Are there situations where using an anastrophe is ill-advised?

Multi tool use
I wrote two verses, because I couldn't find a good enough example:
She ran the comb through her hair ebony
As the night fell upon the land of light.
Is there a situation where reversing the natural word order is ill-advised or completely wrong. In this simple situation, I don't think there's anything wrong. Also, is this considered good style?
word-choice poetry figures-of-speech
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I wrote two verses, because I couldn't find a good enough example:
She ran the comb through her hair ebony
As the night fell upon the land of light.
Is there a situation where reversing the natural word order is ill-advised or completely wrong. In this simple situation, I don't think there's anything wrong. Also, is this considered good style?
word-choice poetry figures-of-speech
New contributor
puffofsmoke is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
add a comment |
I wrote two verses, because I couldn't find a good enough example:
She ran the comb through her hair ebony
As the night fell upon the land of light.
Is there a situation where reversing the natural word order is ill-advised or completely wrong. In this simple situation, I don't think there's anything wrong. Also, is this considered good style?
word-choice poetry figures-of-speech
New contributor
puffofsmoke is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
I wrote two verses, because I couldn't find a good enough example:
She ran the comb through her hair ebony
As the night fell upon the land of light.
Is there a situation where reversing the natural word order is ill-advised or completely wrong. In this simple situation, I don't think there's anything wrong. Also, is this considered good style?
word-choice poetry figures-of-speech
word-choice poetry figures-of-speech
New contributor
puffofsmoke is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
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edited 1 hour ago


Cyn
7,83311443
7,83311443
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asked 1 hour ago
puffofsmokepuffofsmoke
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614
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3 Answers
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It's never good style to depart from standard usage without a good reason. It just makes things harder to read and understand.
There could be many possible "good reasons" to invert word order. With that said, the fact that you couldn't find any actual examples argues against this being a widely useful practice. I've only ever heard this used in poetry, typically to make rhyme or rhythm work out, or in imitation of a language where this is standard (like French or Spanish).
Even in poetry, I would use it only sparingly. There's a real difference between indulging in the additional freedoms available to a poet ("poetic license") in the service of the sound of a passage, and abusing them in the belief that breaking the rules is itself intrinsically poetic.
add a comment |
You asked (or stated):
Is there a situation where reversing the natural word order is
ill-advised or completely wrong.
Not absolutely! And by that, mean I, no of the absolute kind. :)
I think anastrophe would best be used in technical documentation.
Things like:
Window appears, click OK button do or do not. Save your settings, it
may, but if button clicked then settings may instead not be unsaved.
Click button do not, saving the settings, or exiting without saving.
Plus there is the benefit of the user not knowing whether she is to blame for not saving her settings because she doesn't understand the instructions or there is a bug in the system so this is advantageous.
Note: I couldn't resist this one because anastrophe is a great word (thanks to be introducing me to that one).
Here's my serious answer.
Why, in poetry, would there be any reason against anastrophe?
Maybe only because of overuse. Nothing should be overused. So anastrophe-on and keep on anastrophing.
The effect is quite poetic and may allow the poetry to become more rhythmic and pleasant to the ear. It may also create interesting interpretations of the meaning.
2
I'm afraid I downvoted this. The parody portion is very confusing, and I'm not convinced by the serious portion.
– Chris Sunami
1 hour ago
2
Well, I'm not convinced that you remain unconvinced so I voted yours up. Plus my serious answer was pretty good and I think the world knows that even without any upvote. And who said that first part was parody? It was clearly satire! :)
– raddevus
1 hour ago
2
Well, at least you get my upvote for your comment :)
– Chris Sunami
1 hour ago
add a comment |
Is there a situation where reversing the natural word order is ill-advised or completely wrong.
Yes. Consider a simple sentence such as "I ate an apple." Using anastrophe, you could write this as subject-object-verb ("I an apple ate"), object-subject-verb ("an apple I ate") or even object-verb-subject ("an apple ate I"). All of these are fine, though you'd probably want to have a good reason to use any of them. The key point is that nobody's going to assume you're talking about a man-eating apple.
But now consider "Cain murdered Abel". Rewrite it as "Abel murdered Cain" and you've completely changed the meaning: everyone will assume that Abel is now the murderer. Rewrite it as "Cain Abel murdered" and who knows how many people will assume subject-object-verb and object-subject-verb.
So there are certainly cases where anastrophe completely obscures the meaning of the sentence. That's ill-advised and I'd suggest that "Abel murdered Cain" is so ill-advised that it's completely wrong.
