Figures of Speech Served Fresh

Quote:  "Seldom in my life have I met a dumber man."  Lawrence Wilkerson, former chief of staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell, referring to Undersecretary of Defense (and top Iraq war architect) Douglas Feith.

Figure of Speech:  anastrophe (ann ASS trow fee), the word-order switch.

Good thing Lawrence Wilkerson doesn't have a CIA spy for a wife.  He doesn't simply slam the policies of his former employers.  He also engages in that time-tested rhetorical device, the ad hominem attack, through an anastrophe -- Greek for "turning back."

The figure changes the usual word order to produce a nobler, more sonorous tone.  "I have seldom met a dumber man" would have been pithier but less emphatic.

Snappy Answer:  "Are you looking for regime change or a book deal?"