The Elements of Eloquence: Secrets of the Perfect Turn of Phrase

228 Pages·2014·1.16 MB·English

by  Mark Forsyth

PRAISE FOR
HOROLOGICON
“Hard to put down . . . As engrossing for people interested in history and culture
as it is for those who love words. It’s the best word-themed book I’ve read in
years.”
—The New York Times Book Review
“This is not a book to be gulped down at a sitting, but gently masticated to be
savored in small bites . . . Every page contains a new jewel for logophiles and
verbivores everywhere.”
—Publishers Weekly
“[Horologicon] introduces readers to some of the best, weirdest, and most
wonderful archaic terms . . . Forsyth’s fascinating entries employ erudite humor
and playful historical anecdotes to make these dusty old words sound fresh
again . . . Get ready to be impressed and entertained.”
—Library Journal
“An entertaining trawl through the wonderfully colorful English vocabulary that
has disappeared from daily use.”
—The Sunday Times (UK) “Characteristically brilliant.”
—The Daily Telegraph (London) PRAISE FOR
ETYMOLOGICON
“The Facebook of books . . . Before you know it, you’ve been reading for an
hour.”
—The Chicago Tribune
“A breezy, amusing stroll through the uncommon histories of some common
English words . . . Snack-food style blends with health-food substance for a most
satisfying meal.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“The stocking filler of the season . . . How else to describe a book that explains
the connection between Dom Perignon and Mein Kampf.”
—Robert McCrum, The Observer
“Crikey . . . this is addictive!”
—The Times
“Mark Forsyth is clearly a man who knows his onions.”
—Daily Telegraph
“Witty and well researched . . . Who wouldn’t want to read about the derivation
of the word ‘gormless’? Or the relationship between the words ‘buffalo’ and
‘buff’?”
—The Guardian (UK)
Books by Mark Forsyth
ETYMOLOGICON
HOROLOGICON
THE ELEMENTS OF ELOQUENCE

THE BERKLEY PUBLISHING GROUP
Published by the Penguin Group
Penguin Group (USA) LLC
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THE ELEMENTS OF ELOQUENCE
Copyright © 2013 by Mark Forsyth
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Berkley trade paperback ISBN: 978-0-425-27618-1
eBook ISBN: 978-0-69816809-1
PUBLISHING HISTORY
Icon Books Ltd. hardcover edition / 2013
Berkley trade paperback edition / October 2014
Cover design by Danielle Abbiate
Every effort has been made to contact the copyright holders of the material reproduced in this book. If any have been inadvertently
overlooked, the publisher will be pleased to make acknowledgment in future editions if notified.
The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.
Version_1
Does an “explanation” make it any less impressive?
WITTGENSTEIN,
REMARKS ON FRAZER’S GOLDEN BOUGH
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to bow down in thanks and prose to Jane Seeber for her indefatigable aid.
For the last year, I have been unbearable company. My only question to friend or foe alike has
been “Can you think of any famous phrases that follow this particular structure?” Many people have
helped, but I can’t exactly remember who. My thanks should probably go, in no particular order, to
Jane Seeber, Andrea Coleman, Rob Colvile, Nick Popper, John Goldsmith, Michael Mellor, Hilary
Scott, Adrian Hornsby, James Forsyth, Allegra Stratton, Alicia Roberts, Nick Roberts, my parents,
Laura Humble, Simon Blake, Alister Whitford, Jeremy Large, Chris Mann, Claire Bodanis and
anybody else whom I have rudely forgotten in my absence of mind.
CONTENTS
Praise for Books by Mark Forsyth
Books by Mark Forsyth
Title Page
Copyright
Epigraph
Acknowledgements
PREFACE
On Cooking Blindfolded
CHAPTER ONE
Alliteration
CHAPTER TWO
Polyptoton
CHAPTER THREE
Antithesis
CHAPTER FOUR
Merism
CHAPTER FIVE
The Blazon (A Merism Too Far)
CHAPTER SIX
Synaesthesia
CHAPTER SEVEN
Aposiopesis
CHAPTER EIGHT
Hyperbaton
CHAPTER NINE
Anadiplosis
CHAPTER TEN
Periodic Sentences
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Hypotaxis and Parataxis (and Polysyndeton and Asyndeton)