Wordsmith.org: the magic of words

Wordsmith Talk

About Us | What's New | Search | Site Map | Contact Us  

Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Page 1 of 3 1 2 3
#120142 01/16/04 01:38 AM
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
W
wwh Offline OP
Carpal Tunnel
OP Offline
Carpal Tunnel
W
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
I thought I remembered having seen this word in AWADtalk,
but Search didn't find it. From O.Henry "The Coming Out of Maggie":
"But to-night the pumpkin had turned to a coach and six. Terry O'Sullivan was a victorious Prince Charming, and Maggie Toole winged her first butterfly flight. And though our tropes of fairyland be mixed with those of entomology they shall not spill one drop of ambrosia from the rose-crowned melody of Maggie's one perfect night."

trope [trəʊp]
noun
1 (Rhetoric) a word or expression used in a figurative sense

2 an interpolation of words or music into the plainsong settings of the Roman Catholic liturgy
[ETYMOLOGY: 16th Century: from Latin tropus figurative use of a word, from Greek tropos style, turn; related to trepein to turn]




#120143 01/16/04 02:38 AM
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 1,475
J
veteran
Offline
veteran
J
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 1,475
Trope, how I just love that word. Something about it. Rhetorical terms are a lot of fun: Greek topos, Latin locus, English Commonplace. Lieutenants in the loo at Waterloo station.


#120144 01/16/04 02:57 AM
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
W
wwh Offline OP
Carpal Tunnel
OP Offline
Carpal Tunnel
W
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Dear jheem: I can't remember the rhetoric words ten
minutes. I have to look them up every time I see them.
And I have to admit that tomorrow, I won't remember
what trope means.

Edit: maybe this example from Silva Rhetoricae will
stay with me:
"If we don't hang together, we'll hang separately —Benjamin Franklin Note: This is also a trope of repetition. Paranomasia Using words that sound alike but that differ in meaning (punning). Example ...
http://rhetoric.byu.edu/Figures/Groupings/of%20Wordplay.htm - 3k - 2002-04-28 "

#120145 01/16/04 03:09 AM
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 1,475
J
veteran
Offline
veteran
J
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 1,475
Bill. I picked up a nice little book a couple of years ago by Warren Taylor called Tudor Figures of Rhetoric that's still in print:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-form/ref=s_sf_b_as/102-3552399-0616950

There's also Quintillian available in the Loeb addition that most good college bookstores will have or can order, and Cicero's Rhetorica ad Herrenium.


#120146 01/16/04 02:45 PM
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400
i only know trope in the scientific sense--which retains the meaning.. (to turn)
phototropism is what causes a sun flower to turn its head, and follow the sun..
(geotropism causes roots to respond to gravity, and dig into the earth--an imporant function of a rootlet of an emerging seedling) there a hundreds of 'trope/tropism' in biology.

Dr Bill, maybe the connection of turning sunflowers will help you remember trope's turning characteristics!


#120147 01/16/04 02:49 PM
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
W
wwh Offline OP
Carpal Tunnel
OP Offline
Carpal Tunnel
W
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Dear jheem: I found a site giving Warren Taylor's rhetoric
terms. I plan to use some of them here.

Dear of troy: In the quote from O.Henry I missed his allusion to Cindarella's coach and horses "turning" into
a pumpkin, etc.


#120148 01/17/04 01:49 AM
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 3,065
B
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
B
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 3,065
Don't forget the tropics -- the region of the earth between the tropic of Capricorn and the tropic of Cancer, which is where the sun appears to reach its northernmost and southernmost point in its annual cycle and turns back.

Bingley


Bingley
#120149 01/17/04 02:04 AM
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
W
wwh Offline OP
Carpal Tunnel
OP Offline
Carpal Tunnel
W
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
And the troposphere in the atmosphere. Very high up.
I can't remember why it is important.

troposphere
Noun 1. troposphere - the lowest atmospheric layer; from 4 to 11 miles high (depending on latitude)
layer - a relatively thin sheetlike expanse or region lying over or under another
atmosphere - the envelope of gases surrounding any celestial body
tropopause - the region of discontinuity between the troposphere and the stratosphere



#120150 01/17/04 05:03 PM
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511
I too love the word. It's probably in my top-ten list (which changes every day, because I, like Dr Bill, have my senior moments).

Heliotrope -- isn't that just beautiful?


#120151 01/17/04 05:11 PM
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210
Heliotrope -- isn't that just beautiful?

turns me on.



formerly known as etaoin...
Page 1 of 3 1 2 3

Moderated by  Jackie 

Link Copied to Clipboard
Forum Statistics
Forums16
Topics13,913
Posts229,322
Members9,182
Most Online3,341
Dec 9th, 2011
Newest Members
Ineffable, ddrinnan, TRIALNERRA, befuddledmind, KILL_YOUR_SUV
9,182 Registered Users
Who's Online Now
0 members (), 542 guests, and 0 robots.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Top Posters(30 Days)
Top Posters
wwh 13,858
Faldage 13,803
Jackie 11,613
tsuwm 10,542
wofahulicodoc 10,535
LukeJavan8 9,916
AnnaStrophic 6,511
Wordwind 6,296
of troy 5,400
Disclaimer: Wordsmith.org is not responsible for views expressed on this site. Use of this forum is at your own risk and liability - you agree to hold Wordsmith.org and its associates harmless as a condition of using it.

Home | Today's Word | Yesterday's Word | Subscribe | FAQ | Archives | Search | Feedback
Wordsmith Talk | Wordsmith Chat

© 1994-2024 Wordsmith

Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.5