Descriptionary

acronym a word formed from the initial letters of a name, such as laser (light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation) or MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving.) adage a frequently quoted saying or proverb.

addendum something added or that will be added, as a supplement.

ad hominem appealing to emotion rather than logic or reason, as when assaulting an opponent's character rather than his arguments.

ad ignorantium Latin term referring to a statement made by a speaker that is true only to the degree of the listener's ignorance.

ad infinitum to infinity; going on forever, without end.

ad-lib to make an impromptu, unrehearsed, or improvised remark, speech, and so on.

ad nauseam to the degree of nausea; to a sickening or ridiculous degree.

adnomination punning.

affectation in speech or writing, an unnatural, pre­tentious, or show-offy style that calls attention to itself.

affix an element of a word that is attached to other elements, such as a prefix or suffix.

agglutination the formation of new words by the combining of other words or word elements, as in disfigure-ment or broncho-scope.

allegory a story or anecdote that uses metaphor to illustrate a deeper truth.

alliteration in speech or writing, a string of two or more words with the same-sounding initial consonants, as in "the silly sods sunk Sally's ship Sunday."

allonym a pen name that is the borrowed name of another, as distinguished from a pseudonym.

allusion an indirect, incidental, or casual reference that is more meaningful or significant than its presen­tation would imply.

alphabet soup the extravagant use of initialisms or acronyms, a common practice of the government and the military.

altiloquence any pompous speech or writing.

ambiguity a wording, remark, speech, story, or sim­ilar term having more than one meaning.

amphibology an unintentional ambiguity resulting from poor sentence construction, as in "faulty propel­lers will ground beef lift rescue plan."

anachronism a person, thing, word, saying, and suchlike placed in the incorrect time in history, as a character in a World War II novel who uses the words "groovy" or "floppy disk."

anacoluthon in speech or writing, an unexpected change of syntax arriving at midsentence, such as "the flowers were in—but no, they weren't in bloom, come to think of it."

analogy a similarity in comparison between two different things or concepts; making a point by illus­trating the similarities between two dissimilar things.

ananym one's name spelled backwards, sometimes used as a pseudonym.

anaphora the repetition of words or phrases for effect, as in "a big, bad man with a big, bad idea for a big, bad world."

anastrophe the reversal of the normal or standard order of words in a sentence construction, for effect, as in "off his rocker he goes."

anecdote a short, interesting account of an incident, often illustrating someone's personality or some his­torical event.

Anglicize to alter a word or name so that it sounds English, as in Arthur Greenburger to Art Green.

annotation a critical or explanatory note accompa­nying a literary work.

anonym an anonymous person or an anonymous publication. Also, a concept or idea that has no word to express or describe it.

antiphrasis a form of sarcasm or irony in which the exact opposite of the normal line is used, for effect, as in saying, "Great, wonderful!" in response to your car being stolen, or "it's a tough job, but someone's got to do it," when judging a beauty contest.

antithesis the juxtaposing of sharply contrasting ideas or words, as in "a noisy kind of peace can be found in the camaraderie of war."

antonym a word opposite in meaning to another word. The opposite of a synonym.

aphorism a brief statement that succinctly illus­trates a principle or truth.

apocope the omission of a letter at the end of a word, as in "thinkin'" for "thinking."

apocrypha literary works of questionable authen­ticity or authorship.

aporia admitting to speechlessness; at a loss for words.

apostil an annotation in the margin.

archaism in speaking or writing, a word or expres­sion that is out of date or antiquated, as in "forsooth, fair maiden."

argot any special vocabulary or jargon used by a group or class of people.

aside on the stage, a portion of dialogue intended for the ears of the audience only; any confidential dialogue.

assonance a resemblance in sound of words, syl­lables, or vowels, for effect, as in "winking, blinking, thinking—the robot looked about with alarm."

asyndeton leaving out conjunctions such as "and" between clauses, for effect, as in "we went to the store, walked in quietly, ordered three pounds of ham, left."