# word trick- XY's are Z but ZY's are X **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 8, 2015, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-trick-xys-are-z-but-zys-are-x/714518 "2015-03-08T12:23:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2015, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-trick-xys-are-z-but-zys-are-x/714518/1 "2015-03-08T12:23:39Z")
Is there a name for this kind of word trick? - Park on the driveway, drive on the parkway. - Send a shipment by road, send a cargo by water - Cottleston, cottleston, cottleston pie, A fly can’t bird, but a bird can fly. - [Bake cookies, cook bacon.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=18186736#post18186736) - noses run, feet smell And any more examples of this trick? ---
**Author:** ![Your\_Great\_Darsh\_Face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ac8455/32.png) [@Your\_Great\_Darsh\_Face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Your_Great_Darsh_Face)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2015, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-trick-xys-are-z-but-zys-are-x/714518/2 "2015-03-08T13:08:11Z")
The best example I know is a “word palindrome”: You can cage a swallow, can’t you, but you can’t swallow a cage, can you? ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2015, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-trick-xys-are-z-but-zys-are-x/714518/3 "2015-03-08T17:45:18Z")
This isn’t really a thread game. I’m going to shift this over to IMHO, since you’re looking for other examples as well. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2015, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-trick-xys-are-z-but-zys-are-x/714518/4 "2015-03-08T18:22:41Z")
I think I might call this a form of [chiasmus](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiasmus). From the link: > [@](#): > > … is the figure of speech in which two or more clauses are related to each other through a reversal of structures in order to make a larger point; that is, the clauses display inverted parallelism. I hear it in things like the Mae West quote “it’s not the men in my life that count, it’s the life in my men”, that sort of thing. ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2015, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-trick-xys-are-z-but-zys-are-x/714518/5 "2015-03-08T18:28:32Z")
> [@Your\_Great\_Darsh\_Face](#): > > The best example I know is a “word palindrome”: > > You can cage a swallow, can’t you, but you can’t swallow a cage, can you? George Carlin had a whole routine about words and which order you say them. The only part of it I remember was “it’s okay to prick your finger, but not to finger your prick”. There may also have been some more ,well, subtle, examples,…but I was 13 when I heard him. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Hoopy\_Frood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hoopy_frood/32/8452_2.png) [@Hoopy\_Frood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hoopy_Frood)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2015, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-trick-xys-are-z-but-zys-are-x/714518/6 "2015-03-09T03:38:37Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > - Cottleston, cottleston, cottleston pie, A fly can’t bird, but a bird can fly. I learned that Cottleston Pie verse as “A fly can’t butter, but butter can fly.” It makes a bit more sense because bird isn’t a verb, but butter is. And it makes fun of the fact that the speaker doesn’t quite grasp the concept of a butterfly. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2015, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-trick-xys-are-z-but-zys-are-x/714518/7 "2015-03-09T04:09:00Z")
I’d rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2015, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-trick-xys-are-z-but-zys-are-x/714518/8 "2015-03-09T04:30:16Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > I’d rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy. I’d rather have a free bottle in front o’ me than a pre-frontal lobotomy.