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"meiosis"

From Richard Nordquist,
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Definition:

(1) To belittle, use a degrading epithet or nickname, often through a trope of one word. A concise form of invective.
(2) A kind of understatement that dismisses or belittles, especially by using terms that make something seem less significant than it really is or ought to be. Plural meioses; adjectival form, meiotic.

Etymology:

From the Greek, "diminish"

Examples and Observations:

  • "Meiosis, often achieved through a trope of one word, may range from bitter scorn to light derision."
    (Sister Miriam Joseph, Shakespeare's Use of the Arts of Language, 1947)


  • "The unspeakable in full pursuit of the uneatable."
    (Oscar Wilde on fox hunting)


  • "rhymester" for poet


  • "grease monkey" for mechanic


  • "shrink" for psychiatrist


  • "slasher" for surgeon


  • "pecker checker" for urologist


  • "ambulance chaser" for personal injury lawyer


  • "short-order chef" for morgue worker


  • "treehugger" for "environmentalist"


  • King Arthur: "The Lady of the Lake, her arm clad in the purest shimmering samite held aloft excaliber from the bosom of the water."
    Peasant: "Listen, strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government. Power derives from the masses not from some farcical aquatic ceremony."
    King Arthur: "Be quiet!"
    Peasant: "You can't expect to wield supreme power because some watery tart threw a sword at you."
    King Arthur: "Shut up!"
    Peasant: "If I went around saying I was an emperor because some moistened bink had lobbed a scimitar at me . . .."
    (Monty Python and the Holy Grail)
Audio LinkPronunciation: MI-o-sis
Also Known As: diminutio
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