Tag Archives: definitions

Homoioteleuton

Posted on August 26, 2021 | Comments Off on Homoioteleuton

Homoioteleuton (ho-mee-o-te-loot’-on): Similarity of endings of adjacent or parallel words.

I was a Dead Head in the 60’s. I was a travel-all-over rover, driving my green and white VW bus everywhere the Grateful Dead was appearing. It was a big pot-smoking acid-dropping family.

If I hadn’t had my trust fund to draw on, I couldn’t have been a Dead Head. The drugs alone cost bundle, especially since I gave a lot away, mainly to hot looking hippie chicks who showed their gratitude in many splendored ways.

The weirdest thing that happened was at a Dead event in Kentucky. I took a hit off a joint, and looked up, and bam, there was Al Gore standing in front of me in a pair of jungle fatigues singing along with the Dead’s “Box of Rain.” I didn’t know who he was at the time. I found out years later when he went into politics.

We smoked the rest of my joint together. We talked, and he did almost all the talking. I don’t remember what we talked about, but after that conversation I decided to go back home, go to college, and go into finance.

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

Selections from The Daily Trope are available as a book under the title of The Book of Tropes.

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Hypallage

Posted on August 24, 2021 | Comments Off on Hypallage

Hypallage (hy-pal’-la-ge): Shifting the application of words. Mixing the order of which words should correspond with which others. Also, sometimes, a synonym for metonymy (see Quintilian).

I slugged down a curled shot of vodka, spilling a little drop on my chin. This was going to be another flotsam night, sitting in my underwear, staring at the wall, getting drunk.

I was already looking forward to going to work tomorrow. I work at a pie factory. I specialize in pumpkin. After 14 years at the mixing bowl and oven, I smell like pumpkin spice. I’ve tried everything I can think of to get the smell off, but it won’t go away. The up side is that it smells a little bit like the hypermanly after shave “Old Spice.” It attracts women like a flock of moths to a flame. That’s the down side too. I’ve started staying home and drinking because the women in pursuit of me and my smell are driving me crazy.

I’d wake up in the morning with a beautiful woman and tell her I had to go to work soon. She would start to get dressed, and like all the rest, ask politely for a sniff before she left. If I said no, all hell would break loose—I would be chased around my apartment by a snorting begging woman until I locked myself in the bathroom. You don’t want to know the rest, believe me.

I am so grateful that no women work at the pie factory. I make my pies in peace.

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

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Hyperbaton

Posted on August 23, 2021 | Comments Off on Hyperbaton

Hyperbaton (hy-per’-ba-ton): 1. An inversion of normal word order. A generic term for a variety of figures involving transposition, it is sometimes synonymous with anastrophe. 2. Adding a word or thought to a sentence that is already semantically complete, thus drawing emphasis to the addition.

I went looking for trouble, everywhere. I was always off, a little. I found a handgun in the park when I was 15. It went off accidentally and killed a woodpecker, who was minding his own business pecking on the old wooden flagpole on the village green, blowing off its head. I tossed the handgun into the bushes and picked up the dead woodpecker, still warm. This is where my career as a mortician began—with amateur taxidermy on the accidentally shot bird.

I brought the bird home and laid it on a piece of waxed paper on the desk in my room. As I opened the bird’s chest cavity with my X-acto knife, I felt jubilant as the woodpecker’s insides fell out in a shiny red lump. I picked them up and looked closely at them, holding them in the palm of my hand. After a good look, I threw them out my window. I didn’t know what to do next, so I put the bird in a shoebox and slid it under my bed.

When my grandmother died two weeks later, we went to see her remains at the Burns Brothers funeral parlor. The place was like a church! Grandma looked amazing. She had on a nice dress, her hair was stylishly done, her cheeks looked like blood was pulsing through them. I wondered how big grandma’s guts were, but blocked the thought for fear of becoming a psychopath.

I met Mr. Burns at the funeral parlor door as we were leaving. I asked him what it took to be a good mortician. He said, “Steady hands and a kind heart.” On that note, I knew I would be a mortician someday. As I became a practicing mortician, I learned, in addition to the steady hand and the kind heart, you have to feel no guilt at profiting from loved ones’ deaths. Eventually, I learned to bury my guilt by drinking expensive vodka and buying things I don’t want or need on Amazon.

