Any Way You Slice It

Quote:  “For bloodsucking circumcision, click here.”   William Saletan in Slate’s Human Nature column.

Figure of Speech:  parrhesia (par-AY-zia), the excuse-my-French figure.

Figaro loves the kind of figure that sins by denying the sin.  Please don’t let this shock you, the parrhesia says, but…  That gets your heart beating a little faster, and with any luck amplifies the effect of whatever shocking thing follows.

Saletan could have written, “For health problems stemming from a religious ritual, click here.”  But who would click on that?  By doing some gross-out advance work, Saletan guarantees more clicks.

If you don’t know what bloodsucking circumcision and rituals have to do with each other, go ahead and click.   But don’t say we didn’t warn you.

Snappy Answer:  “Thanks, but we prefer to suck our blood elsewhere.”