Definition:
An abrupt shift from a noble tone to a less exalted one--often for comic effect. Contrast with climax.
Etymology:
From the Greek, "Down a ladder"Examples and Observations:
- "Here thou, great Anna! whom three realms obey,
Dost sometimes counsel take--and sometimes tea."
(Alexander Pope, The Rape of the Lock) - "The holy passion of Friendship is of so sweet and steady and loyal and enduring a nature that it will last through a whole lifetime, if not asked to lend money."
(Mark Twain) - "In moments of crisis . . . I size up the situation in a flash, set my teeth, contract my muscles, take a firm grip on myself and, without a tremor, always do the wrong thing."
(George Bernard Shaw) - "'For God, for Country and for Yale,' the outstanding single anti-climax in the English language."
(James Thurber) - "One of those men who reach such an acute limited excellence at twenty-one that everything afterward savors of anticlimax."
(F. Scott Fitzgerald) - "Not only is there no God, but try getting a plumber on weekends."
(Woody Allen) - ""I took the speed reading course and read 'War and Peace' in twenty minutes. It's about Russia."
(Woody Allen) - "It is impossible to travel faster than the speed of light, and certainly not desirable, as one's hat keeps blowing off."
(Woody Allen) - "There are worse things in life than death. Have you ever spent an evening with an insurance salesman?"
(Woody Allen)
Pronunciation: ant-tee-CLI-max
Also Known As: catacosmesis
