Thank You For Arguing Vocabulary – Flashcards
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accismus
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The figure of coyness ("Oh, you shouldn't have.")
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ad hominem
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In an argument, this is an attack on the person's character rather than on the opponent's ideas. It comes from the Latin meaning "against the man."
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adianoeta
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The figure of hidden meaning. ("I'm sure you wanted to do this in the worst way.")
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a fortiori
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The Mikey-likes-it! argument. If something less than likely is true, then something more likely is bound to be true.
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anadiplosis
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A figure that builds one thought on top of another by taking the last word of a clause and using it to begin the next clause.
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anaphora
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A figure that repeats the first word in succeeding phrases or clauses. It works best in an emotional address before a crowd.
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anthropomorphism
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A logical fallacy--it attributes human traits to a non-human creature or object. Common to owners of pets.
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antithesis
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The figure of contrasting ideas
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aporia
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Doubt or ignorance--feigned or real--used as a rhetorical device
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begging the question
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assuming something to be true that needs proof
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bushism
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Fractured syntax and code words
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chiasmus
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Arrangement of repeated thoughts in the pattern of X Y Y X. It is often short and summarizes a main idea. ("Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.")
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circumlocution
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Talking around an issue to avoid getting to the point
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concessio
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You seem to agree with your opponent's point, only to use it to your advantage.
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converse accident fallacy
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A logical foul that uses a bad example to make a generalization
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deliberative rhetoric
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One of three types of rhetorical persuasion that deals with argument about choices (the future tense)
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demonstrative rhetoric
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One of three types of rhetorical persuasion that deals with values that bring a group together (the present tense)
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dialectic
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The purely logical debate of philosophers. Its purpose is to discover the truth through dialogue. Logical fallacies are verboten in dialectic. Rhetoric, on the other hand, allows them.
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dialogismus
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The dialogue figure. You quote a conversation as an example.
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dialysis
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The this-not-that figure. "Don't buy the shoes. Buy the colors." People take your wisdom more seriously if you put it cryptically; it's the idiot savant approach.
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diazeugma
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The play-by-play figure. It uses a single subject to govern a succession of verbs.
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disinterest
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Freedom from special interests. (The technical name is eunoia.) One of the three traits of ethos. (The other two are practical wisdom and virtue)
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dubitatio
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Fegined doubt about your ability to speak well. It's a personal from of aporia.
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enargeia
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The special effects of figures--vivid description that makes an audience believe something is taking place before their very eyes.
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enthymeme
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Rhetoric's version of the syllogism. It stakes a claim and then bases it on commonly accepted opinion. A little packet of logic, it can provide protein to an argument filled with emotion.
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epergesis
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The correction figure
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epideictic
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Aristotle's name for demonstrative rhetoric, speech that deals with values
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equivocation
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The language mask which appears to say one thing while meaning the opposite
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eristic
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A competitive argument for the sake of argument
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ethos
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Argument by character, one of the three "appeals"
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eunoia
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Aristotle's word for disinterest, one of the three characteristics of ethos, or argument by character
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example
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The foundation of inductive logic. Aristotle listed three kinds: fact, comparison and "fable" or story.
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forensic rhetoric
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One of the three types of rhetorical persuasion that determines guilt or innocence (the past tense)
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homerism
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The unabashed use of illogic
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hypophora
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A figure that asks a rhetorical question and then immediately answers it
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idiom
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Inseparable words with a single meaning
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ignoratio elenchi
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The fallacy of proving the wrong conclusion
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innuendo
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The technique of planting negative ideas in the audience's head
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jeremiad
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Prophecy of doom
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kairos
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The rhetorical art of seizing the occasion which covers both timing and the appropriate medium
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litotes
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The figure of ironic understatement, usually negative ("We are not amused")
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logos
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Argument by logic, one of the three "appeals"
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metanoia
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The self-editing figure. You stop to correct yourself with a stronger point.
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metaphor
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A figure that makes something represent something else
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metastasis
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A figure of thought that skips over an awkward matter
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metonymy
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A figure of swap. It makes a part stand for the whole, or vice versa.
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neologism
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The making up of new words
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non sequitur
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The figure of irrelevance, a point that doesn't follow its predecessor
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onomatopoeia
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The noisemaker which imitates a sound to name the sound ("Kaboom!")
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paradigm
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A rule that arises from examples
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paralipsis
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A figure in which you mention something by saying you're not going to mention it
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paradox
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The contrary figure, an impossible pair ("We had to destroy the village in order to save it.")
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paraprosdokian
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This figure attaches a surprise ending to a thought
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pathos
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Argument by emotion, one of the three "appeals"
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periphrasis
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The speak-around figure. It uses a description as a name. (aka circumlocution)
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petitio principii
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Begging the question; the fallacy of circular argument
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phronesis
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Practical wisdom; street savvy. One of Aristotle's three traits of ethos, or argument by character.
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polysyndeton
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A figure that links clauses with a repeated conjunction
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post hoc ergo propter hoc
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A followed B; therefore, A caused B ("My crowing makes the sun come up")
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prolepsis
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A figure of thought that anticipates an opponent's or audience's objections
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prosopopoeia
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The figure of personification. Ancient rhetoric teachers used the word to refer to school exercises in which students imitated real and imagined orators from history.
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quibbling
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Using careful language to confuse
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red herring
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The fallacy of distraction
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reductio ad absurdum
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Taking an opponent's argument to its illogical conclusion
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rhetoric
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The art of persuasion
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significatio
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A benign form of innuendo that implies more than it says. "He's a stickler for detail," you say of an indecisive muddler.
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slippery slope
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The fallacy of dire consequences. It assumes that one choice will necessarily lead to a cascading series of bad choices.
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solecism
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The figure of ignorance; a generic term for illogic or bad grammar or syntax
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straw man fallacy
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Instead of dealing with the actual issue, it attacks a weaker version of the argument
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syncrisis
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A figure that reframes an argument by redefining it ("Not manipulation. Instruction.")
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synecdoche
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The scale-changing figure. It swaps a genus for a species, or a species for a genus.
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tautology
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The redundancy. It's often used in politics to mislead.
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yogiism
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The idiot savant figure. On the surface it's illogical, but it makes an odd sort of sense.