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David Richerby is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
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3 Answers
3
active
oldest
votes
3 Answers
3
active
oldest
votes
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votes
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oldest
votes
It's never good style to depart from standard usage without a good reason. It just makes things harder to read and understand.
There could be many possible "good reasons" to invert word order. With that said, the fact that you couldn't find any actual examples argues against this being a widely useful practice. I've only ever heard this used in poetry, typically to make rhyme or rhythm work out, or in imitation of a language where this is standard (like French or Spanish).
Even in poetry, I would use it only sparingly. There's a real difference between indulging in the additional freedoms available to a poet ("poetic license") in the service of the sound of a passage, and abusing them in the belief that breaking the rules is itself intrinsically poetic.
add a comment |
It's never good style to depart from standard usage without a good reason. It just makes things harder to read and understand.
There could be many possible "good reasons" to invert word order. With that said, the fact that you couldn't find any actual examples argues against this being a widely useful practice. I've only ever heard this used in poetry, typically to make rhyme or rhythm work out, or in imitation of a language where this is standard (like French or Spanish).
Even in poetry, I would use it only sparingly. There's a real difference between indulging in the additional freedoms available to a poet ("poetic license") in the service of the sound of a passage, and abusing them in the belief that breaking the rules is itself intrinsically poetic.
add a comment |
It's never good style to depart from standard usage without a good reason. It just makes things harder to read and understand.
There could be many possible "good reasons" to invert word order. With that said, the fact that you couldn't find any actual examples argues against this being a widely useful practice. I've only ever heard this used in poetry, typically to make rhyme or rhythm work out, or in imitation of a language where this is standard (like French or Spanish).
Even in poetry, I would use it only sparingly. There's a real difference between indulging in the additional freedoms available to a poet ("poetic license") in the service of the sound of a passage, and abusing them in the belief that breaking the rules is itself intrinsically poetic.
It's never good style to depart from standard usage without a good reason. It just makes things harder to read and understand.
There could be many possible "good reasons" to invert word order. With that said, the fact that you couldn't find any actual examples argues against this being a widely useful practice. I've only ever heard this used in poetry, typically to make rhyme or rhythm work out, or in imitation of a language where this is standard (like French or Spanish).
Even in poetry, I would use it only sparingly. There's a real difference between indulging in the additional freedoms available to a poet ("poetic license") in the service of the sound of a passage, and abusing them in the belief that breaking the rules is itself intrinsically poetic.
edited 1 hour ago
answered 1 hour ago


Chris SunamiChris Sunami
29.2k336109
29.2k336109
add a comment |
add a comment |
You asked (or stated):
Is there a situation where reversing the natural word order is
ill-advised or completely wrong.
Not absolutely! And by that, mean I, no of the absolute kind. :)
I think anastrophe would best be used in technical documentation.
Things like:
Window appears, click OK button do or do not. Save your settings, it
may, but if button clicked then settings may instead not be unsaved.
Click button do not, saving the settings, or exiting without saving.
Plus there is the benefit of the user not knowing whether she is to blame for not saving her settings because she doesn't understand the instructions or there is a bug in the system so this is advantageous.
Note: I couldn't resist this one because anastrophe is a great word (thanks to be introducing me to that one).
Here's my serious answer.
Why, in poetry, would there be any reason against anastrophe?
Maybe only because of overuse. Nothing should be overused. So anastrophe-on and keep on anastrophing.
The effect is quite poetic and may allow the poetry to become more rhythmic and pleasant to the ear. It may also create interesting interpretations of the meaning.
2
I'm afraid I downvoted this. The parody portion is very confusing, and I'm not convinced by the serious portion.
– Chris Sunami
1 hour ago
2
Well, I'm not convinced that you remain unconvinced so I voted yours up. Plus my serious answer was pretty good and I think the world knows that even without any upvote. And who said that first part was parody? It was clearly satire! :)
– raddevus
1 hour ago
2
Well, at least you get my upvote for your comment :)
– Chris Sunami
1 hour ago
add a comment |
You asked (or stated):
Is there a situation where reversing the natural word order is
ill-advised or completely wrong.
Not absolutely! And by that, mean I, no of the absolute kind. :)
I think anastrophe would best be used in technical documentation.
Things like:
Window appears, click OK button do or do not. Save your settings, it
may, but if button clicked then settings may instead not be unsaved.
Click button do not, saving the settings, or exiting without saving.
