From last month’s Washington Post: “Metro Transit Police say they have a new unit working to deter terrorists from targeting the transit system.” Deter is from the Latin de (from) + terrere (to frighten), which is also the origin of terrorist. They used two words in a row that share a common derivation of a [...]
Archive of posts filed under the rhetoric category.
figures of speech, part two of ∞
Eunoia is doubly interesting–first, as a curiosity in being the shortest English language word to contain all five vowels, and second, as a figure of speech. From the Greek for “well mind,” it refers to the concept of benevolent goodwill. I read today’s op-ed in the Times about Microsoft, and it made me think that Bill [...]
figures of speech, part one of ∞
Metonymy is when one thing is referred to as another related thing. An example would be referring to the U.S. federal government as the Capitol. (Tangentially related: Synecdoche.) Prosopopoeia is the personification of inanimate things or non-present people. For example, the flames of the fire danced in the wind. The two should not be confused.* [...]