Types of Chiasmus: Chiastic Shorthand

All examples of chiasmus share the same distinctive structure-a reversal in word order that can be "marked with an X" (as described in Welcome to the World of Chiasmus.) However, there are a number of interesting variations on the chiastic theme. We'll examine all of them here at "Types of Chiasmus." In this edition, we take a look at Chiastic Shorthand.

There's a statue in Paris commemorating Niobe (pronounced NY-uh-bee), the Queen of Thebes in Greek mythology. The mother of numerous children, she boasted of her fertility and disparaged the goddess Leto for having only two children. It turned out to be a fatal mistake. Leto sought revenge and, with her two children, Apollo and Artemis, killed all of Niobe's children. In despair, Niobe fled to Mt. Sipylus in Asia Minor, where Zeus turned her into a stone that wept perpetually. She is known in literature as the personification of maternal sorrow. In a famous literary allusion, Hamlet describes his mother's behavior at his father's funeral this way: "Like Niobe, all tears."

Niobe's story is an interesting one. But even more interesting to friends of chiasmus is the inscription that appears at the base of her statue. Written by Voltaire, it reads (when translated into English):

Voltaire concludes the verse with an intriguing chiastic suggestion—that the sculptor outdid the gods by turning the stone into a woman. He doesn't formally complete the thought because he is sure readers will know exactly what he means. By using a helpful little language convention—simply writing "the opposite"—he communicates what he means without having to use the actual words.

Voltaire does something very similar in one of his most quoted remarks:

Once again, he only suggests the chiasm—that we humans have more than reciprocated by creating God in our image. It's a thought-provoking notion in its own right, but it's also another interesting way—another shorthand way—of framing a chiastic thought.

Vice Versa

In his 1976 book, Ins and Outs of Institutional Investing, the legendary American investor, Dean Le Baron writes:

What Le Baron means—without actually saying it—is pretty straightforward: "And that which seems wrong to do is often very right."

Here, vice versa is not merely a shorthand way of indicating a chiastic reversal, it's also a more effective way of expressing the thought. Instead of boring, or worse, annoying readers by laying out all the words of an obvious chiasm, Le Baron uses vice versa to get people to finish the thought on their own. Shorthand methods of expressing chiasmus have this additional benefit of involving people in a dialogue with the writer, since they must complete the thought themselves.

Another wonderful example comes from the English orchestra conductor and impresario, Thomas Beecham, who was well-known for his willingness to say exactly what he thought, even if it offended people. When a reporter once asked him why he chose only very large women to sing the soprano roles in his opera productions, he replied:

Only two words were required to communicate Beecham's message: "And sopranos who eat like birds, sing like horses."

Vice Versa is such an integral part of regular discourse that people rarely give thought to the fact that it's composed of Latin words that go back two thousand years to the imperial days of Rome. From then until now, it's meant pretty much what the Oxford English Dictionary says it means: "A reversal or transposition of the main items in the statement just made."

When traced to its Latin roots, vice versa literally means, "the regular position turned around or reversed." The expression has been used in English for nearly four centuries, making its first appearance in an English language publication in the early 1600's. While its meaning has always been the same, its pronunciation has changed over the centuries. Early on it was pronounced VY-see VUR-suh. Over time, it evolved to VY-suh VER-suh, which became the "correct" pronunciation until well into this century. As timed passed, the pronunciation drifted to VICE VER-suh, which is the most common version today, even though it's still listed in most dictionaries as second in acceptability after VY-suh VER-suh (which some purists still regard as the only acceptable pronuciation).

Some vice versa quotes are ancient, like this 4th century B.C. observation from Aristotle:

Some have become part and parcel of the popular culture, like this from the former GM chairman and Eisenhower's Secretary of Defense Charles E. Wilson:

Vice Versa quotes show up in every area of discourse, as the following three quotes demonstrate:

In general, vice versa quotes are fairly self-evident, as in the three foregoing quotes. Some, however, require a bit of thought and reflection, like this observation from the American advertising executive, Alan H. Meyer:

Calling it one of his "laws of advertising," Meyer offered this thought in response to marketing types who believed that the name drives the product, and not vice versa. I think Meyer is right. The Edsel, even if called a Mustang, would've still been an Edsel.

Some are offered facetiously, like the advice from Stephen Potter—of "one-upmanship" fame—on what to say after sampling a glass of wine:

Sometimes the humorous effect is unintended, but just as funny, as in this head-scratching observation from the legendary baseball manager, Casey Stengel:

Some are examples of very clever wordplay, like the immortal response Dorothy Parker gave to a friend who asked her why she hadn't attended a Broadway play featuring a character modeled after her:

And sometimes it's hard to know exactly what they mean, as in this enigmatic assertion from the late rock star, Frank Zappa:

While I think I understand the first part of Zappa's remark, I can honestly say that I have no idea what oral intercourse has done for pop music. But who am I to question a rock legend?