I still have the dead woodpecker in the cardboard box. When I take it out and view it’s headless remains and still shiny feathers, I smile.

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

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Hypozeuxis

Posted on August 22, 2021 | Comments Off on Hypozeuxis

Hypozeuxis (hyp-o-zook’-sis): Opposite of zeugma. Every clause has its own verb.

They said I was morally bankrupt. Actually, I bet on a losing concept of the good. Aristotle or Socrates, or some other philosopher (maybe Augustine), wrote that people do what they do because they think it’s good, not bad. Why else rob a convenience store unless you think it’ll benefit you? When we thwart a criminal we keep her or him from obtaining a hoped-for good—quick cash, drugs, a plasma TV, food. I think it was Stanley Fish, or somebody like him, who proclaimed “One person’s hope is another person’s fear.”

By the way, this gun is WAY LOADED—17 rounds of sweet little 9mm hollow points. And I have a hope! I hope your toupee goes up in flames. Now, you’re going to stand still while I dribble this lighter fluid on your head, otherwise I’ll shoot you in the stomach and watch you squirm around and bleed on the floor. Ready?

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

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Hysterologia

Posted on August 21, 2021 | Comments Off on Hysterologia

Hysterologia (his-ter-o-lo’-gi-a): A form of hyperbaton or parenthesis in which one interposes a phrase between a preposition and its object. Also, a synonym for hysteron proteron.

I flew over —my feet were cold—the snow-white tundra. What had started as a spring break dare 50 years ago had ended with my transformation into an Arctic Man Bird. Yes, as unbelievable as it sounds, that’s what I am. I have talons—they’re huge—protruding from my fingertips, making it difficult to write this account of my life’s adventures as a bird. I never recorded my experiences before because I was fearful somebody would hunt me down and blow me out of the sky. But I am old now. I will die soon anyway. I never found a mate. I never had and any progeny. My remains will be found in a block of ice, if at all. Scientists will argue, Nobel Prizes will be won.

Wait!

A soft shrieking fills the air. A winged shadow appears at my cave’s opening. It is an Arctic Woman Bird. She lands. She gleams. I love her. “You are old enough now to give me a little chick. Our age difference is necessary to assure a successful mating. After we mate, I will stay with you and help raise our chick” She said.

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

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Hysteron Proteron

Posted on August 20, 2021 | Comments Off on Hysteron Proteron

Hysteron Proteron (his’-ter-on pro’-ter-on): Disorder of time. (What should be first, isn’t.)

“Go! Get ready! Set!” Uncle Harvey yelled. Set what? Go where? Get Ready? Was it a riddle? It was very mixed up. Maybe it was because it was Labor Day and my wife’s family was drunkenly gathered “out at Camp” by the lake. In addition to eating gallons of “special” baked beans (laced with rum and mustard) crystallized “Sugar Bumps,” and a lot of meat—hamburgers, hot dogs, bratwurst, sausage patties, and kielbasa from the grill—every year they went crazy and pushed somebody into the lake to “cleanse” Camp and create a little extra entertainment. Nobody had drowned yet, but odds were that it would eventually happen. That’s why in the past couple of years only elderly family members had been pushed in, due to their existing proximity to death, and the family wager that they’d all die pretty soon anyway.

Now I got it with Harvey’s fractured countdown! He was trying to disorient the elders, catch them off guard, and push one of them in the lake! Too bad it didn’t work. Grampy picked up a rock and threw it at Harvey, missing him and shattering one of Camp’s storm windows. My brother-in-law, a former college football star, ran toward Grampy, tackling him and dragging him to the lake’s edge. Then, he and Harvey hoisted Grampy up, swung him back and forth a couple of times, and threw him into the lake—all in good order, 1, 2, 3. Unfortunately, there was a 4 that should’ve been a 1. They should’ve paid attention to the notorious giant catfish hanging out under the dock: Blimpy. Every Labor Day a few pounds of spoiled ground beef and a gallon of pig’s blood were thrown under the dock to appease him. Blimpy was known to snatch the occasional kitten or puppy off the dock, but he never attacked a person in the water. Was Grampy going to be the first? The meat and blood had been forgotten this year. Danger lurked.

