Definitions and Examples of Tapinosis

Definitions and Examples of Tapinosis Tapinosis is a  rhetorical term for name-calling: undignified language that debases a person or thing. Tapinosis is a kind of meiosis. Also called  abbaser, humiliatio, and depreciation. In The Arte of English Poesie (1589), George Puttenham observed that the  vice of tapinosis might be an unintentional figure of speech: If you abase your thing or matter by ignorance or error in your choice of your word, then is it by vicious manner of speech called ​tapinosis. More commonly, however,  tapinosis is  regarded as a deliberate use of a base word to diminish the dignity of a person or thing (Sister Miriam Joseph in  Shakespeares Use of the Arts of Language, 1947).In a broader sense, tapinosis has been likened to understatement and humiliation: the low presentation of something great, contrary to its dignity, as  Catherine M. Chin defines the term in  Grammar and Christianity in the Late Roman World  (2008).  Ã‚   See Examples and Observations below. Also see: CursingFlytingHow to Rant: Bernard Levins All-Purpose InvectiveInvectivePejorative LanguageSnarkSwear Word EtymologyFrom the Greek, reduction, humiliation Examples and Observations Phillips: We play on a real diamond, Porter. You ain’t good enough to lick the dirt off our cleats.Porter: Watch it, jerk!Phillips: Shut up, idiot!Porter: Moron!Phillips: Scab eater!Porter: Butt sniffer!Phillips: Pus licker!Porter: Fart smeller!Phillips: You eat dog crap for breakfast, geek!Porter: You mix your Wheaties with your mama’s toe jam!Phillips: You bob for apples in the toilet and you like it!Porter: YOU PLAY BALL LIKE A GIRL!(from the movie The Sandlot, 1993)Listen up, maggots. You are not special. You are not a beautiful or unique snowflake. Youre the same decaying organic matter as everything else.(Brad Pitt as  Tyler Durden in the film Fight Club, 1999)Yes, you squashed cabbage-leaf, you disgrace to the noble architecture of these columns, you incarnate insult to the English language! I could pass you off as the Queen of Sheba!(Henry Higgins addressing Eliza Doolittle in George Bernard Shaws Pygmalion, 1912)Draw, you whoreson cullionly barber-monger, dra w.(Kent addressing Oswald in William Shakespeares King Lear, II.2) - I was going to have a few comments about John Edwards, but you have to go into rehab if you use the word faggot.(Ann Coulter speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference, March 5, 2007)- Ann Coulter, maniacal, money hungry, far right-wing nut burger, has called John Edwards a faggot.(abillingss journal, March 6, 2007)Charlie Kaufman. Oy vay. I have hated every incomprehensible bucket of pretentious, idiot swill ever written by this cinematic drawbridge troll.(Rex Reed, Could Synecdoche, New York Be the Worst Movie Ever? Yes! The New York Observer, October 27, 2008)Hope not for mind in women; at their bestSweetest and wit, they are but Mummy, posessed.(John Donne, Loves Alchemy)Patient: Dr. Chase said my calcium is normal.Dr. House: We call him Dr. Idiot.(Informed Consent, House, M.D.)There are cretins, there are cowards, there are rats who walk like men. And then there is Larry Patterson Jr.(Leonard Pitts, The Lowest of the Low, February  22, 2008) John Synges CurseIrish poet and playwright John Synge addressed this poem to a sister of an enemy of the author’s who disapproved of [his play] The Playboy [of the Western World].Lord, confound this surly sister,Blight her brow with blotch and blister,Cramp her larynx, lung, and liver,In her guts a galling give her.Let her live to earn her dinnersIn Mountjoy with seedy sinners:Lord, this judgment quickly bring,And Im your servant, J. M. Synge.(John Synge, The Curse, 1907) Pronunciation: tap-ah-NO-sis

20 Ways to Cry

20 Ways to Cry 20 Ways to Cry 20 Ways to Cry By Mark Nichol Opportunities abound for describing lachrymal lamentations. Here are twenty synonyms for cry, plus some related expressions. 1. Bawl: to cry out loudly and without restraint; also, to call out in such a manner 2. Bleat: to complain or whine 3. Blub: see blubber (mostly confined to British English) 4. Blubber: to cry while making sounds of distress or pain, especially through pouted lips (hence the onomatopoeic word) 5. Caterwaul: to cry harshly; also, to noisily complain or protest 6. Groan: a low-pitched cry of grief or pain 7. Howl: to cry out in grief; also, to cry out in laughter or anger 8. Keen: to cry out with a long, loud sound of mourning; also, to complain, usually tiresomely (the adjective keen, meaning â€Å"acute, sharp† or used as slang equivalent to cool or neat is unrelated) 9. Lament: to cry out with grief; also, to feel regret or sorrow 10. Mewl: to cry softly or weakly, like a kitten 11. Moan: a low-pitched sound of grief or pain more extended than a groan 12. Pule: see whine 13. Snivel: to cry with a stuffed nose; also, to act or speak as if in an emotional, tearful state 14. Sob: to cry while making sounds of distress or pain, distinguished from blubbering by the noisy intake of breath 15. Squall: to cry out loudly in emotional distress usually associated with infants or very young children 16. Wail: to cry out in grief at a high pitch 17. Weep: to cry while making sounds of distress or pain, distinguished from blubbering and sobbing by the gentler, quieter nature of weeping 18. Whimper: to cry softly and irregularly; also, to complain or protest as if whining 19. Whine: to cry in distress, or in a high-pitched, complaining manner; also, to complain 20. Yowl: see wail Idioms and slang synonymous with cry include â€Å"break down,† â€Å"burst into tears,† â€Å"choke up,† â€Å"crack up,† â€Å"dissolve into tears,† â€Å"let it all out,† â€Å"put on the weeps,† â€Å"ring the blues,† â€Å"shed (bitter) tears,† and â€Å"turn on the waterworks.† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Using "a" and "an" Before Words41 Words That Are Better Than GoodCapitalizing Titles of People and Groups

Shanghai Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Shanghai - Essay Example ably located and this has made it to serve as China’s largest trading ports and gateways from the mid-19th century after the aftermath of the Opium war. The city occupies an area of 6,340 km ². The development of Shanghai comes from its several economic bases. It has made a rapid and sustained economic growth and development since the late 1970s when China began its economic reforms (Couling 2000). Shanghai has changed demographically with the population rising from fourteen million three hundred and fifty thousand people in the year 2000 according to United Nations statistical data but currently is has a population of over twenty three million as of 2010. The Gross Domestic Product of Shanghai during 1978-2000, attained was 6.5 times an increase and reached 48.749 U.S. dollars accompanied by a yearly growth rate of 9.5%. The city has shifted from an industrial and commercial city into a national economic center. The proportion in Shanghai’s G.D.P has been raised because of the rapid and faster development in various infrastructural sectors such as transport, insurance, real estate, banking, and trade. This has been facilitated by the rapid development of finance, insurance, trade, transportation, communications, and other types of the tertiary industries from 30 percent to 50 percent within a span of 10 years (Sheng 2002). Shanghai and Macau are related commercially in various infrastructural facilities. The common factor that keeps the relationship is the relatively cheap air transport. This facilitates quick business between the locals of the two cities. With increased business there is increase in the Gross Domestic Product of the two economies ( Peter 2002). Shanghai – Taiwan relationship was meant to deepen market-oriented reforms and boosting economic vitality and coexistence between the two cities. Taiwan and Shanghai have proposals, which cover cross-Strait cooperation in technology, finance, agriculture, education, tourism, as well as insurance.