Though I've nothing to say for myself today, do trust me. For I've a ringing endorsement. Perhaps as old as the 3R's — if you count Repetition, Redundancy, and Reverberation, too — it's for rhetoric, Rhetoric, RHETORIC (or, in this instance, commoratio: "dwelling on the point"), and that with style.
What I've in mind here is a fine new weblog, called Figures of Speech, It Figures, by Jay Heinrichs. Here's Jay's entry for October 4:
· See Harriet Judge. Judge, Harriet, Judge ·
Quote: "I've known Harriet for more than a decade. I know her heart. I know her character." President Bush, introducing Supreme Court nominee Harriet Ellan Miers.
Figure of Speech: anaphora (ann AH for ah), the first-word repeater.
The president loves the anaphora, which repeats the first word of successive clauses or sentences. It's the most plain-spoken of figures. It sounds right. It sounds true. It gives Bush fewer words to remember.
Snappy Answer: "But does Harriet know the Constitution?"
If you want other sharp figures of speech every day, do tune in, for Jay has the sense to teach us all rhetoric, Rhetoric, RHETORIC with, well . . .
recency, Relevancy, and RELIABILITY, too.
But I doubt Jay's a republican, Republican, REPUBLICAN.
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Quote: "I've known Harriet for more than a decade. I know her heart. I know her character." President Bush, introducing Supreme Court nominee Harriet Ellan Miers.
