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Wednesday 11 March 2015

Nuts and Bolts: anaphora.

Anaphora is a way to sound clever; anaphora is a way to impress your enemies.

Anaphora is a rhetorical term; anaphora is a way to make people remember what you say.

Anaphora is a way to develop a reputation for pomposity; anaphora is a way to get yourself smacked in the mush.

Have you got it, yet? Yes, anaphora means repeating a phrase or word at the beginning of a series of items.

Anaphora can be highly impressive in speeches (Roddenberry's 'to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations. To boldly go...'); poetry (Campion's 'Never weather-beaten sail more willing bent to shore, Never tired pilgrims' limbs affected slumber more'); and literature (Dickens' 'It was the best of times, it was the worst of times).

But still, I wouldn't try it in the pub if I were you.

Thing To Avoid Today: anaphora. This word is from Latin from Greek and means repetition, carrying back.


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