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Litotes

In rhetoric, litotes (/lˈttz, ˈltətz/, US: /ˈlɪtətz/),[1] also known classically as antenantiosis or moderatour, is a figure of speech and form of irony in which understatement is used to emphasize a point by stating a negative to further affirm a positive, often incorporating double negatives for effect.[2][3][4] Litotes is a form of understatement, which can be in the form of meiosis, and is always deliberate with the intention of emphasis.[5] However, the interpretation of negation may depend on context, including cultural context. In speech, litotes may also depend on intonation and emphasis; for example, the phrase "not bad" can be intonated differently so as to mean either "mediocre" or "excellent".[6] Along the same lines, litotes can be used (as a form of auxesis[7]), to euphemistically provide emphasis by diminishing the harshness of an observation; "He isn't the cleanest person I know" could be used as a means of indicating that someone is a messy person.[8]

The use of litotes is common in English, Russian, German, Yiddish, Dutch, Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, Ukrainian, Polish, Chinese, French, Czech and Slovak, and is also prevalent in a number of other languages and dialects. It is a feature of Old English poetry and of the Icelandic sagas and is a means of much stoical restraint.[9]


The word litotes is of Greek origin (λιτότης), meaning 'simplicity', and is derived from the word λιτός, litos, meaning 'plain, simple, small or meager'.[10]

Classical litotes[edit]

The first known mention of litotes is in a letter from Cicero in 55 BC (De Oratore). Cicero uses the word to mean simplicity (or frugality) of life. The meaning and the function of the word changed from 'simple' to the idea of understatement that involves double negatives, a way to state things simply.


Old Norse had several types of litotes. These points are denied negatives ("She's not a terrible wife" meaning "she's a good wife"), denied positives ("He's not a great learner" meaning 'he has difficulty learning'), creating litotes without negating anything, and creating litotes using a negative adjective ("Days spent in his home left him unenthused" meaning 'he preferred to be out and about').[11]

Litotes and ethos[edit]

Litotes can be used to establish ethos, or credibility, by expressing modesty or downplaying one's accomplishments to gain the audience's favor. In the book Rhetorica ad Herennium, litotes is addressed as a member of the Figures of Thought known as deminutio, or understatement. It is listed in conjunction with antenantiosis and meiosis, two other forms of rhetorical deminutio.[10] For example, a very accomplished artist might say "I'm not a bad painter", and by refraining from bragging but still acknowledging his skill, the artist is seen as talented, modest, and credible.

Antiphrasis

Hyperbole

(1920). Greek Grammar. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. pp. 680. ISBN 0674362500.

Smyth, Herbert Weir

(1938). "Litotes in Old Norse". Vol. 53, no. 1. PMLA. pp. 1–33. JSTOR 458399.

Hollander, Lee M.

(1991). A Handlist of Rhetorical Terms (2nd ed.). Berkeley: University of California Press. pp. 95–96. ISBN 0520076699.

Lanham, Richard A.

Shovel, Martin (26 March 2015). . The Guardian.

"Litotes: The most common rhetorical device you've never heard of"

Biblical Litotes

Definition and examples

. Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). 1911.

"Litotes"