Friday, April 18, 2008

365* New Words a Year [Merriam Webster] (Workman Publishing) 4/18/8: apophasis

apophasis n : the raising of an issue by claiming not to mention it
"Apophasis is a sly debater's trick, a way of sneaking an issue into the discussion while maintaining the plausible deniability. It should come as no surprise, then, taht the roots of 'apophasis' lie in the concept of denial. . . . This particular rhetorical stunt is also known by the labels 'preterition' and 'paraleipsis' (Greek for 'omission'), but those words are rarer than 'apophasis.'" I like it, especially in an election year. Rating 9/10 candidates.
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A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines. With consistency a great soul has simply nothing to do. He may as well concern himself with his shadow on the wall. Speak what you think now in hard words, and to-morrow speak what to-morrow thinks in hard words again, though it contradict every thing you said to-day. — 'Ah, so you shall be sure to be misunderstood.' — Is it so bad, then, to be misunderstood? Pythagoras was misunderstood, and Socrates, and Jesus, and Luther, and Copernicus, and Galileo, and Newton, and every pure and wise spirit that ever took flesh. To be great is to be misunderstood. --Ralph Waldo Emerson, "Self-Reliance"