Litotes

In rhetoric, litotes is a figure of speech in which the speaker emphasizes the magnitude of a statement by denying its opposite. The literal meaning of a litotes is "not X (but not necessarily Y)", but a litotes is an understatement, actually meaning "very much Y". As with many figures of speech, the correct interpretation of litotes therefore depends on the cultural setting.

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Examples:

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• "... no ordinary city." Acts 21:39 (NIV)
• "That edge was not useless / to the warrior now." (Beowulf; about a sword)
• "He was not unfamiliar with the works of Dickens."
• "The food wasn't bad."
• "That did not suck."

In colloquial speech, some people may say "not NOT good" to mean "not bad" ("not necessarily bad or good"). Esperanto, for example, possibly uses this construction for litotes: "malmalbona", literally "notnotbad".

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The meaning of some litotes varies among different languages. For instance, the French phrase "il ne faut pas qu'il aille," which translates literally as "it is not necessary that he go" (which in English suggests that can either stay or go), actually means "he must not go."

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Litotes: See also ►



 

Rhetoric: Rhetoric (from Greek ?????, rh?t?r, "orator") is one of the three original liberal arts or trivium (the other members are dialectic and grammar) in Western culture. In ancient and medieval times, both rhetoric and dialectic were understood to aim at being persuasive. The concept of rhetoric has shi...

Figure of speech: A figure of speech, sometimes termed a rhetorical figure or device, or elocution, is a word or phrase that departs from straightforward, literal language. Figures of speech are often used and crafted for emphasis, freshness of expression, or clarity. However, clarity may also suffer from their use....

Understatement: Understatement is a form of speech where a lesser expression is used than what would be expected; a commonly cited example is "The Rocky Mountains are scenic." This is not to be confused with euphemism, where a 'polite' word replaces a vulgar word, or a word with harsher meaning....