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!

This form does not yet contain any fields.

    Search
    « We’ll Make You an Intern if You Wear a Thong | Main | The "P" Is Suing for Abandonment »
    Thursday
    Aug182005

    “He Had Suckled at My…Uh, This Is Off the Record.”

    DateThursday, August 18, 2005 at 08:54AM

    TrentLott.jpgQuote: "Frist's actions amounted to a 'personal betrayal.' I had taken him under my wing." Former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, complaining about his successor in a newly published memoir.

    Figure of Speech: mempsis (MEMP sis), the figure of reproach

    After 36 years on Capitol Hill, now Trent Lott discovers that politics can be nasty. After he made a few racist remarks at Strom Thurmond's 100th birthday party, Bill Frist snatched the majority-leader gig right out from under him. Lott's lament qualifies as a mempsis, a figure that figures most famously in the Book of Job.

    Will kvetching sell books? It worked for Job.

    Snappy Answer: "That'll teach you to trust a politician."

    Got a snappier answer? Email Figaro.

    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.