word order - What is the name for the inverse of an aphorism


For example, given a common saying or sequence of words, like



A picture is worth a thousand words



One reverses the order and obtains



A word is worth a thousand pictures



Is there a name for this kind of wordplay/whatever it is? I seem to hear them all the time, I can give more examples if needed.



Answer



An inversion such as "a word is worth a thousand pictures" is described as an implied chiasmus by Wordsmith.org founder, Anu Garg, here, quoting these immortal words of Kermit the Frog:



Time's fun when you're having flies.



A chiasmus is "a rhetorical inversion of the second of two parallel structures." In the link, which is well worth reading, the examples of the inversion are of the sort: "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country." So the implied chiasmus would be simply the second part, where the first (unspoken) one is the better known aphorism ("time flies when you're having fun" or "a picture is worth a thousand words").


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