Chiasmus as Thickening Agent in Verbal Porridge

"In rhetoric, chiasmus (from the Greek: χιάζω, chiázō, "to shape like the letter Χ") 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. Chiasmus was particularly popular both in Greek and in Latin literature, where it was used to articulate balance or order within a text. As a popular example, many long and complex chiasmi have been found in Shakespeare and the Greek and Hebrew texts of the Bible.[1][2] It is also found throughout the Book of Mormon.[3] - Wikepedia

Wikipeda gives as an examle: "He blindly led and we blindly followed."

Another excellent example is this, from the Rockefeller Foundation at Davos: "We must avoid the unmanageable and manage the unavoidable."

You might try coining a chiasmus or two your own, if you are ever in a pinch for content while facing an imminent deadline. It will make you sound wise, balanced, and literate at little expense of logic or thought. Mostly people will have no idea what you are saying, and this a good thing when, as it happens, you are saying almost nothing. "Look who is talking," you might say, and you would be right. Even a good chiasmus will not cover my nakedness. And now I have probably blown my chance for that Rockefeller Peace and Justice grant.

Comments

[Geoff]

Adding two sides to this chiasmus ... |X| ... nor can we avoid the unavoidable consequences of trying to manage the unmanageable.

[website developers new york]

Why we are avoiding unmanageable, must try to manage.

[tom (@crowdedfalafel)]

Ask not what the unmanageable can do for you, ask what you can manage to do to the unmanageble.

[Phil Cubeta]

Davos: The society of managers, the managers of society

[Jon Husband]

Aren't the attendees at Davos society ? The rest of us are just here-and-there to serve, no ?

[phil]

Yes, the higher ups are addressing each other at Davos about managing the unmangeable while avoiding the unavoidable. Going to the Alps does minimize contact with the unmanageables. The air clears the head. The altitude gives a sense of vision. Metrics are also helpful in avoiding skin to skin contact with the avoidables.

[usps]

Interesting thing about chiasmus and the Book of Mormon is that the presence of chiasmus is cited as proof that without an angel's dictation, a conniving con-man like J. Smith couldn't have written it, and is also cited as as proof that a conniving con-man like J. Smith must have plagiarized it from a Dartmouth Professor.

[Phil Cubeta]

Or proof that a Darmouth professor is a prophet?