hysteron proteron - 02/03/04 07:48 PM
In Takeourword.com, I saw "Go to hell and die" called
"hysteron proteron". I had to look that up.
From Silva Rhetoricae:
hysteron proteron
his'-ter-on pro'-ter-on from Gk. hysteros, "later" and protos, "first"
("the latter put as the former")
praeposteratio, prepostera loquutio
preposterous
Disorder of time. (What should be first, isn't.) A kind of hyperbaton.
Examples
Put on your shoes and socks.
(not in that order, of course)
In the following example, the turning of the rudder logically precedes the flight described, yet is mentioned after:
Th' Antoniad, the Egyptian admiral,
With all their sixty, fly and turn the rudder.
—Shakespeare, Antony and Cleopatra 3.10.2
"hysteron proteron". I had to look that up.
From Silva Rhetoricae:
hysteron proteron
his'-ter-on pro'-ter-on from Gk. hysteros, "later" and protos, "first"
("the latter put as the former")
praeposteratio, prepostera loquutio
preposterous
Disorder of time. (What should be first, isn't.) A kind of hyperbaton.
Examples
Put on your shoes and socks.
(not in that order, of course)
In the following example, the turning of the rudder logically precedes the flight described, yet is mentioned after:
Th' Antoniad, the Egyptian admiral,
With all their sixty, fly and turn the rudder.
—Shakespeare, Antony and Cleopatra 3.10.2