The proof that he is right is to write and prove him wrong - the chiasmus challenge

in #makesteemitgreat-again6 years ago (edited)


The original comic: https://www.xkcd.com/1645/

Background - skip to Challenge if you want to win some SBD

There is a little bit of a grudge going on between myself and @moneyinfant... okay, maybe I am getting a little fed up with the fact that I couldn't find a writing contest that @moneyinfant doesn't know about.

I think it started about 10 or 11 days ago, when I noticed the writing contest list:

And then I saw the name pop up when I tried to comment on contests that were less than 3 hours old!

And then I kind of realized that maybe I was being manipulated into creating a contest myself...

And finally this was the straw that broke this camel's back:

So here's the deal, as you might have noticed from the comic in the beginning of the post and the title, a chiasmus is the word for making people sound witty and clever without saying much.

I first found out about the magic of 'chiasmus' from the Oxford English Dictionary's A word a day email. Apparently less people know about this word compared to the longest word in the English Dictionary, and I knew how to spell that word when I was in primary school!

Since then I discovered Dr Mardy Grothe's newsletter and books (http://www.drmardy.com/) and now whenever I get a chance I try to come up with one or two of my own and share the magic of this familiar yet not often recognized literary device to all language lovers.

Challenge

Are there language lovers from the @isleofwrite or people who are going to see this on @moneyinfant's list of writing contests that want to give it a go?

This is an explanation of what a chiasmus looks like from Wikipedia:

In rhetoric, chiasmus or, less commonly, chiasm (Latin term from Greek χίασμα, "crossing", from the Greek χιάζω, chiázō, "to shape like the letter Χ") is the figure of speech in which two or more phrases are presented, then presented again in reverse order to make a larger point. To diagram a simple chiasmus, the phrases are often labelled A B B A. For example, John F. Kennedy said, "ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country". The initial phrases your country:you are reversed in the second half of the sentence to you:your country. This is often used to urge the audience to reconsider the relationship between the repeated phrases.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiasmus

Prize

The best three original chiasmuses about your experience on Steemit (as judged by me or the number of votes) will receive a minimum of 0.1 SBD from @fibrefox's account. This contest will run for one week from the day when this post is published.

Not your thing?

For other contests on Steemit, head over to @newbiegames to see the list of games and the 'featured' games of the week, or check out @moneyinfant's list of writing contests for more chances to use your writing skills and win SBD. Finally, @artz also maintains a comprehensive list of contests on Steemit.

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There should be some reaction buttons here like on Facebook. Lol. That chiasmus comic is funny.

If I got it right... Then

Broken heart for my real friends
And real heart for my broken friends.

😂😂😂

I got broken hearted from taking Steemit seriously so I've learned to chill out more since this month. 😅

That's a very clever chiasmus... have you done this before? Hosting this contest was one way I am trying to chill out more on Steemit too :) Feel free to try some chiasmuses for your post titles in the future too!

No never, I just copied the format in the comic strip. haha.

This looks like fun :D here's mine:

"Avoiding hardships for a peaceful life,
earning peace by taking on hardships "

Thanks for the entry! Is this strictly about your experience on Steemit or does it apply to your origami as well? :)

It's more of my personal motivation in life, telling myself to not avoid problems but take them head on, I heaven't really had any real hardships on Steemit, and I love origami too much to call anything a hardship, I'd call them more like challenges, I haven't been here that long ^^ (btw, this post was motivated by your flower cranes, would love if you'd check it out https://steemit.com/origami/@ivan-g/thousand-origami-crane-project <3 )

I call origami my mental fitness exercise :) And I think you've just complete the equivalent of an origami marathon with that project, well done!

My Entry

This one is simple and profound at the same time... to master something revealed by the blockchain is to reveal a master of the blockchain :)

Upvotes for my down friends, and downvotes for my polyester friends.

Not sure that's quite a proper chiasmus but I couldn't resist the pun.

Thanks for the entry :) I don't think there is a hard and fast rule when it comes to chiasmuses...