Whether straightforward, humorous, puzzling, profane, or downright mysterious, vice versa is the most common shorthand way of expressing chiasmus. But it's not the only method.

The Other Way Around

The second major method of chiastic shorthand happens when we complete a thought by using the words.

In 1970, former New York Yankee pitcher Jim Bouton wrote Ball Four, an entertaining portrayal of his life in the big leagues. The book contained numerous examples of Bouton's candor, wit, and overall ability to tell a good story. It also contained some well-crafted, and downright memorable, lines:

Of all the alternatives at his disposal, Bouton couldn't have found a better way of communicating that it was baseball that had him in its grip all along.

Another example comes from a birthday card I received a few years ago from my daughter and her husband.

The card reflected an interesting social change that occurred in my lifetime, boys beginning to wear ponytails and girls getting crewcuts. It was a perfect card to give an old-timer like me, made especially appropriate because of my interest in chiasmus.

This example comes from the English lawyer and language expert, Sir Ernest Gowers:

That is, the illusion that the public are the servants of public officials.

In the 1994 Mel Brooks' spoof, Robin Hood: Men in Tights, Robin escapes from a Jerusalem prison and plans to return to England. A fellow escapee named Asneeze (Isaac Hayes, in a cameo role) asks Robin to look after his son—named Achoo—who is an exchange student in London. Always trying to sneak risqué elements into his pictures, Brooks has Asneeze say to Robin:

The line goes by so quickly, it's easy to miss the meaning—that Achoo has been cockstrong and headsure, two characteristics (besides being headstrong and cocksure) that are certain to cause problems for an exchange student in a foreign land. One of the problems when a shorthand chiastic expression like this is used in a movie or play is that it takes a moment for people to "compute" the inversion in their minds. If the computation is not made quickly, a clever line can go straight over people's heads.

Some writers simply say "the other way" instead of "the other way around," but it means the same thing. In his Lectures on Architecture and Painting (1853), English critic John Ruskin writes:

Ruskin's point is so clear that it needs no explanation. But some "other way around" expressions require some thought for the meaning to become clear. In his Memoirs, American writer Sherwood Anderson writes:

Anderson's point, of course, is that sons are as likely to have unrealistic and irrational expectations of their fathers as fathers have of their sons.

In his 1830 classic, The Physiology of Marriage, Honoré de Balzac writes:

What Balzac means is that, in a marriage, a husband puts his needs first and his wife's second, the exact reverse of the lover, who is so smitten he gives the object of his affection the higher priority.

In a 1996 Boston Globe article, sportswriter Bob Ryan wrote an article about college basketball star Stephon Marbury, who had just been selected very high in the NBA draft. The article contained this line:

While making specific reference to Marbury, Ryan was thinking about almost all recent NBA draftees, who've spent the whole of their young lives playing basketball, and have never done any real work. Ryan wrote, "This is a whole new generation of young athletes, these modern basketball players. This is a generation that has never worked. Earning, they know not. Taking, they know very well."

To make sure people know exactly what they mean, many writers use an expression like "the other way around" and then complete the thought explicitly. American writer Eric Hoffer does exactly this in his 1967 book, The Temper of Our Times:

So does Philip Howard in his 1995 book, The Death of Common Sense: How Law is Suffocating America. Discussing how well-intended laws can backfire, he writes:

And, finally, so does Arthur Burns, presidential advisor and former chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, in a 1970 commencement speech he delivered at Hebrew University:

Whether or not the final thought is completed, "the other way around" is a common way of indicating a chiastic reversal.

Chiastic shorthand has two major benefits. First, it makes it unnecessary for people to wade through an obvious chiastic thought. And second, since listeners or readers must complete the thought on their own, they're automatically thrust into a dialogue with the author of the sentiment.

The Reverse Is True

Another popular way of achieving chiasmus without using the actual words is to simply say, "And the reverse is true" after making a reversible statement. One of the best examples of all time is a joke that emerged in Poland during the Cold War:

The joke, which began making the rounds in the 1950s, became so popular that some quote books of that era called it a "modern Polish proverb." It was a clever way for Polish citizens to snub their noses at the ideology of their Soviet oppressors, and in the process, point out that the exploitation of man will exist regardless of ideological rhetoric.

Another example comes from Karl Marx, in this line from his 1867 classic, Das Kapital:

Marx uses a bit of chiastic shorthand here to express his view about the evils of 19th century capitalism. In his view, the greedy giants of industry had begun to exert an unhealthy and unnatural control over the buying and selling of goods, perverting what he regarded as the natural order of things.

One can achieve the same chiastic result without actually using the exact words "the reverse is true." A few years ago, French writer Joseph Roux said:

Those familiar with developments in the publishing industry in the past few decades can appreciate what Roux is saying, for today it often does seem as if literature has become the trade and finance the art.

