ewx: (Default)
Richard Kettlewell ([personal profile] ewx) wrote2003-08-14 01:01 pm

reverse dictionary lookup

The sun is a lightbulb

A candle's a treat


In the first of those lines, the sentence is the opposite way around to usual: it's telling you something about the lightbulb, not the sun, and you'd usually write "the lightbulb is ..." to mean that. Is there a name for this kind of inversion?

The second line follows the normal order, which would be unremarkable on its own, but is another kind of inversion in the context of the first line. Again, is there a name for this structure?

[identity profile] sbp.livejournal.com 2003-08-14 06:00 am (UTC)(link)
The sun is a lightbulb

Well it certainly was in the HHGG TV show - they used a lightbulb as the sun in an FX shot of sunrise over a field.