About This Site

Figaro rips the innards out of things people say and reveals the rhetorical tricks and pratfalls. For terms and definitions, click here.
(What are figures of speech?)
Ask Figaro a question!

Search

« Plus She’s Biased: Most of Her Arrests Are Men | Main | Does Calling Him “Scalito” Make Him the First Hispanic Nominee? »
Tuesday
01Nov

Open Wide and Say “Scandal”

cheneybrushin.jpgQuote:  "Five lawyers I’ve consulted all agree that there is no compelling legal reason why you should not discuss the situation." New York Times columnist Nick Kristof, urging Dick Cheney to talk about the leak investigation.

Figure of Speechparadigm (PAR ah dime), argument from example.

The paradigm is a premise proved by examples -- a form of inductive logic. Kristof's paradigm sounds like he’s selling toothpaste:  "Five out of five lawyers recommend Come Clean, the character polisher that removes ethical stains!"

Somehow we doubt the pitch will work on the veep's firmly shut mouth.

Snappy Answer:  "One out of one Cheney lawyer disagrees."


PrintView Printer Friendly Version

EmailEmail Article to Friend

Reader Comments

There are no comments for this journal entry. To create a new comment, use the form below.

PostPost a New Comment

Enter your information below to add a new comment.

My response is on my own website »
Author Email (optional):
Author URL (optional):
Post:
 
All HTML will be escaped. Hyperlinks will be created for URLs automatically.