Plus there is the benefit of the user not knowing whether she is to blame for not saving her settings because she doesn't understand the instructions or there is a bug in the system so this is advantageous.
Note: I couldn't resist this one because anastrophe is a great word (thanks to be introducing me to that one).
Here's my serious answer.
Why, in poetry, would there be any reason against anastrophe?
Maybe only because of overuse. Nothing should be overused. So anastrophe-on and keep on anastrophing.
The effect is quite poetic and may allow the poetry to become more rhythmic and pleasant to the ear. It may also create interesting interpretations of the meaning.
2
I'm afraid I downvoted this. The parody portion is very confusing, and I'm not convinced by the serious portion.
– Chris Sunami
1 hour ago
2
Well, I'm not convinced that you remain unconvinced so I voted yours up. Plus my serious answer was pretty good and I think the world knows that even without any upvote. And who said that first part was parody? It was clearly satire! :)
– raddevus
1 hour ago
2
Well, at least you get my upvote for your comment :)
– Chris Sunami
1 hour ago
add a comment |
You asked (or stated):
Is there a situation where reversing the natural word order is
ill-advised or completely wrong.
Not absolutely! And by that, mean I, no of the absolute kind. :)
I think anastrophe would best be used in technical documentation.
Things like:
Window appears, click OK button do or do not. Save your settings, it
may, but if button clicked then settings may instead not be unsaved.
Click button do not, saving the settings, or exiting without saving.
Plus there is the benefit of the user not knowing whether she is to blame for not saving her settings because she doesn't understand the instructions or there is a bug in the system so this is advantageous.
Note: I couldn't resist this one because anastrophe is a great word (thanks to be introducing me to that one).
Here's my serious answer.
Why, in poetry, would there be any reason against anastrophe?
Maybe only because of overuse. Nothing should be overused. So anastrophe-on and keep on anastrophing.
The effect is quite poetic and may allow the poetry to become more rhythmic and pleasant to the ear. It may also create interesting interpretations of the meaning.
You asked (or stated):
Is there a situation where reversing the natural word order is
ill-advised or completely wrong.
Not absolutely! And by that, mean I, no of the absolute kind. :)
I think anastrophe would best be used in technical documentation.
Things like:
Window appears, click OK button do or do not. Save your settings, it
may, but if button clicked then settings may instead not be unsaved.
Click button do not, saving the settings, or exiting without saving.
Plus there is the benefit of the user not knowing whether she is to blame for not saving her settings because she doesn't understand the instructions or there is a bug in the system so this is advantageous.
Note: I couldn't resist this one because anastrophe is a great word (thanks to be introducing me to that one).
Here's my serious answer.
Why, in poetry, would there be any reason against anastrophe?
Maybe only because of overuse. Nothing should be overused. So anastrophe-on and keep on anastrophing.
The effect is quite poetic and may allow the poetry to become more rhythmic and pleasant to the ear. It may also create interesting interpretations of the meaning.
answered 1 hour ago


raddevusraddevus
5,4391823
5,4391823
2
I'm afraid I downvoted this. The parody portion is very confusing, and I'm not convinced by the serious portion.
– Chris Sunami
1 hour ago
2
Well, I'm not convinced that you remain unconvinced so I voted yours up. Plus my serious answer was pretty good and I think the world knows that even without any upvote. And who said that first part was parody? It was clearly satire! :)
– raddevus
1 hour ago
2
Well, at least you get my upvote for your comment :)
– Chris Sunami
1 hour ago
add a comment |
2
I'm afraid I downvoted this. The parody portion is very confusing, and I'm not convinced by the serious portion.
– Chris Sunami
1 hour ago
2
Well, I'm not convinced that you remain unconvinced so I voted yours up. Plus my serious answer was pretty good and I think the world knows that even without any upvote. And who said that first part was parody? It was clearly satire! :)
– raddevus
1 hour ago
2
Well, at least you get my upvote for your comment :)
– Chris Sunami
1 hour ago
2
2
I'm afraid I downvoted this. The parody portion is very confusing, and I'm not convinced by the serious portion.
– Chris Sunami
1 hour ago
I'm afraid I downvoted this. The parody portion is very confusing, and I'm not convinced by the serious portion.
