About This Site

Figaro rips the innards out of things people say and reveals the rhetorical tricks and pratfalls. For terms and definitions, click here.
(What are figures of speech?)
Ask Figaro a question!

  • Contact Me

    This form will allow you to send a secure email to the owner of this page. Your email address is not logged by this system, but will be attached to the message that is forwarded from this page.
  • Your Name *
  • Your Email *
  • Subject *
  • Message *

Search
« Honk if You Hate Noise | Main | Scooter, That Was a Haiku »
Wednesday
Oct192005

Just Don’t Inhale

DateWednesday, October 19, 2005 at 05:01PM
fluteplayer.jpg

Quote:  "For most teens…you can have oral sex and be a virgin." Natalie Fuller, 19, a sophomore at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, Calif., quoted in USA Today.

Figure of Speech:  enantiosis (eh nan tie OH sis), the figure of contraries.

Showing how much our young people have in common with Bill Clinton, Ms. Fuller uses a neat enantiosis, an ironic device that combines seemingly incompatible concepts.  An enantiosis is a figure of thought much the way an oxymoron is a figure of speech.  Both mix oil and water to produce pure gold.

Snappy Answer:   "And a lap dance is light petting."

AuthorFigaro | CommentPost a Comment |
Print ArticlePrint Article

PrintView Printer Friendly Version

EmailEmail Article to Friend

Reader Comments

There are no comments for this journal entry. To create a new comment, use the form below.

PostPost a New Comment

Enter your information below to add a new comment.

My response is on my own website »
Author Email (optional):
Author URL (optional):
Post:
 
All HTML will be escaped. Hyperlinks will be created for URLs automatically.

Notify me of follow-up comments via email.