2 chiasms 1 hour

[Stefan Ram]

Within only one hour heard two English chiasms:

"When the going gets tough, the tough gets going." and
"A place for everything and everything in its place."

[CDB]

"When the going gets tough, the tough gets going." and "A place for
everything and everything in its place."

WP confirms that it isn't a chiasmus (usual English form) if the key
words are repeated in both parts.

'In rhetoric, chiasmus or, less commonly, chiasm (Latin term from Greek
χίασμα, "crossing", from the Greek χιάζω, chiázō, "to shape like the
letter Χ"), is a "reversal of grammatical structures in successive
phrases or clauses – but no repetition of words".'

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiasmus

"Once upon a time there was light in my life
But now there's only love in the dark".

-- Bonnie Tyler

[Peter T. Daniels]

Post by CDB

"When the going gets tough, the tough gets going." and "A place for
everything and everything in its place."

WP confirms that it isn't a chiasmus (usual English form) if the key
words are repeated in both parts.
'In rhetoric, chiasmus or, less commonly, chiasm (Latin term from Greek
χίασμα, "crossing", from the Greek χιάζω, chiázō, "to shape like the
letter Χ"), is a "reversal of grammatical structures in successive
phrases or clauses – but no repetition of words".'
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiasmus

That, however, is not how the term is used in English. Maybe the Wikidef
was written by bebercito or his ilk.

Stefan's two clichés are perfect examples of chiasm.

One of my favorite books-I-edited,

Fónagy, Ivan. 2001. Languages within Language: An Evolutive Approach.
Foundations of Semiotics 13. Amsterdam & Philadelphia: John Benjamins.

has a very long chapter on chiasms, particularly in titles of books and
articles.

(I changed "evolutive" to "evolutionary" a zillion times in the text, but they
refused to fix the title, because it had already been announced.)

Post by CDB
"Once upon a time there was light in my life
But now there's only love in the dark".
-- Bonnie Tyler

[Quinn C]

Post by CDB

"When the going gets tough, the tough gets going." and "A place for
everything and everything in its place."

WP confirms that it isn't a chiasmus (usual English form) if the key
words are repeated in both parts.

A list of words that exceptionally keep the -us in such endings would be
a useful tool for the learner of English.

Here's one to start, but "chiasmus" shows there's more to know.

<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Category:English_words_suffixed_with_-ismus>