In yet another example, Max Baer, the heavyweight boxing champ in the 1930s, said:

"The reverse" in Baer's intriguing observation means that boxing is not good for golf. Why golf is good for boxing and not the reverse I don't know, but it's a good illustration of a variation of the "reverse is true" theme. So is the following observation from the 18th century English poet, William Shenstone:

Shenstone begins by pointing out that all good poets have an internal critic who provides an important quality control function. His second point is one virtually all creative artists would agree with, that every critic does not include a good poet.

One other variation on the "reverse is true" theme is contained in this Bruce Gould observation:

Gould's point, of course, is that America is not exactly a man's world, for there he'd rather be a woman, a dog, a horse, and then a man, in that order.

Shorthand chiastic expressions are a wonderful way to streamline language and make thoughts and ideas flow more smoothly. Take this example from the 19th century German philosopher, Goethe:

Phrased this way, most people immediately "get" Goethe's point: good actions sometimes have bad outcomes, bad actions sometimes good. It's not necessary for Goethe to spell out the entire observation, and it would have been cumbersome if he had done so.

A final example is the German proverb:

As with previous examples, the simple words "in reverse" allow readers to understand the message about the predictable loss of ardor over time in marriage.

The Opposite Is True

Yet another major shorthand way of expressing chiasmus is to say "The opposite is true." In a 1958 interview, French novelist Françoise Sagan said:

By ending her observation this way, Sagan asserts that life is much closer to great literature than great literature is to life. It's an intriguing idea and suggests that, in addition to talking about literature that's true to life, it's also possible to talk about life that's true to literature.

As with our prior example, it's not necessary to use the exact words "the opposite is true" to achieve the desired result. When I first introduced the topic of chiastic shorthand here on "Types of Chiasmus" a few months ago, I mentioned an inscription that Voltaire wrote for a statue of Niobe in Paris:

The point of the inscription is that the sculptor performed the impressive feat of turning a stone into a woman. To fully appreciate the inscription, it's necessary to understand the story behind it. Niobe was the Queen of Thebes in Greek mythology. The mother of numerous children, she made a fatal mistake by disparaging the goddess Leto for having only two children. Leto sought vengeance and, with the assistance of her two children, Apollo and Artemis, killed all of Niobe's children. In despair, Niobe fled to Mt. Sipylus in Asia Minor, where Zeus turned her into a stone that wept perpetually. In one of Shakespeare's most famous allusions, Hamlet described his mother's behavior at his father's funeral by saying, "Like Niobe, all tears."

Edward Albee does something similar in a 1966 Saturday Review article:

That is, a bad writer will accomplish the questionable feat of turning truth into fact.

As with earlier examples of chiastic shorthand, people will sometimes use the "opposite is true" expression and then go on to formally complete the thought, even though it's not completely necessary. The American businessman and philanthropist Alfred P. Sloan once said:

As president and chairman of General Motors, Sloan was a pioneer in the development of modern management methods (the Sloan School of Management at MIT is named after him). In this observation, he takes a totally new look at the American reputation for discarding things so readily.

Newt Gingrich did something similar in a lecture he gave on "History and Leadership" a few years ago:

In both observations, Sloan and Gingrich suggest that the opposite is true, and then go on to formally complete their thoughts, presumably to make sure their point is made.

In a January 1999 article in U. S. News and World Report, John Leo published his annual review of the "best aphorisms and most memorable sayings" of 1998. One memorable observation came from Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel:

By using a language convention that is understood by almost everybody, Wiesel doesn't have to formally complete the thought to describe how much the times have changed.

Other Miscellaneous Methods

Let me bring this discussion to a close by presenting a few more miscellaneous examples of chiastic shorthand. One of the most powerful quotations of all time is this provocative observation by Voltaire:

If Voltaire had explicitly laid out the entire thought, the power of his message would have been diluted. However, by having readers complete the thought on their own, he makes sure they consciously consider what many people at the time considered a heretical notion—that man created God in his own image. It's another example of the power of chiastic shorthand.

Another intriguing example comes from the Roman writer Phaedrus, a freed Roman slave who wrote fables in the manner of Aesop. Many of the most popular fables in Europe in the middle ages can be traced back to him. In one of his fables, he writes:

Again, it's a clever little bit of chiastic shorthand, made all the more profound by its brevity. Not only would it have been cumbersome for Phaedrus to lay out the complete sentiment, it would have weakened his message.

Another example comes from English writer Joseph Addison:

Addison doesn't have to spell out the thought completely, for we immediately understand his point: health leads to cheerfulness and cheerfulness to health.

A final example comes from the French philosopher Blaise Pascal:

Pascal's use of the word "inversion" indicates that his mind is on a chiastic track, since what he means is, "a strange inversion from the way things should be." This observation, then, becomes an example of implied chiasmus, with Pascal suggesting that people would be better off if they showed a sensibility to great things and an insensibility to trifles.