– Chris Sunami
1 hour ago
2
2
Well, I'm not convinced that you remain unconvinced so I voted yours up. Plus my serious answer was pretty good and I think the world knows that even without any upvote. And who said that first part was parody? It was clearly satire! :)
– raddevus
1 hour ago
Well, I'm not convinced that you remain unconvinced so I voted yours up. Plus my serious answer was pretty good and I think the world knows that even without any upvote. And who said that first part was parody? It was clearly satire! :)
– raddevus
1 hour ago
2
2
Well, at least you get my upvote for your comment :)
– Chris Sunami
1 hour ago
Well, at least you get my upvote for your comment :)
– Chris Sunami
1 hour ago
add a comment |
Is there a situation where reversing the natural word order is ill-advised or completely wrong.
Yes. Consider a simple sentence such as "I ate an apple." Using anastrophe, you could write this as subject-object-verb ("I an apple ate"), object-subject-verb ("an apple I ate") or even object-verb-subject ("an apple ate I"). All of these are fine, though you'd probably want to have a good reason to use any of them. The key point is that nobody's going to assume you're talking about a man-eating apple.
But now consider "Cain murdered Abel". Rewrite it as "Abel murdered Cain" and you've completely changed the meaning: everyone will assume that Abel is now the murderer. Rewrite it as "Cain Abel murdered" and who knows how many people will assume subject-object-verb and object-subject-verb.
So there are certainly cases where anastrophe completely obscures the meaning of the sentence. That's ill-advised and I'd suggest that "Abel murdered Cain" is so ill-advised that it's completely wrong.
New contributor
David Richerby is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
add a comment |
Is there a situation where reversing the natural word order is ill-advised or completely wrong.
Yes. Consider a simple sentence such as "I ate an apple." Using anastrophe, you could write this as subject-object-verb ("I an apple ate"), object-subject-verb ("an apple I ate") or even object-verb-subject ("an apple ate I"). All of these are fine, though you'd probably want to have a good reason to use any of them. The key point is that nobody's going to assume you're talking about a man-eating apple.
But now consider "Cain murdered Abel". Rewrite it as "Abel murdered Cain" and you've completely changed the meaning: everyone will assume that Abel is now the murderer. Rewrite it as "Cain Abel murdered" and who knows how many people will assume subject-object-verb and object-subject-verb.
So there are certainly cases where anastrophe completely obscures the meaning of the sentence. That's ill-advised and I'd suggest that "Abel murdered Cain" is so ill-advised that it's completely wrong.
New contributor
David Richerby is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
add a comment |
Is there a situation where reversing the natural word order is ill-advised or completely wrong.
Yes. Consider a simple sentence such as "I ate an apple." Using anastrophe, you could write this as subject-object-verb ("I an apple ate"), object-subject-verb ("an apple I ate") or even object-verb-subject ("an apple ate I"). All of these are fine, though you'd probably want to have a good reason to use any of them. The key point is that nobody's going to assume you're talking about a man-eating apple.
But now consider "Cain murdered Abel". Rewrite it as "Abel murdered Cain" and you've completely changed the meaning: everyone will assume that Abel is now the murderer. Rewrite it as "Cain Abel murdered" and who knows how many people will assume subject-object-verb and object-subject-verb.
So there are certainly cases where anastrophe completely obscures the meaning of the sentence. That's ill-advised and I'd suggest that "Abel murdered Cain" is so ill-advised that it's completely wrong.
New contributor
David Richerby is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
Is there a situation where reversing the natural word order is ill-advised or completely wrong.
Yes. Consider a simple sentence such as "I ate an apple." Using anastrophe, you could write this as subject-object-verb ("I an apple ate"), object-subject-verb ("an apple I ate") or even object-verb-subject ("an apple ate I"). All of these are fine, though you'd probably want to have a good reason to use any of them. The key point is that nobody's going to assume you're talking about a man-eating apple.
But now consider "Cain murdered Abel". Rewrite it as "Abel murdered Cain" and you've completely changed the meaning: everyone will assume that Abel is now the murderer. Rewrite it as "Cain Abel murdered" and who knows how many people will assume subject-object-verb and object-subject-verb.
So there are certainly cases where anastrophe completely obscures the meaning of the sentence. That's ill-advised and I'd suggest that "Abel murdered Cain" is so ill-advised that it's completely wrong.
New contributor
David Richerby is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
New contributor
David Richerby is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
answered 13 mins ago


David RicherbyDavid Richerby
1115
1115
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David Richerby is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
New contributor
David Richerby is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
David Richerby is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
add a comment |
add a comment |
puffofsmoke is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
puffofsmoke is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
puffofsmoke is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
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