Apocarteresis (a-po-car-ter’-e-sis): Casting of all hope away from one thing and placing it on another source altogether.
Ok, so much for the stock market–it’s killing me. I’m cutting my losses once and for all. I’m investing every dollar I’ve got left in–yup–you guessed it: gold! I’m buying shiny-yellow-never-let-you-down gold!
Definition courtesy of “Silva Rhetoricae” (rhetoric.byu.edu)
Antisagoge (antis-a-go’-gee): 1. Making a concession before making one’s point (=paromologia); 2. Using a hypothetical situation or a precept to illustrate antithetical alternative consequences, typically promises of reward and punishment.
1. I know it’s a lot of money to spend on a vacation, but it isn’t going to break us. In fact, I ran the numbers & it looks like it’s well within our means. Besides, we’ve never seen a bee farm before! It’ll be educational!
2. You’re going to be applying to colleges this year. You need to plan ahead: Imagine you’re applying for college and the application asks if you have any noteworthy extracurricular achievements. If you go ahead and waste another summer partying at the beach, you’ll have nothing worthwhile to write about. On the other hand, just imagine spending the entire summer helping me–AKA your dear dad–build and sell these really cool cinder block birdhouses I invented. You’ll have something worthwhile to say on that application that may make the difference between being accepted and rejected. Come on. What’ll it be? The birdhouses or the beach? College, or who knows what? It seems like a no-brainer to me. Here’s a drill and a cinder block. Let’s get to work!
Definition courtesy of “Silva Rhetoricae” (rhetoric.byu.edu).
Posted in antisagoge
Tagged antisagoge, figures of speech, paromologia, rhetoric, trope
Catacosmesis (kat-a-kos-mees’-is): Ordering words from greatest to least in dignity, or in correct order of time.
From start to finish that was the best soccer match I have ever seen!
Definition courtesy of “Silva Rhetoricae” (rhetoric.byu.edu).
Posted in catacosmesis
Tagged catacosmesis, elocutio, example, figures of speech, rhetoric, trope
Thaumasmus (thau-mas’-mus): To marvel at something rather than to state it in a matter of fact way.
I can’t believe how much oil has poured into the Gulf of Mexico since April! Can it really be 12 million gallons? All that oil from one blown-out well? What a disaster!
Definition courtesy of “Silva Rhetoricae” (rhetoric.byu.edu)
Paromologia (par-o-mo-lo’-gi-a): Conceding an argument, either jestingly and contemptuously, or to prove a more important point. A synonym for concessio.
Yes–you’re absolutely right. It’s true. I was mistaken. I was mistaken to think that you’re a decent human being! That mistake has been corrected and now it’s time for me to move on. Goodbye.
Definition courtesy of “Silva Rhetoricae” (rhetoric.byu.edu).
Posted in paromologia
Tagged concessio, figures of speech, paromologia, rhetoric, The Daily Trope, trope
Hendiadys (hen-di’-a-dis): Expressing a single idea by two nouns [joined by a conjunction] instead of a noun and its qualifier. A method of amplification that adds force. Hendiadys can be considered a specific application of anthimeria, the more general term indicating the substitution of one part of speech for another. Hendiadys [is realted to polysyndeton–it] increases the use of conjunctions in a sentence in the very act of transforming an adjective-noun combination into two nouns. [In addition,] making an adjective a noun changes it from a subordinate to an ordinate or parallel position, inviting one to consider the nouns as related but distinct. Like hendiadys, paradiastole divides out and distinguishes terms normally considered completely consistent with one another.
In the US on the night of July 4th, everywhere the sky will be filled with fireworks and boom!
vs.
In the US on the night of July 4th, everywhere the sky will be filled with booming fireworks!
Definition courtesy of “Silva Rhetoricae” (rhetoric.byu.edu). Bracketed text added by Gorgias.
Posted in hendiadys
Tagged anthimeria, figures of speech, hendiadys, paradiastole, polysyndeton, rhetoric, trope
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