Word Play 7

soroban

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\(\displaystyle \begin{array}{c}Anadiplosis\\ \text{The repetition of the last word of one line} \\ \text{or clause to begin the next} \\ \\ \text{"Fear is the path to the dark side.} \\ \text{Fear leads to anger.} \\ \text{Anger leads to suffering.} \\ \text{I sense much fear in you."} \\ \text{(Yoda, }Star\;Wars:\;The\;Phantom\;Menace) \end{array}\)



\(\displaystyle \begin{array}{c} Meiosis \\ \text{Use of a degrading epithet} \\ \\ \text{"The unspeakable in full pursuit of the uneatable."} \\ \text{(Oscar Wilde on fox hunting)} \end{array}\)


\(\displaystyle \begin{array}{c}\text{King Arthur: The Lady of the Lake, her arms clad} \\ \text{in the purest samite, held aloft Excalibur} \\ \text{from the bosom of the water . . .} \\ \\ \text{Peasant: Listen, strange women lying in pools} \\ \text{distributing swords is no basis for a system of} \\ \text{government. Power derives from the masses,} \\ \text{not from some farcical aquatic ceremony.} \\ \\ \text{King Arthur: Be quiet!} \\ \\ \text{Peasant: You can't expect to wield supreme power} \\ \text{because some watery tart threw a sword at you.} \\ \\ \text{King Arhtur: Shut up!} \\ \\ \text{Peasant: If I went around saying I was an emperor} \\ \text{because some moistened bick had lobbed} \\ \text{a scimitar at me . . .} \\ \\ (Monty\;Python\;and\;the\;Holy\;Grail) \\ \\ \\ \\ \end{array}\)



\(\displaystyle \begin{array}{c}Asyndeton \\ \text{Style that omits conjunctions} \\ \text{between words, phrases and clauses} \\ \\ \text{"Anyway, like I was sayin', shrimp's the fruit of the sea.} \\ \text{You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, saute it.} \\ \text{There's shrimp-kabobs, shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo,} \\ \text{pan-fried, deep-fried, stir-fried.} \\ \text{"There's pineapple shrimp, lemon shrimp, coconut shrimp,} \\ \text{pepper shrimp, shrimp soup, shrimp stew, shrimp salad,} \\ \text{shrimp and potatoes, shrimp burger, shrimp sandwich.} \\ \text{That's about it."} \\ \text{(Bubba, }Forrest\;Gump\text{, 1994)}
\end{array}\)

 
I have a question about the difference between 'sayings'.

What is the difference between an idiom, an adage, a maxim, an axiom.

i.e. A watched pot never boils is an idiom. Why?.

(I once heard Data say this on an old Star Trek).
 
To a foreigner - idiom is talking in code - it does not say what it says.....
 
galactus said:
I have a question about the difference between 'sayings'.

What is the difference between an idiom, an adage, a maxim, an axiom.

i.e. A watched pot never boils is an idiom. Why?.

(I once heard Data say this on an old Star Trek).

I presume this leads to a joke, but technically I do not think "a watched pot" is an idiom; it is part of an adage.

By the way, soroban already commented on adages: they very frequently come in contradictory pairs.

One time VERY LONG AGO a friend of mine was working on a project to find English equivalents to Spanish adages. My friend's family had immigrated from Columbia when he was about five or six. His English was without accent, but he needed my help many times in finding the English equivalent to a Spanish adage. I suspect this means that folk wisdom is transmitted through adages to children when they are very young.
 
Always liked this one, whatever it's called:
if a tree falls and there's nobody around for miles, did the tree make any noise?

Well,
If you yell "JUMP!" and the spider jumps,
then pull out the spider's hind legs and yell "JUMP!" again,
but the spider doesn't jump,
does that mean the spider hears with its hind legs?
 

One of my wife's favorites . . .

. . . . . If a man speaks in a forest
. . and there is no woman to hear him,
. . . . . . . . is he still wrong?

 
soroban said:

One of my wife's favorites . . .

. . . . . If a man speaks in a forest
. . and there is no woman to hear him,
. . . . . . . . is he still wrong?

Zeno's paradox writ large. If he later tells a woman he spoke in the forest, he must have been wrong then or wrong now.
 
Maybe a little wordplay...., probably a pun, though...

I don't know if anyone brought it up on May 4th, but it is recognized as "Star Wars" day.

So "May the 4th be with you"!

And "Cinco de Mustard" just didn't have that ring to it.
 
galactus said:
.

What is the difference between an idiom, an adage

I think that idiomatic words or phrases use definitions far from the principal meaning.

EG: "It's a snap!"

I think of adages as statements like old-wives-tales or proverbs.

I would hate to argue with Data, but ...
 
soroban said:


\(\displaystyle Anadiplosis\)


Is it called the same with phrases instead of words?

"The hip bone is connected to the back bone,
The back bone is connected to the neck bone,
The neck bone ..."

 
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