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












2















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?










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    2















    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?










    share|improve this question









    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.























      2












      2








      2








      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?










      share|improve this question









      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






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      edited 1 hour ago









      Cyn

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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.






          share|improve this answer

































            1














            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.






            share|improve this answer



















            • 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



















            1















            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.






            share|improve this answer








            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.




















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              3 Answers
              3






              active

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              3 Answers
              3






              active

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              active

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              5














              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.






              share|improve this answer






























                5














                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.






                share|improve this answer




























                  5












                  5








                  5







                  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.






                  share|improve this answer















                  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.







                  share|improve this answer














                  share|improve this answer



                  share|improve this answer








                  edited 1 hour ago

























                  answered 1 hour ago









                  Chris SunamiChris Sunami

                  29.2k336109




                  29.2k336109























                      1














                      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.






                      share|improve this answer



















                      • 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
















                      1














                      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.






                      share|improve this answer



















                      • 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














                      1












                      1








                      1







                      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.






                      share|improve this answer













                      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.







                      share|improve this answer












                      share|improve this answer



                      share|improve this answer










                      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














                      • 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











                      1















                      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.






                      share|improve this answer








                      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.

























                        1















                        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.






                        share|improve this answer








                        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.























                          1












                          1








                          1








                          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.






                          share|improve this answer








                          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.







                          share|improve this answer








                          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.









                          share|improve this answer



                          share|improve this answer






                          New contributor




                          David Richerby is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
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                          answered 13 mins ago









                          David RicherbyDavid Richerby

                          1115




                          1115




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