Quote: "Is this one of those cases where the news is the opposite of what the news says the news is?" Mickey Kaus in his Slate blog, the Kaus Files
Figure of Speech: antistasis (an TIH sta sis), the repeat that changes a word's meaning.
Researchers say that regular exercise can lengthen your lifespan by 3.7 years. "Only 3.7 years?" Kaus wheezes. “It almost doesn't seem worth it." Then he tosses in an antistasis for good measure. The figure repeats a word in a way that changes or contradicts its original meaning. You'll often find it nested in a chiasmus. ("You can take the boy out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the boy.")
Actually, 3.7 years sounds like a lot. In that time we could watch 17,520 episodes of the "Simpsons."
Snappy Answer: "When you figure it out, come find us at the health club."