr. Mardy's Quotes of the Week" mailing presents an original chiastic observation from me. Some have been examples of implied chiasmus:

Even though these kinds of reversals have been going on for centuries, there has never been a popular word or phrase to describe the practice. That's why I coined the expression implied chiasmus. I'm even hoping that the term will eventually show up in dictionaries of literary terms (a man's gotta dream, doesn't he?).

As you can see, implied chiasmus abounds. I have several hundred examples in my personal collection, and keep finding more every week. If you come across a particularly good example, send it along. And if you have any thoughts or observations about the practice, please share them.