The Language Perfectionist: Figures of Speech That Figure in Speech
A star-studded film scheduled to open later this year is called Synecdoche, New York. The title is a pun on Schenectady. But what’s synecdoche? Pronounced “sih-NECK-duh-kee,” it’s a figure of speech in which a part is used to represent the whole, or vice versa. Examples: Workers described as “hands” (part for whole). “The U.S. Army announced…” (whole for part).
Literary and rhetorical devices have always fascinated me, partly because of their interesting names derived from Greek and Latin roots. We encounter and use them all the time, though usually without knowing what they’re called. Judiciously deployed, they can add panache to your presentations and written works.
Here are a few of my favorites:
anaphora (”uh-NAF-uh-ruh”) – The repetition of a word or phrase at the start of each successive sentence, clause, or paragraph. It’s a powerful technique used by public speakers. Consider Winston Churchill’s “We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender… .”
litotes (”LIE-tuh-teez”) – The expression of an idea by negating its opposite. The device is often employed to convey understatement. Example: Exclaiming “Not bad!” about something you really like.
meiosis (”my-OH-sis”) – Also an understatement, but without the element of contradiction noted above. Examples: Describing a prominent author as a “scribbler” or your colleague’s excellent suggestion as “of some interest.”
paralipsis(”par-uh-LIP-sis”) – Denying what you’re saying or are about to say. This can be a mischievous or malevolent way to score a point against an opponent. “I wouldn’t call Mr. Jones a crook, but… .”
tmesis (”ta-MEE-sis”) – Slicing open a word in order to interpolate another word. Unfortunately, the most common and colorful examples cannot be quoted in this family e-zine. But a bowdlerized example illustrates the point: “Abso-bloody-lutely!”
If you’re hooked and want more, try Willard R. Espy’s delightful The Garden of Eloquence: A Rhetorical Bestiary (Dutton, 1983, and other editions), which defines scores of obscure terms, ranging from amphibologia to zeugma.
[Ed Note: For more than three decades, Don Hauptman was an award-winning independent direct-response copywriter and creative consultant. He is author of The Versatile Freelancer, an e-book forthcoming from AWAI that shows writers and other creative professionals how to diversify their careers into speaking, consulting, training, and critiquing.]
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