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Wednesday
17Aug

The "P" Is Suing for Abandonment

DateWednesday, August 17, 2005 at 08:31AM
daddy-puff5.jpgQuote: "During concerts, half the crowd is saying 'P. Diddy', half the crowd is chanting 'Diddy'—now everybody can just chant 'Diddy.'" Hip-hop entrepreneur Sean "P. Diddy" Combs, who has shortened his stage name to "Diddy."

Figure of Speech: Symploce (SIM plo see), the first-and-last repeater

Never mind that Mr. Diddy called a press conference to announce the retirement of a single letter. By repeating the first and last words of consecutive clauses, he pulls off a perfectly rhythmic symploce. (It means "intertwining" in Greek.) He splits an imaginary audience in two and joins them in a third clause. And he slows the rhythm at the end with three monosyllabic words: "can, just, chant, Diddy."

If more white people could talk like that, the world would be a better place.

Snappy Answer (in the tradition of Beavis and Butthead): "Now you won't worry about your 'P' onstage."

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