When tsuwm or Faldage return, we'll get down to what the rhetorical turn is called.
Until then, how about inverted metaphor [or "inverted aphorism"]?
"The Inverted Metaphor:
In the inverted metaphor, the primary and secondary subjects are switched in the sentence frame to create an "adjective-noun" construction. Here's an example:
foxy John
and you may snicker because you realize that, in English as in the idioms of other languages as well, "word order" affects "word meaning"--that "John, the fox" doesn't carry quite the same message as "foxy John"!"
