Descriptionary

misnomer an incorrect word, name, title, belief, and so forth.

mixaprop a fusion of a mixed metaphor and a mal- apropism, for example, "It took more wind out of his sails than a fish without water."

mixed metaphor the incorrect fusing of two or more metaphors in a single sentence, such as "if he faces the music, it will fall on deaf ears."

neologism a newly created word or expression; an old word given a new meaning. Also, a mean­ingless or nonsense word coined by a mentally ill person.

nom de plume a pen name; a pseudonym.

non sequitur a remark that is not relevant to the argument at hand; an inference that does not follow from the premise; literally, it does not follow.

nosism the annoying use of "we" to denote oneself in speech or writing.

nudis verbis in naked words.

obfuscate to make unclear or obscure; to use over­blown or highly technical language pretentiously.

officialese bureaucratic jargon; government obfus- cation; official, formal language.

off-the-cuff spoken casually without preparation.

onomatopoeia the use of a word that sounds like what it represents, such as "chirp," "boom," "gur­gle," "swish."

oxymoron a figure of speech characterized by the juxtaposition of words that seem incongruous or con­tradictory, as in a "cheerful pessimist," "cruel kind­ness," "eloquent silence."

pabulum insipid writing or ideas; mindless drivel.

padding intentional wordiness, used to lengthen a written work or speech.

palilogy repeating a word in a sentence, for effect. pan a bad review. pap pabulum.

paradiastole the use of euphemistic language to describe something, as in describing a brothel as a "spirited household."

paradox an apparently contradictory statement that may nevertheless be true, for example, "The man 300 language

in the time travel story travelled back in time, shot his parents, and then ceased to exist."

paraphrase to restate in different words.

parataxis the use of sentences without conjunctions, especially "and" or "but."

parlance a characteristic manner of speech.

paroemiology the subject of proverbs.

paronym a word having the same derivation or root as another word, as in "beautiful" and "beauteous."

parrot to repeat mindlessly what someone else has said; to imitate without understanding, as a parrot.

pathopoeia agitating or arousing emotion through rhetoric.

pedantry showing off one's education through speech or writing.

periphrasis the overuse of words, especially indirect ones, to say something. Also, any indirect statement.

personification giving human attributes to abstrac­tions or inanimate objects.

philology the study of historical linguistics.

philophronesis acting submissive and humble in order to mollify someone's anger.

phoneticism spelling a word differently than nor­mal to illustrate its pronunciation, such as the Austra­lian word "mate" spelled "mite."

platform rhetoric the form of oratory most com­monly used by politicians.

platitude a trite remark; an obvious or simple obser­vation presented as if it were brilliant.

poetic license breaking the standard rules of form, diction, style, in poetry or prose.

polysyndeton the frequent use of conjunctions, especially "and," in a sentence with multiple clauses.

pontificate to speak with pompous authority.

prosonomasia a form of pun composed of some­one's name, for example, Larry Bird-beak, Katherine Lipburn.

pseudandry the use of a man's pen name by a female writer.

pseudogyny the use of a woman's pen name by a male writer.

psychobabble the jargon used by psychologists and psychiatrists, and especially by those who try to imi­tate them.

purple prose

overblown, overwritten, flowery, or ornate prose; overly poetic prose.

red herring an irrelevant issue designed to draw attention away from the matter at hand, frequently used by politicians and mystery writers.

redundancy unnecessary repetition, as in "merge together," "erupt violently," "gather together," "free gift."

rehash stuff that has been done before; old, reworked material.

rejoinder a reply to a reply.

repartee witty or clever banter.

rhetoric the art of persuasive oratory or writing; the style, content, and structure of speech or writing.

rhetorical question a question that requires no answer; a question with an obvious answer.

satire a literary work that uses irony, wit, and humor to expose evil or folly.

satirist a person who writes satires or who uses wit and humor to expose evil or folly.

saw an old saying often repeated.

semantics the study of the development and change of word meaning throughout history.