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Never Let a Fool Kiss You or a Kiss Fool You : Chiasmus and a World of Quotations That Say What They Mean and Mean What They Say

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Brain candy
A surfeit of chiasms
Don't miss it!
Chiasmus = Absolute Truth ?
NEVER KISS A FOOL OR LET A KISS FOOL YOU

Never Let a Fool Kiss You or a Kiss Fool You : Chiasmus and a World of Quotations That Say What They Mean and Mean What They Say
Mardy Grothe
Manufacturer: Viking Adult
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0670878278

Amazon.com

When John F. Kennedy said, "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country," he wasn't just stirring the hearts of millions of young Americans, he was also engaging in a little-known form of wordplay called chiasmus. Dr. Mardy Grothe has plumbed the depths of this form for years and catalogued hundreds of examples from ancient times to the present, in Never Let a Fool Kiss You or a Kiss Fool You (title courtesy of Joey Adams). All it takes is a repeated statement with two elements transposed between them--e.g., fool and kiss--and you get a powerful, often humorous, rhetorical prop. Collected in chapters like "Chiasmus for Lovers" and "Chiastic Compliments and Insults," the wisdom of the ages shines in gems such as Cicero's "It is as difficult for the good to suspect evil as it is for the evil to suspect good." Even better is Grothe's running commentary on the form and its masters and the often-biting humor found in the classics, for instance Dr. Johnson's "Your manuscript is both good and original; but the part that is good is not original, and the part that is original is not good." Fortunately for us, the good doctor wasn't referring to Never Let a Fool Kiss You or a Kiss Fool You, which is as fun to read as a reference as it is to refer to a reader. --Rob Lightner

Book Description

Engaging new territory for word lovers, speech makers, and party show-offs--this quotable collection enshrines a classic linguistic trick.

Pardon me--do you know what chiasmus means? Here's a hint: Mae West used chiasmus in her signature line "It's not the men in my life; it's the life in my men." So did John F. Kennedy: "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country."

Language maven Dr. Mardy Grothe discovered that many of the world's great wags and eloquent orators have been virtual masters of chiasmus--Churchill, Wilde, Shaw, Ben Franklin, Samuel Johnson, and Shakespeare, to name just a handful. In this unprecedented and quotable collection, he assembles the best examples of chiasmus ever written or spoken. Not since the oxymoron, the palindrome, or An Exaltation of Larks has there been a whole new category of wordplay so likely to fire the public imagination. In the tradition of Woe Is I and The Transitive Vampire, Never Let a Fool Kiss You...will make chiasmus a household word and help you wax profound in the company of the greatest wits of all time.

Customer Reviews:

Brain candy.......2007-03-09

I am enjoying this book in bits and pieces. If you don't have time for full committment to a novel, this book is easy to read a bit, think about a bit, and go back to later.
And, I have the next two books waiting in the wings for when I finish this one. Plus, I get a new batch via e-mail each week.

A surfeit of chiasms.......2007-01-11

It is, as advertized, a book of word play. Some are quite humerous and others clever and ingenious. However the chiastic style begins to wear after awhile. Ruth Smith

Don't miss it!.......2006-07-01

For people who like "quotes" and "interesting lines", this book is as good as it gets. Excellent language skills and interesting quotes on this book.

Had a lot of fun reading it.

Chiasmus = Absolute Truth ?.......2000-08-16

For the nutshell skip down to ---THE POINT---. If you like to get lost in circular reasoning, by all means read the whole thing. Just be patient if you do; it may seem as if I've gone off on a tangent, but I promise to come full circle. In order to deal with story problems we are taught that mathematical functions have lingual transitions. An example of this is would be: = means "as", and 2 = terms are said to be "like". As with translations between any two languages inevitably something is lost in the transition. In this instance we see that while = means "as" or "like", neither "as" nor "like" means =. In grammar we are taught that "as" and "like" are keywords for simile (which means comparison, from the Latin "similis" meaning similar). Which leads to the next issue; Do the laws of mathematics have a lingual transition? One of the most fundamental laws of math is: A x B = B x A; which would read: the product of A and B is like the product of B and A. While porcelain is the product of heat and clay, the product of heat and clay is not always like porcelain. The heat and the clay must have the same value in order for the comparison to work. I have never learned the English translation for the absolute value sign used in mathematical formulas, but I would imagine it would be "chiastic". Chiasmus seems to imply in its mathematical similarity that it is a capable vehicle for absolute truths. Certainly this book is an insight into truth, or this book is truth into insight, or maybe this truth is a book into insight, perhaps this insight is a book into truth, possibly this insight is truth into a book, or it could be that this truth is insight into a book. I seem to have gotten even myself confused. Lao-Tzu wrote that "He who talks does not know, he who knows does not talk", he also wrote that "The Way of which we are able to speak, is not the Way of which we speak". So why all the words if they are all in vain? The Buddhists have an insightful metaphor (defined by Aristotle as: The intuitive perception of the similarity in dissimilars) for the reason for words despite their futility "fingers pointing at the moon" (the moon symbolizing enlightenment in Buddhism). ------THE POINT?------ Simply that this is a much better book, than this is a review. Dr. Grothe's fingers apparently do a much better job at pointing to the moon than do mine. Where my words have led you deep into the murky waters of samsara, his become the Jewel in the lotus and the lotus in the Jewel. I hope I haven't driven you away from what truly is an inspired book. *** P.S. Sorry Mardy, I had to, Jer.1:7

NEVER KISS A FOOL OR LET A KISS FOOL YOU.......2000-05-13

What a great little book. If you like wordplay, philosphy, history and pop culture, you'll love reading chiamus quotes from then and now. Chiasmus stretchs and delights the mind. I bought the book as a guide to my teenage daughter...you know...for the kissing part, but it has also become a delightful source of information as well as entertainment. We have fun trying to make up our own chiasmus lines. If you subscribe to Grothe's weekly Chiasmic Quotes...you'll discover a new puzzle and antedote. It always gives a moment of thought or mirth; giving new pleasure to the announcement to 'you've got mail'.

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