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AWADmail Issue 644 - ExtraA Weekly Compendium of Feedback on the Words in A.Word.A.Day and Tidbits about Words and LanguageThis is a continuation of the compilation of readers' responses to the rhetorical devices contest. See others at AWADmail 644.
Not just the tale of a whale, Moby Dick is a whale of a tale.
Please consult with your doctor before beginning any exercise program. Your
doctor will help determine if you are fit to exercise before you exercise
to be fit.
To forget to decide is to decide to forget.
No matter how many times you beat death, death will beat you in the end.
My mother was a chemist and we wrote on her tombstone:
Some of my students of English have trouble distinguishing between "to
learn" and "to study". I tell them that it is possible to learn without
studying and, alas, to study without learning, especially with music or
the television competing for their attention.
My opponent plays 'kick the can'. I say "Can the kick!"
Not to decide is to decide not to.
When the going gets weird; the weird go professional. (Seems to work here
in Portland, Oregon) [video, 1 min.]
To finish first you must first finish.
Good from afar, but far from good (stated in reference to someone's appearance).
Wind in the autumn leaves
Christopher Hitchens turned Socrates's famous words around when he said,
"An unlived life is not worth examining."
Once you become addicted, you don't drink alcohol, the alcohol drinks you.
Define style? Style defines.
A picture perfect day is a day in which you are still in the picture.
One of the best known practitioners of antimetabole is the character
"The Sphinx" from the movie Mystery Men. He supplied us with gems like
"To learn my teachings, I must first teach you how to learn" and "He who
questions training only trains himself at asking questions", among others.
My husband and I own an Alpine and Nordic ski racing shop in Stowe,
Vermont. Skiing is expensive, racing even more so, and the waxes that
are most hydrophobic, and thus the fastest on snow, can be upwards of
$50/oz. People are always looking for ways to save money but still be fast in
the course. Our answer: "Going fast isn't cheap, and going cheap isn't fast!"
Several years ago the satirical magazine Private Eye lampooned the
Australian writer and critic Clive James's fondness for this device by
saying he used it so that "this clever effect thus achieves the effect
of cleverness."
Potential lodging facility slogan: Rest assured that we'll assure your rest.
NYT layout team motto: If it's fit to print, we'll print it to fit.
He who owns little is little owned.
Old age is when it takes you all night long to do what you used to do all
night long.
For a female of the species Homo sapiens, to be clever is to pretend not
to be clever.
The USA is considered to be the primary exporter of freedom, justice,
and democracy for the world, so I ask, as a USA citizen, "which should we
be more concerned with -- policing our military or militarizing our police?"
Poetry straddles the fence between a wonder of words and words of wonder.
Training the engineer is as important as engineering the train.
To ski the mount, you mount the ski.
When I was rather young, one day our family returned home from church,
where the pastor had dwelt on the injunction: "Let not the sun go down upon
thy wrath." I paraphrased that for my father: "Let not thy wrath go down upon
thy son."
Seeing the quotation "Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence"
reminds me of Victor J. Stenger's rejoinder: Absence of evidence WHERE
EVIDENCE OUGHT TO BE is likely evidence of absence.
Reality television is only television reality.
Better centered in Self than self-centered.
Great ideas can be ideas that grate.
To use Apple Pay is to pay Apple. [reference]
My favourite antimetabole came from my late friend Gail, who liked to say,
"I think of you a lot because I think a lot of you."
My late father who suffered for me (and suffered me) a great deal told me:
"If you're going to let people upset you, you're going to be upset a lot."
Just because it's interesting to the public, doesn't mean it's in the public
interest. META:
AWAD: Words of wisdom about the wisdom of words.
He played in a contest then contested the play for the unfair score.
Chemotherapy implies antimetabolite
and antimetabolite implies chemotherapy.
The respiratory performance artist held her breath and her audience's
attention.
Before meeting his parents, she put on fresh lipstick and airs.
Once upon a time when Facebook and I were both younger, I posted a status
update announcing that I had just seen the band, The Hold Steady, perform
in the middle of the afternoon, a rainstorm, an empty swimming pool,
and a crowd of hipsters.
When you buy clothes like that, you debit your bank account and your
credibility.
He was engaged in money laundering and to the mob boss's daughter.
While thinking and driving, I ran out of ideas and gasoline.
The mailman delivered her package and her baby.
He changes his mind more often than his socks.
He won the lottery and the hearts of several women.
A red-light district is the place where love and money are made.
She emerged from the hot tub wearing nothing but a hairband and a smile.
Ned Stark lost the throne ... and his head. (Game of Thrones, Season 1)
He popped the cork and the question.
The turncoat pitcher threw the ball and the game.
He dropped his inhibitions and his underpants.
She found her child and her happiness.
He saw the microscopic dot and the big picture.
We have a lawnmower that's difficult to restart when the engine's hot. My
approach is a quick pace so the lawn can be finished without having to
stop to refuel. My wife's method is a little different: "I mow until I
give out or the gas does."
One of my favorite bands is I Mother Earth. They pepper their typically
vague and obtuse lyrics with zeugmas: "I bite my tongue and swallow pride
and blood."
The prospective chemistry professor judged the quality of the department
by counting the number of Paulings on the faculty bookshelves.
A farmhand from Schenectady
As if having the measles and pigtails, and being six weren't enough, I instantly
became "four eyes" and gradually began to disappear.
If you hire this brilliant mind, he'll make you millions! He has a genius
for making money out of money.
One time I was talking to my two kids who were undergrads at the U. of
Michigan. We were wondering when you called a person an asshole, if
you were using synecdoche (the part for the hole) or metonymy (container
for the thing contained).
Boots on the ground. I always wonder if we're supposed to divide the
numbers by two to get the actual count of soldiers!
Welcome to the Olympics, a synecdoche for the best athletes the world has
to offer.
Memory, memory, where did I leave my memory?
Protons are positive and stunning.
She described to me how painful and brutal her Crossfit exercise routine
had become.
The fresh and baked cookies were delicious.
There's something I love about being home alone at night, the comfortableness
of its being peaceful and silent. |
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