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What's it called when you switch the order of two words around, completely changing their meaning?

For example, simply childish becomes childishly simple.

Or wonderfully sarcastic becomes sarcastically wonderful.

Helmar
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shea
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1 Answers1

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Antimetabole:

is the repetition of words in successive clauses, but in transposed grammatical order (e.g., "I know what I like, and I like what I know")

donothingsuccessfully
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    “Then you should say what you mean,” the March Hare went on.  //  “I do,” Alice hastily replied; “at least — at least I mean what I say — that’s the same thing, you know.”  //  “Not the same thing a bit!” said the Hatter.  “You might just as well say that «I see what I eat» is the same thing as «I eat what I see»!”  //  ...  //  “You might just as well say,” added the Dormouse, who seemed to be talking in his sleep, “that «I breathe when I sleep» is the same thing as «I sleep when I breathe»!”  –– http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Alice's_Adventures_in_Wonderland – Scott - Слава Україні Feb 28 '13 at 20:24
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    You want to be careful with that; never overdo antimetabole. It can really have some serious effects on your metabolism. – John Lawler Feb 28 '13 at 21:42