Figaro |
2 Comments |
Now in Italy and the UK and on e-book!
“Clever, passionate, and erudite.”
Publishers Weekly
Hear the NPR commentary.
Figaro rips the innards out of things people say and reveals the rhetorical tricks and pratfalls. For terms and definitions, click here.
(What are figures of speech?)
Ask Figaro a question!
Wednesday, September 14, 2005 at 08:45AM
Quote: "I don't want to talk to you no more, you empty headed animal food trough wiper. I fart in your general direction." French solder in Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Figure of Speech: mycterismus (mick terr IZ muss), the sneer
A mycterismus (from the Greek "to sneer") mocks someone through voice and gesture. When one breaks wind rhetorically, it counts as a gesture, and maybe even a voice.
These days a mycterismus means yelling a profanity while redundantly flipping the bird. The French soldier played by John Cleese in the Monty Python movie makes a more atmospheric gesture.
Snappy Answer: "That's the smartest thing out of you yet."
Reader Comments (2)