Wednesday word: simulacrum

[trellia-chan.livejournal.com]

simulacrum: [sim-yuh-ley-kruh m]

Plural: simulacra: [sim-yuh-ley-kruh]

noun: An imitation or representation of a person or a thing, like a statue or a painting. One could argue that words themselves are simulacra as they are merely representations of the things, people, and ideas they describe, rather than the actual things.

etymology: Latin from 1590-1600. Literal translation "likeness" or "similarity."

Simulacrum of the goddess Artemis:

Thursday word: paraprosdokian

[prettygoodword.livejournal.com]

paraprosdokian (pa-ra-prohz-DOH-kee-an) - n., a figure of speech in which the latter part of a phrase or sentence causes the listener/reader to reinterpret the first part.


The key being that the end is surprising. When done well, you get good comedy: "I've had a perfectly wonderful evening, but this wasn't it." "I haven't slept for ten days because that would be too long." When done badly, you get a garden path sentence: "The girl told the story cried." "The raft floated down the river sank." "Violinist linked to JAL crash blossoms" (which is a real headline, the one for which crash blossoms were named). As for the word itself, like most rhetorical terms, it was adopted from Greek (literal meaning: "beyond expectation") -- the ancient Greeks loved analyzing how to speak.

---L.