As Blimpy headed for Grampy, we all dashed into the water, splashing and yelling. Blimpy got the message and retreated back under the dock. Grampy’s pacemaker started to malfunction, so we carried him back to camp, gave him a double Bloody Mary, and put him in the most comfortable lawn chair to dry out in the sun.

Everybody agreed: this was the best Labor Day family gathering ever! Well, everybody but Grampy—he wasn’t all that enthusiastic about the family’s consensus. Given that he almost died, we could understand, although Aunt Kay did call him a spoilsport, and Uncle Lowell told him all he had to do was “punch the damn fish in the nose, and it probably would’ve died.”

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

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Inopinatum

Posted on August 19, 2021 | Comments Off on Inopinatum

Inopinatum (in-o-pi-na’-tum): The expression of one’s inability to believe or conceive of something; a type of faux wondering. As such, this kind of paradox is much like aporia and functions much like a rhetorical question or erotema. [A paradox is] a statement that is self-contradictory on the surface, yet seems to evoke a truth nonetheless [can include oxymoron].

What? Where is this going? To hell in a hand basket? Out the window? Over the rainbow? Or, as usual, to hell and back? You are so predictably unpredictable. Predictable: Endless crackbrained schemes. Unpredictable: Your latest scheme’s intent.

If you think I, or anybody else, will invest in your oatmeal cement, you’re nuts. The catchphrase “Pour a nutritious foundation“ won’t get you anywhere. Why do you keep this up? Mom’s at her wits end with the smells coming from the basement and the pounding. 30 years is long enough for Mom to support you and lie to you about how smart you are—Thomas Edison’s doppelgänger. Mom should win a Nobel Prize for tolerance. I wonder when you’ll win your Nobel Prize? When you’ll be world-famous? When you’ll go out of the house?

Definition courtesy of “Silva Rhetoricae” (rhetoric.byu.edu). Bracketed text added by Gorgias.

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Inter se pugnantia

Posted on August 18, 2021 | Comments Off on Inter se pugnantia

Inter se pugnantia (in’-ter-say-pug-nan’-ti-a): Using direct address to reprove someone before an audience, pointing out the contradictions in that person’s character, often between what a person does and says.

I am taking part in this commission to get to the truth, knowing full well that the truth does not speak for itself and that it must be effectively expressed in order for it to induce belief. You have been as effective as Satan himself at making lies appear true and entrenching them in America’s narrative and circulating them as if they are rock-solid bulwarks of honesty and compassion, but they are not!

Unlike Fox News where you can knowingly spout your lies and walk out the door to a standing ovation, here you are under oath and your assertions and statements will be fact-checked. Lying may earn you the praise of your co-conspirators, but it will also earn you time in jail.

You say you want freedom to ring—that you stand for and protect American democracy, when in fact, you stand for and protect autocracy—a dictatorship that would undermine and supplant 244 years of our democracy’s ever-expanding franchise.

That said, we need your help constructing the back-story of what happened on January 6. In sum, we want to bring the perpetrators to justice for planning and inciting a coordinated attack on America’s electoral process.

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

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Intimation

Posted on August 17, 2021 | Comments Off on Intimation

Intimation: Hinting at a meaning but not stating it explicitly.

You know, when somebody tromps around the house in dirty rubber boots, somebody has to clean it up. Depending on what Mr. Dirty Boots brings through the door, it can take a long time to clean the floor or carpet and may even require toxic chemicals to remove. Breathing chemicals’ fumes can harm a toddler, like that one over there in the playpen—our little Eddie.

I read an article in Guilt-Free Parenting about removing footwear at the door. It made a lot of sense. Start doing it or Eddie and I will go visit my mother forever.

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

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Isocolon

Posted on August 16, 2021 | Comments Off on Isocolon

Isocolon (i-so-co’-lon): A series of similarly structured elements having the same length. A kind of parallelism.

He was drunk. He was angry. He was driving. His pants were wet and he was yelling out the car’s window: “I am the eight ball. You are the wallpaper. Coo coo. Hoo hoo.” He ran over a stop sign, stopped and got out of the car. The stop sign had snapped off at the base and he picked it up. Holding it in front of him he staggered down the sidewalk singing “Stop in the name of love before you burn my tart.” His wet pants fell down, he tripped, and his head made a hollow thudding sound as it hit the concrete. He looked dead.

