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    Tuesday
    Jan032006

    Bush Prefers “Enemy”

    DateTuesday, January 3, 2006 at 09:32AM

    robbertini.jpgQuote:  "PERSON OF INTEREST – Found within the context of legal commentary, but seldom encountered at cocktail parties."   Lake Superior State University 2006 List of Banished Words.

    Figure of Speech:  litotes, the figure of ironic understatement.

    For 31 years the school chooses the most annoying, useless and over-used phrases. Its PR guy came up with the idea, which should tell you something.  He said he did it with "tongue firmly in cheek," a phrase that eminently deserves banishment.

    Nonetheless, the school's litotes, "seldom encountered at cocktail parties," works.  We are not unamused.

    Snappy Answer:  "My friends call me 'Perp.'"

    AuthorFigaro | Comment3 Comments |
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    Reader Comments (3)

    How do you pronounce litotes?
    January 3, 2006 | Unregistered CommenterAnna
    Lie TOE tees. Sorry about the oversight.
    Figaro
    January 4, 2006 | Registered CommenterFigaro
    And here I had been pronouncing it as LEE-totes. I guess it's not one of those words you'd expect to hear at a cocktail party that often, either. ;)
    December 10, 2012 | Unregistered CommenterDaniel Johnson Jr

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