Epizeuxis

Epizeuxis: Repetition of the same word, with none between, for vehemence. Synonym for palilogia.

“Yi, yi, yi, I think I love you very much.“ Can you imagine that? A sultry scene with lights turned low and all of a sudden she busts out with “Yi, yi, yi, I think I love you very much.” What would you think? Most likely you would think she stutters. You ask her. She says “No. I, I, I repeat myself for emphasis.”

This was the most amazing twist on the human condition I’d ever encountered. A few years ago, I had dated a woman who burped loudly and forcefully every 20 minutes, like clockwork. When we were at a restaurant, she would stuff a napkin in her mouth to muffle the sound. At the movies, she’d burp into the popcorn tub, but sadly, it would amplify the burp. We gave up on the movies. She started making the burps into sounds like “Bow-wow-wow,” or “broccoli,” or “Burger King.”

We broke up after I got pulled over for speeding. She did her Burger King burp at the police officer and we were arrested. We were in adjacent cells. I could hear her going “bow-wow-wow“ in her cell. I yelled “Shut up!” She made a loud foghorn burp and said, “I don’t love you anymore” and then did a bow-wow-wow and started crying. I still loved her, but I knew I couldn’t cope with the burping.

She went on to become a professional yodeler. She travelled America dressed as a cowgirl, and made the nonsense musical stylings of the yodeling sounds into a compelling pathos-laden charm.

Now, back to my current problem.

I don’t think I can handle the repetition thing. It’s demeaning. It’s like I have dementia and you’ve got to repeat everything so I’ll remember it, She said “I, I, I think that’s very unfair, I, I, I think I do..” Bingo—now I knew where this was coming from. Carmen Miranda: “I Yi, Yi, Yi, Yi (I Like You Very Much).” She wore fruit in her hair and was impetuous in the movies she performed in.

I told my girlfriend if she would wear an Eiffel Tower statue in her hair and do her repetitions in French, I could probably live with it. She told me she didn’t know French, but she could affect a French accent. I told her that was no good. We broke up. I don’t know what she’s doing now.

Definition courtesy of “Silva Rhetoricae” (rhetoric.byu.edu)

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