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

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Kategoria

Posted on August 14, 2021 | Comments Off on Kategoria

Kategoria (ka-te-go’-ri-a): Opening the secret wickedness of one’s adversary before his [or her] face.

Ever since we’ve been political opponents, I’ve had this sneaking feeling that you’ve been pushing legislation for personal gain. Now I know it’s true. Your chain of ice cream stands (Frozen Assets) is riding on the coattails of your bill to make vanilla ice cream our state flavor. The connection between the bill and your potential to make a huge profit is incontrovertible. You will be arrested and charged this afternoon.

Definition courtesy of “Silva Rhetoricae” (rhetoric.byu.edu). Bracketed text added by Gorgias.

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Litotes

Posted on August 13, 2021 | Comments Off on Litotes

Litotes (li-to’-tees): Deliberate understatement, especially when expressing a thought by denying its opposite. The Ad Herennium author suggests litotes as a means of expressing modesty (downplaying one’s accomplishments) in order to gain the audience’s favor (establishing ethos).

I don’t deserve these socks! It’s not like it’s my retirement dinner! Ha ha! 25 years of towing the line isn’t enough for these genuine wool gems. Get the pun—towing? And they are emblazoned with the company logo. It’s too much! “Mel’s Lawnmower Repair” was my life. Now that I’m retiring with no pension or benefits, it could be the end of my life. Ha ha!

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

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Martyria

Posted on August 12, 2021 | Comments Off on Martyria

Martyria (mar-tir’-i-a): Confirming something by referring to one’s own experience.

I have been lied to. I have been cheated. I have been slandered. I have felt the gap between what is and what isn’t narrow into nothingness and throw me into an abyss that took years to claw my way out of: first with alcohol; then with opioids, and finally, with lithium and a caring therapist. Please understand: I have zero tolerance for liars. Zero. That’s it.

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

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Maxim

Posted on August 11, 2021 | Comments Off on Maxim

Maxim (max’-im): One of several terms describing short, pithy sayings. Others include adage, apothegm, gnome, paroemia, proverb, and sententia.

“Too much prudence makes you a prude.” Loosen up. Chill out. Tell a joke. Make a silly face. Chuck a moon.

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

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Medela

Posted on August 10, 2021 | Comments Off on Medela

Medela (me-de’-la): When you can’t deny or defend friends’ faults and seek to heal them with good words.

Look, nobody’s perfect. Twelve minor traffic accidents in twelve months. Nobody got killed. That’s a blessing. It’s probably not a record either. The traffic around here is crazy anyway. I’m surprised everybody doesn’t have more accidents. Chin up! Everything will be ok. While you’re waiting to hear whether your license is revoked, consider Uber. It’ll make things way easier. Why not let somebody else drive you around? You can work on your laptop in the back seat!

  • Post you own medela on the “Comments” page!

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

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Meiosis

Posted on August 9, 2021 | Comments Off on Meiosis

Meiosis (mei-o’-sis): Reference to something with a name disproportionately lesser than its nature (a kind of litotes). This term is equivalent to tapinosis.

You can take your engagement ring and shove it. It’s a cigar band for bozos. After what you did to me, I’m outta here.

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

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Merismus

Posted on August 7, 2021 | Comments Off on Merismus

Merismus (mer-is’-mus): The dividing of a whole into its parts.

Rep. Greene’s trustworthiness can be divided into three parts: (1) Liar; (2) Prevaricator; and (3) Mythomaniac. Yep, she’s three times as full of crap as a mentally stable person.

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

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Mesarchia

Posted on August 6, 2021 | Comments Off on Mesarchia

Mesarchia (mes-ar’-chi-a): The repetition of the same word or words at the beginning and middle of successive sentences.

I am lost and struggling to find my way. I am lost and hoping to find the trail. I am lost and I look toward the sky to find the North Star. I look, I seek, I hunt, I struggle, all to no avail. Now, I will make a bed of pine boughs and wait for dawn. It is a warm summer night. I will be ok . In the morning I will walk toward the rising sun, eat some berries, and drink from the crystal clear creek. I will survive.

