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antistasis

By , About.com Guide

Definition:

Repetition of a word in a different or contrary sense. See also:

Etymology:

From the Greek, "opposition"

Examples:

  • "He that composes himself is wiser than he that composes a book."
    (Benjamin Franklin)


  • Kent: This is nothing, Fool.
    Fool: Then tis like the breath of an unfee'd lawyer--you gave me nothing for't. Can you make no use of nothing, nuncle?
    Lear: Why, no, boy. Nothing can be made out of nothing.
    (William Shakespeare, King Lear)


  • "We must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately."
    (Benjamin Franklin)


  • "When you're finished changing, you're finished."
    (Benjamin Franklin)


  • "Give me a break! Give me a break! Break me off a piece of that Kit Kat bar!
    (advertising jingle)


  • "A kleptomaniac is a person who helps himself because he can't help himself."
    (Henry Morgan)


  • "Sorry, Charlie. StarKist wants tuna that tastes good, not tuna with good taste."
    (Starkist Tuna television commercial)
Pronunciation: an-TIS-ta-sis

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