Epanados

Techniques > Use of language > Figures of speech > Epanados

Method | Example | Discussion | See also

Description

Epanados is the repetition of words from earlier in a phrase or sentence in the reverse order.

Example

Love is right because there is only one right love.

A right is given, which gives you right.

Mad, bad and sad they say, but I'm just sad that such bad things are said by those who can only be mad.

Discussion

Reversing something is to create a pattern. We are particularly good at spotting patterns and epanados thus becomes a code, a puzzle, something to be spotted and understood. Repetition also emphasized, and it hence acts as a relatively subtle attentional device.

An epanados which is also an antithesis is called an antimetabole.

Epanados comes from the Greek, meaning a return or a rising way.

Classification: Reversal