Tag Archives: figures of speech

Coenotes

Posted on October 15, 2007 | Leave a comment

Coenotes (cee’-no-tees): Repetition of two different phrases: one at the beginning and the other at the end of successive paragraphs. Note: Composed of anaphora and epistrophe, coenotes is simply a more specific kind of symploce (the repetition of phrases, not merely words).

What is the purpose of government? To manage the state’s finances; always to serve the res publica.What is the purpose of government? To enact, revise, and enforce the law; always to serve the res publica.

What is the purpose of government? To raise, equip, and train an effective fighting force; always to serve the res publica.

What is the purpose of government? Always, to serve the res publica!

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

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Kategoria

Posted on October 14, 2007 | Leave a comment

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

Do you deny that you cherry picked statistics to make things look a whole lot better than they really are–that you hid an army of pertinent facts with charts and graphs that, as we have come to find out, simply ignore the whole truth? Do you expect us to believe that these two or three dim points of light, in what we now clearly see as the middle of the night, ever heralded a new dawn?

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

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Epitasis

Posted on October 13, 2007 | Leave a comment

Epitasis (e-pit’-a-sis): The addition of a concluding sentence that merely emphasizes what has already been stated. A kind of amplification. [The opposite of anesis.]

We must eliminate crime from our city! From every neighborhood!

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

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Appositio

Posted on October 12, 2007 | Leave a comment

Appositio (ap-po-sit’-i-o): Addition of an adjacent, coordinate, explanatory or descriptive element.

My new computer, the fastest desktop ever made, has a footprint that’s smaller than a shoebox and a 10-tetrabyte hard drive!

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

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Tricolon

Posted on October 11, 2007 | Leave a comment

Tricolon (tri-co’-lon): Three parallel elements of the same length occurring together in a series.

 My wife. My life. My love!

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

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Cacozelia

Posted on October 10, 2007 | Leave a comment

Cacozelia (ka-ko-zeel’-i-a): 1. A stylistic affectation of diction, such as throwing in foreign words to appear learned.  2. Bad taste in words or selection of metaphor, either to make the facts appear worse or to disgust the auditors.

The zeitgeist of our tempus is a roux of decaying bourgeois roadkills!

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

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Oxymoron

Posted on October 9, 2007 | Leave a comment

Oxymoron (ox-y-mo’-ron): Placing two ordinarily opposing terms adjacent to one another. A compressed paradox.

Zealous temperance is moderation’s vice.

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

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Apagoresis

Posted on October 8, 2007 | Leave a comment

Apagoresis (a-pa-gor’-e-sis): A statement designed to inhibit someone from doing something. Often uses exaggeration [or hyperbole] to persuade. It may combine an exaggeration with a cause/effect or antecedent/consequence relationship. The consequences or effects of such a phrase are usually exaggerated to be more convincing.  

If you get a tattoo, your your father will have a heart attack and your mother will cut your arm off!

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

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Anthimeria

Posted on October 7, 2007 | Leave a comment

Anthimeria (an-thi-mer’-i-a): Substitution of one part of speech for another (such as a noun used as a verb [or a verb used as a noun]).

I’m baseballed to the max! Are you ready for some football?

Or:

I had a good compute with my calculator!

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

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Polysyndeton

Posted on October 6, 2007 | Leave a comment

Polysyndeton (pol-y-syn’-de-ton): Employing many conjunctions between clauses, often slowing the tempo or rhythm. (Asyndeton is the opposite of polysyndeton: an absence of conjunctions.)

Over four years ago we held hearings, and we were shown evidence, and we deliberated, and a decision was made, and we went to war. And recently, we held more hearings and evidence was shown, and we deliberated, and again, a decision was made.  And so, the war continues.

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

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Adage

Posted on October 5, 2007 | Leave a comment

Adage (ad’-age): One of several terms describing short, pithy sayings, or traditional expressions of conventional wisdom. [Others include apothegm, gnome, maxim, paroemia, proverb, sententia, and anamnesis {a related figure}]

No pain, no gain.

Or:

“Do not remove a fly from your friend’s forehead with a hatchet.” (The Quotations Page)

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

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Epitheton

Posted on October 4, 2007 | Leave a comment

Epitheton (e-pith’-e-ton): Attributing to a person or thing a quality or description-sometimes by the simple addition of a descriptive adjective; sometimes through a descriptive or metaphorical apposition.  (Note: If the description is given in place of the name, instead of in addition to it, it becomes antonomasia or periphrasis.)

