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Figaro rips the innards out of things people say and reveals the rhetorical tricks and pratfalls. For terms and definitions, click here.
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Monday
Feb062006

And This Champagne Is a Sobering Experience

DateMonday, February 6, 2006 at 08:57AM

ccowherchampagne.jpgQuote:  "It's a very humbling experience right now."  Pittsburgh Steelers Coach Bill Cowher.

Figure of Speech:  paenismus (pain IS mus), the figure of joy.

How does Coach Cowher feel after winning a Super Bowl?  Humbled.  Translation:  "I'm king of the world! And modest too!"

Cowher crows a paenismus (Greek for "hymn"), the figurative ode to joy.   You use a paenismus to "thank your blessings," as President Bush put it.

You might call this increasingly common expression -- often ejaculated by triumphant, testosteronal men -- as an oxymoron.  But an oxymoron is a deliberate paradox and an attempt at wit.  Cowher's quote is far from witty.

Snappy Answer:  "Give that man a Gatorade bath, stat."

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