[A long time ago I started an indefinite series on New Words I learn. I haven't posted one in a long time, and it's not because I have had ready definitions for every word I've seen lately. It's because I've been lazy. I'll try to be more consistent.]
Here's a great one! Paralipsis is a rhetorical turn of "emphasizing or drawing attention to something by professing to say little or nothing about it, or affecting to dismiss it.” You should have plenty of opportunity to employ this in the upcoming months of electioneering.
The classic example is Ronald Reagan's one-liner during a presidential debate with Walter Mondale in 1984: "I want you to know that also I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent's youth and inexperience." Brilliant and dirty!
There is a goldmine of recent examples for the more cynical readers. For instance, Hillary claimed that Obama was not a Muslim "as far as I know." One wonders if it's also behind the high-minded insistence that Gov. Sarah Palin's family is "off-limits" -- in other words, toxic.
[I'm trying to think of similar Republican slights of hand, but I can't think of any. Surely this is due to my partisan blindedness, not due to the innocence of Republicans everywhere. If you remember some, feel free to drop it in the comments.]
Perhaps we give them too much credit. But for political-watchers, it's fun to imagine.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
I just wanted to say that I really enjoy your blogs. They're definitely not tragically banal, nor do I think your lack of intelligence plays a part in it. I could say your posts are incredibly biased (as quoted by many credible sources), but that wouldn't be necessarily true.
Post a Comment