Meiosis (figure of speech)
- Meiosis (figure of speech)
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In rhetoric, meiosis is a euphemistic figure of speech that intentionally understates something or implies that it is lesser in significance or size than it really is. Meiosis is the opposite of auxesis, and also sometimes used as a synonym for litotes.[1][2][3] The term is derived from the Greek μειόω (“to make smaller”, "to diminish").
Examples
- "The Troubles" as a name for decades of violence in Northern Ireland.
- "The Pond" for the Atlantic Ocean ("across the pond").
- "The Recent Unpleasantness," used in the southern United States as an idiom to refer to the American Civil War and its aftermath.
- "Intolerable meiosis!" comments a character in William Golding's Fire Down Below as their ship encounters an iceberg after another character comments, "We are privileged. How many people have seen anything like this?".
- The Black Knight scene from Monty Python and the Holy Grail ("It's just a flesh wound!")
See also
References
- ^ Encarta World English Dictionary (1999)
- ^ The Times English Dictionary (2000)
- ^ OED 1st edition
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Figure of speech — A figure of speech, sometimes termed a rhetoric, or locution, is a word or phrase that departs from straightforward, literal language. Figures of speech are often used and crafted for emphasis, freshness of expression, or clarity. However,… … Wikipedia
figure of speech — Synonyms and related words: adornment, alliteration, allusion, anacoluthon, anadiplosis, analogy, anaphora, anastrophe, antiphrasis, antithesis, antonomasia, apophasis, aporia, aposiopesis, apostrophe, beauties, catachresis, chiasmus,… … Moby Thesaurus
Meiosis — Not to be confused with miosis, mitosis, or myositis. For the figure of speech, see meiosis (figure of speech). Events involving meiosis, showing chromosomal crossover Meiosis (pronounced /maɪˈoʊsɨs/&# … Wikipedia
meiosis — division of a cell nucleus, 1905, from Gk. meiosis a lessening, from meioun to lessen, from meion less, from PIE root *mei small (see MINUS (Cf. minus)). Earlier (1580s) it was a rhetorical term, a figure of speech weak or negative expression… … Etymology dictionary
meiosis — pronounced miy oh sis, is a figure of speech involving an emphatic understatement made for effect, as when something outstanding is described as ‘rather good’. A literary example occurs in Shakespeare s Romeo and Juliet, where Mercutio refers to… … Modern English usage
speech — I (New American Roget s College Thesaurus) Oral communication Nouns 1. speech, talk, faculty of speech; locution, parlance, expression, vernacular, oral communication, word of mouth, parole, palaver, prattle; effusion, discourse; soliloquy;… … English dictionary for students
meiosis — noun /maɪˈəʊsɪs/ a) A figure of speech whereby something is made to seem smaller or less important than it actually is. I knew, with one of those secret knowledges that can exist between two people, that her suicide was a direct result of my… … Wiktionary
Litotes — In rhetoric, litotes ( /ˈlaɪt … Wikipedia
Understatement — is a form of speech in which a lesser expression is used than what would be expected. This is not to be confused with euphemism, where a polite phrase is used in place of a harsher or more offensive expression.Understatement is a staple of humor… … Wikipedia
Paradiastole — (Greek, from παρα, para , next to, alongside, and στολη, stole , dress, dressing up) is the use of euphemism to soften the force of naming a vice or a virtue.Silva Rhetoricae (2006). [http://humanities.byu.edu/rhetoric/Figures/P/paradiastole.htm… … Wikipedia
