Some of the readers of this column of longer standing will remember your introduction to Dr. Mardy Grothe, author of Never Let a Fool Kiss You or a Kiss Fool You and creator and custodian of the website, www.chiasmus.com. You may also recall that the word “chiasmus” is defined:

chiasmus (ky-AZ-mus) n. a reversal in the order of words in two otherwise parallel phrases. chiastic adj.

We are all familiar with the famous example of chiasmus from JFK:

And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country. (January, 1961)

You may not have yet encountered a more recent example:

The show is our life and our life is the show.

That is from Siegfried of Siegfried and Roy (quoted in “Dr. Mardy’s Quotes of the Week,” October 19–25, 2003). And there I have already given away what I wanted to tell you. Dr. Grothe has broadened his consideration of literary devices to oxymoronic and paradoxical constructions. He offers on his website (cited above) free subscription to a weekly e-mail bulletin, titled “Dr. Mardy’s Quotes of the Week” (DMQW) and sub-titled “A Weekly Celebration of Chiastic, Oxymoronic, & Paradoxical Quotations.”

An oxymoron, just to refresh your memory, is a figure of speech combining opposite or contradictory terms or ideas as, for example, “sweet sorrow” or “jumbo shrimp.” Of course, Grothe has come up with much more interesting examples than those. Here is one from the same number of DMQW cited above, from Jean Cocteau:

The poet is a liar who always speaks the truth.
Here is one from Ambrose Bierce (DMQW, June 22–28, 2003):

Speak when you are angry and you will make the best speech you will ever regret.

A paradox is "a statement that appears contradictory, unbelievable, or absurd but that may actually be true in fact" (#2 in Webster's New Universal Unabridged Dictionary). It is clear that an oxymoronic statement may also be paradoxical.

 

Grothe gives an unattributed example (DMQW, op. cit.):

Most people go to great pains to avoid great pains.

Another unattributed quote with that character is this (DMWQ, July 6–12, 2003):

The worst memory is the one that remembers everything.

I invite you to visit Grothe’s website for additional examples of all three of these literary devices, and if you would like to receive a weekly dose, to subscribe to DMQW.

For your puzzler this time, here is another from “Ask Marilyn” in Parade Magazine, October 19, 2003. What do the following words have in common?

bar cloud dusk loop plow
ran river sleep shore tables

Until next time, send me your solutions (or suggestions or complaints or stumpers) at hfox@juno.com or 2005 Burroughs Drive, Dayton, Ohio 45406.