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

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Mesodiplosis

Posted on August 5, 2021 | Comments Off on Mesodiplosis

Mesodiplosis (mes-o-dip-lo’-sis): Repetition of the same word or words in the middle of successive sentences.

I got myself a new set of cookware. Yep, I got a new set of pots and pans. I’m gonna use that new set to make the most magnificent meals. First: canned bean soup with just the right amount of water dumped in. Second: scrambled eggs with milk and sardines. Third: pimentos and prunes. The list goes on! Please stop by and try one of my creative recipes. Tonight, we’re having kale and mashed potatoes with fish sauce, gnocchi, and snappy grillers. Mmmmm!

See you tonight?

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

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Mesozeugma

Posted on August 3, 2021 | Comments Off on Mesozeugma

Mesozeugma (me’-so-zyoog’-ma): A zeugma in which one places a common verb for many subjects in the middle of a construction.

I was hungry. It was late at night. I went down to the kitchen, did a moon walk across the linoleum floor, opened the refrigerator and grabbed a hard-boiled egg, a bottle of hot sauce, a piece of cheese and 6 anchovies; the makings of my “Midnight Special.” All I needed now was two slices of bread and some cinnamon.

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

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Metabasis

Posted on August 2, 2021 | Comments Off on Metabasis

Metabasis (me-ta’-ba-sis): A transitional statement in which one explains what has been and what will be said.

Now that I’ve told you and everybody else on board three times to wear a mask on this aircraft, if you continue to fail to comply, next, I will tell you to exit the aircraft. That means deplane.

Stop yelling and creating a disturbance Ms. Greene. Out of 100 passengers, you’re the only one not not willing to comply with my request.

I will count to three. If you’re not on your way to the aircraft’s exit after that, if necessary, you will be forcibly ejected. Or, if you put on a mask, fine.

1-2-3.

Marshall, remove this woman from the aircraft. Be careful, she may be in need of psychiatric intervention. I’ll call ahead so medical personnel can meet you and you can take her take her to the airport medical facility for a brief examination.

Please quiet down Ms. Greene. It’s not the end of the world.

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

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Metalepsis

Posted on August 1, 2021 | Comments Off on Metalepsis

Metalepsis (me-ta-lep’-sis): Reference to something by means of another thing that is remotely related to it, either through a farfetched causal relationship, or through an implied intermediate substitution of terms. Often used for comic effect through its preposterous exaggeration. A metonymical substitution of one word for another which is itself figurative.

Your tongue is mightier than the spoon. It’s like there are professional wrestlers doing battling inside your mouth. Who will win? The peas or the carrots? Crazy meal! Your dinner’s but a load of freight packed between your jaws.

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

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Metallage

Posted on July 31, 2021 | Comments Off on Metallage

Metallage (me-tal’-la-gee): When a word or phrase is treated as an object within another expression.

I’m sick of your “I’m sorry” all the time.

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

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Metaphor

Posted on July 30, 2021 | Comments Off on Metaphor

Metaphor (met’-a-phor): A comparison made by referring to one thing as another.

Your hope is a blindfold keeping you from seeing what’s actually possible. Your hope for wealth and fame can’t be realized by hoping. You must have a plan, and the means, and the opportunity and much, much more. Take off the blindfold and do something.

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

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Metaplasm

Posted on July 29, 2021 | Comments Off on Metaplasm

Metaplasm (met’-a-plazm): A general term for orthographical figures (changes to the spelling of words). This includes alteration of the letters or syllables in single words, including additions, omissions, inversions, and substitutions. Such changes are considered conscious choices made by the artist or orator for the sake of eloquence or meter, in contrast to the same kinds of changes done accidentally and discussed by grammarians as vices (see barbarism). See: antisthecon, aphaeresis, apocope, epenthesis, paragoge, synaloepha.

I had high hopes for our romance, but our love has turned into leave. You don’t listen to me. You don’t talk to me. We stay three feet apart. You go out every night. You come home at 4.00 a.m. smelling of gin and cigarettes. We don’t eat together. We don’t go out. No sex. We might as well have separate lives—stupid solo-ites sitting at a bar with a glass full of blues and a bitter heart looking for love again. I am damnfounded as to how it all fell apart.

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

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