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A.Word.A.Day--battology

battology (buh-TOL-uh-jee) noun

Wearisome repetition of words in speaking or writing.

[From Greek battologia (batt(os) stammerer + -o- + -logia -logy).]

"The different forms and uses of repetition range from amplification to battology. The rhetorical features noted in this paper constitute some of the elements that infuse a powerful oratorical force in classical Kiswahili poetry, and repetition is, in addition, an important element in the oral-written interface." Kyallo Wadi Wamitila, A Rhetorical Study of Kiswahili Classical Poetry, Research in African Literatures, Apr 15, 1999.

This week's theme: words about words.

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