Colon (ko’-lon): Roughly equivalent to “clause” in English, except that the emphasis is on seeing this part of a sentence as needing completion, either with a second colon (or membrum) or with two others (forming a tricolon). When cola (or membra) are of equal length, they form isocolon.
Colon or membrum is also best understood in terms of differing speeds of style that depend upon the length of the elements of a sentence. The Ad Herennium author contrasts the slower speed of concatenated membra to the quicker speed of words joined together without conjunction (articulus).
I love Tide. The bubbles pop. They scintillate wickedly. There is nothing like laundry getting beaten around–bunka-hunka, bunka-hunka, bunka-hunka. Its like the backbeat on so many rock n’ roll songs. If only washing machines could sing they would eclipse over half of today’s rockers:
Mickey Stag and the washing machines. Set one machine on delicate for the low tone and one machine on heavy duty to spin our heads around–bunka-hunka, bunka hunka:
I started washin’ my clothes today,
because my honey went away
Bunka-Hunka Bunka-Hunka hey, hey, hey
I loaded the washer with a pile of clothes
They was dirty, I could tell with my nose
Bunka-Hunka, Bunka-Hunka hey, hey, hey
I’m gonna wash my blues away.
Definition courtesy of “Silva Rhetoricae” (rhetoric.byu.edu).
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