I am not familiar with the expression 'polyester friends', but I like how you have creatively applied it to terms used on Steemit!

It's not a real expression, it's just a joke on an unexpected opposite of "down."

This is my first lame attempt. Will update if I can think of something better.

Inspiriation comes from followers, followers come from inspiration.

No one said that it would be easy to come up with a chiasmus, so it's great that you are having a go :) Just remember that it is the structure that needs to stay the same, but the words can vary slightly, so even if it was something like:

"Inspiration comes from your followers and following others provides inspiration" is okay.

Ah, I wasn't sure if the words could change,but that makes sense. Pretty soon I will sound like guru!

I guess as long as you can see the structure of the two parts of the sentence being mirrored then it is good enough in my books. There are different types of chiasmuses, and in my post title I used one that just had the same sounding words without the same spelling, so that's another type. The magic happens because the change in the order of the words produce a different meaning, like in the classic example of 'working hard or hardly working' :)

xkcd doesn't mind you using their comics, however, he wants you to link back to his comic strips.

The original comic: https://www.xkcd.com/1645/

And steemians demand that you source your images.
So please add the link.

My apologies, I mistakenly thought that using the image URL would somehow provide a link to the origin image but I didn't format the tags properly (and didn't check my post). I would never intend to reference such a well known comic without giving the authors credit. Thanks for pointing it out :)

@moneyinfant has added your contest to the list Steemit Writing Contests: Issue #52. The list is updated on a daily basis and your contest will remain on the list until its expiration - there's nothing you need to do.

The list was created to save writers the excessive amount of time spent searching through the #contest tag for writing contests. Now they can just come to the list each day, see new contests and use their time doing what they love - writing.

If you'd like to help spread the word about the Steemit Writing Contest List I'd really appreciate a resteem, but it certainly isn't necessary. The project is simply meant to help writers save time and contest creators attract more contestants.

P.S. If you know of any contests I've missed I'd love to hear about them. Thanks!

Hello people, here's my entry.

image

They say knowledge is wealth, which is why I have a wealth of knowledge.

That's not a bad one for a footer/signature for your posts :) I think Steemit is a great source of knowledge and many people come here looking for wealth so it is very relevant to the theme :D

Thanks.
If it inspires you enough, you can use it as your footer.
I don't mind.

Part of the reason for running the contest is to get some inspirations :)

Practising writing chiasmuses is good practise for writing contests too :D

Definitely.
If I didn't make it a priority to write at least one haiku a day, everyday.
I don't think I would have been able to participate in 4 writing contests in a single day.

Wow, 4 writing contests a day! I probably do about 4 per week :p

Have you visited the Information Finding Championships hosted by @apolymask? There are about 2-3 rounds per week so that would probably be a good one to follow.

How do you come up with the idea to write at least one haiku a day? If I tried to do one chiasmus per day I'd probably be a master at it by now :)

The idea of writing one haiku per day came from an online challenge.

When it's time to write, I pick a subject and try to express something about it in 17 syllables.

My dabble in art taught me the power of consistency. If you write one chiasmus per day, everyday for a period of time. You'll definitely get better at it.

Thanks for the contest recommendation.
I'll look into it.

This is not exactly related to steemit, i came up with it and I decided to post it:

we have no rights left, all we have left is our ability to write (right) the wrongs they have done against us.

I like this! Very clever with the way that you used the word 'right' and 'left' and also the combination of 'write' and 'right' that can both work. You seemed to have mastered the use of chiasmus very well :)

I'd like to try. Well, I remember something from a movie:

One for all and all for one?

But that's from the three musketeers...

I'll try again on my own...

Working hard or hardly working?

No, no, no. Let me try again

My head is filled of movies and movies fill my head

That's it. Im done

Thanks for reading @plushzilla

Im having so much fun...

Glad you enjoyed it :) One of my favourite chiasmus is this one:

" Never let a fool kiss you or a kiss fool you!"

That's clever! and that is a very good advise, especially for people who fall in love alone and end up entering the friend-zone

It always sound wiser when it is written in a chiasmus :D

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