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A.Word.A.Day--litotes
litotes (LI-tuh-teez, LIT-, li-TOH-teez) noun, plural litotes A figure of speech consisting of an understatement in which an affirmative is expressed by negating its opposite, as in This is no small problem. [Greek litotes, from litos, plain.]
"In another column, I expounded the art of litotes, by which we damn with
faint praise or praise with faint damns. The usual example is, `She's not
a bad soprano,' which is subtly different from saying that the lady is a
good soprano." This week's theme: words about words.
X-BonusA man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul. -Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, writer and scientist (1749-1832)
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