Catachresis

Catachresis (from Greek "polytonic|κατάχρησις"), which literally means the incorrect or improper use of a word, is a term used to denote the (usually intentional) use of any figure of speech that flagrantly violates the norms of a language community. Compare malapropism.

Common forms of catachresis are:

* Using a word to denote something radically different from its normal meaning.:'Tis deepest winter in Lord Timon's purse – Shakespeare, "Timon of Athens"
* Using a word to denote something for which, without the catachresis, there is no actual name.:"a table's leg"
* Using a word out of context.:'Can't you hear that? Are you blind?'
* Using paradoxical or contradictory logic.
* Creating an illogical mixed metaphor.:"To take arms against a sea of troubles..." – Shakespeare, Hamlet::Arguably, however, this is perhaps neither a catachresis nor a mixed metaphor. In context, Hamlet is pondering futility: faced with a sea of troubles, taking up a sword and shield is not going to have an effect on the oncoming wave. In this sense, the quotation is a straightforward metaphor, albeit interpretable as a catachresis.

Catachresis is often used to convey extreme emotion or alienation, and is prominent in baroque literature and, more recently, in the avant-garde.

ee also

*Figure of speech
*Rhetoric
* [http://www.americanrhetoric.com/figures/catachresis.htm Audio illustrations of catachresis]

References

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