He was a broken man–he lost the election, he lost his savings, he lost his lover, he lost his car, he lost his home, he lost his hope.  In fact, he lost everything that mattered to him except Teddy-Eddy, his drooling poodle. “Woof!” What a bummer!

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

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Adnominatio

Posted on October 3, 2007 | Leave a comment

Adnominatio (ad-no-mi-na’-ti-o): 1. A synonym for paronomasia [punning].  2. A synonym for polyptoton.  3. Assigning to a proper name its literal or homophonic meaning.

Senator Boxer is no boxer, she’s a wrestler!

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

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Polyptoton

Posted on October 2, 2007 | Leave a comment

Polyptoton (po-lyl-to’-ton): Repeating a word, but in a different form. Using a cognate of a given word in close proximity.

Recklessly driving drivers shouldn’t drive!

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

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Aphorismus

Posted on October 1, 2007 | Leave a comment

Aphorismus ( a-phor-is’-mus): Calling into question the proper use of a word.

I follow my conscience. I tell the truth.  I make no false promises. How can they call me a demagogue?

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

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Periphrasis

Posted on September 30, 2007 | Leave a comment

Periphrasis (per-if’-ra-sis): The substitution of a descriptive word or phrase for a proper name (a species of circumlocution); or, conversely, the use of a proper name as a shorthand to stand for qualities associated with it. (Circumlocutions are rhetorically useful as euphemisms, as a method of amplification, or to hint at something without stating it.)

1. Wide Stance was back in the news again last week!

2. When it comes to national health care policies, that candidate’s not exactly a Hillary.

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

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Epizeugma

Posted on September 29, 2007 | Leave a comment

Epizeugma (ep-i-zoog’-ma): Placing the verb that holds together the entire sentence (made up of multiple parts that depend upon that verb) either at the very beginning or the very ending of that sentence.

Go to each and every day with hope and love. You owe it to yourself.

To each and every day, with hope and love go. You owe it to yourself.

Or:

Drove I my rusty old truck.

My rusty old truck I drove.

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

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Hypozeuxis

Posted on September 28, 2007 | Leave a comment

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

The driver sipped coffee, the passengers yacked, and the van rolled on through the night.

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

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Prozeugma

Posted on September 27, 2007 | Leave a comment

Prozeugma (pro-zoog’-ma): A series of clauses in which the verb employed in the first is elided (and thus implied) in the others.

Honesty engenders trust. Courage, loyalty. Foresight, prudence.

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

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Diazeugma

Posted on September 26, 2007 | Leave a comment

Diazeugma (di-a-zoog’-ma): The figure by which a single subject governs several verbs or verbal constructions (usually arranged in parallel fashion and expressing a similar idea); the opposite of zeugma.

The extended heat wave overtaxed the power supply, made the outside air nearly unbreathable, and forced large numbers of people to seek relief in the air-conditioned shopping mall.

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

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Symploce

Posted on September 25, 2007 | Leave a comment

Symploce (sim’-plo-see or sim’-plo-kee): The combination of anaphora and epistrophe: beginning a series of lines, clauses, or sentences with the same word or phrase while simultaneously repeating a different word or phrase at the end of each element in this series.

Without reason, you press ahead. Without compassion, you press ahead. Without prudence, you press ahead. When will you stop? When will it end? When will you come to your senses?

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

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Antiprosopopoeia

Posted on September 24, 2007 | Leave a comment

Antiprosopopoeia (an-ti-pro-so-po-pe’-i-a): The representation of persons [or other animate beings] as inanimate objects. This inversion of prosopopoeia or personification can simply be the use of a metaphor to depict or describe a person [or other animate being].

Our dog is a smelly rug.

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

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Isocolon

Posted on September 23, 2007 | Leave a comment

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

The past. The present. The future. Then. Now. Later. Later is later than you think!

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

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Personification

Posted on September 22, 2007 | Leave a comment

Personification: Reference to abstractions or inanimate objects as though they had human qualities or abilities. The English term for prosopopeia (pro-so-po-pe’-i-a) or ethopoeia (e-tho-po’-ia): the description and portrayal of a character (natural propensities, manners and affections, etc.).

The wind answered my question with gusty clarity–its chilling voice moving every leaf and every branch on every swaying tree: “Yes, the season is changing. Now, see the leaves fly! Now, see the geese fly! Today, I tell you, I am a harbinger.  Behold, I bring you fall!”

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

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Diacope

Posted on September 21, 2007 | Leave a comment

Diacope (di-a’-co-pee): Repetition of a word with one or more between, usually to express deep feeling.

Two lousy points! Why do we always lose? Why can’t we ever win? Two lousy points! I quit!

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

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