Infelicities Flashcards
(23 cards)
Solecism
any grammatical, syntactical or verbal mistake
Malapropism
incorrect use of word, especially mistaking one word for a similiar sounding (e.g. effect, affect)
Jargon
use of language associated with an exclusive field of study or practice, in order to impress or confuse
Cant
use of insincere or pretentious language, often to moralise
Hyperbole
exaggerated language
Bombast
inflated or pompous language
Fustian
opaque or periphrasatic language, also inflated language (twaddle, piffle, babble, gibberish)
over-qualification
too much cautious or mediating language, obscuring or weakening the argument
Generalisation
assuming a proposition has too broad or numerous an application
statement of the obvious
saying, without irony or emphatic effect, what is unnecessary, because it is commonly known, or easily inferred from the context.
Mixed metaphor
use of two or more incongruous images to describe or picture something.
Equivocation
verbal ambiguity
Amphiboly
syntactical amabiguity
Syntactical Repetition
use of the same or similar syntactical structures
Redundancy
superfluous language
Tautology
unecessary repetition
Cliché
Use of a word, phrase or collocation, so common as to have lost its evocative power.
Hendiadys
Use of two related words, usually nouns, when one is sufficient, often for the sake of rhetorical effect.
Euphemism
Use of opaque or evasive terms, when a plainer one would be uncomfortable.
Oxymoron
Self-contradictory figure of speech.
Foregrounding
Main term or argument insufficiently clarified or highlighted
Proximity
Arrangement of sentence or paragraph so that related ideas are seperated
Contrast
Insufficient clarity or proximity in intended contrast
