Aphorismus (from the , ''aphorismós'', "a marking off", also "rejection, banishment") is a

figure of speech A figure of speech or rhetorical figure is a word or phrase that intentionally deviates from ordinary language use in order to produce a rhetorical effect. Figures of speech are traditionally classified into '' schemes,'' which vary the ordinary ...

that calls into question if a word is properly used ("How can you call yourself a man?"). It often appears in the form of a

rhetorical question A rhetorical question is one for which the questioner does not expect a direct answer: in many cases it may be intended to start a discourse, or as a means of displaying or emphasize the speaker's or author's opinion on a topic. A common example ...

which is meant to imply a difference between the present thing being discussed and the general notion of the subject.

Examples

*"For you have but mistook me all this while. / I live with bread like you, feel want, / Taste grief, need friends: subjected thus, / How can you say to me I am a king?"

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

, ''Richard II'' Act 3, scene 2, 174-177 *"It depends on what the meaning of the word 'is' is."

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

, August 17, 1998

References

Rhetorical techniques Figures of speech {{rhetoric-stub

Examples

See also

References