Figures of Speech Served Fresh

Quote:  “He’s done a pretty good job of playing my part on Law & Order.”  Former prosecutor and New York Mayor Rudy Guiliani, speaking of fellow presidential candidate Fred Thompson at the Republican debate in Manchester, New Hampshire.

Figure of Speech:  adianoeta (ah-dee-ah-no-EE-ta), the figure of hidden meaning.  From the Greek, meaning “unintelligible.”

Oh, snap! This is our favorite political adianoeta yet.  A form of irony, the figure contains an obvious meaning and a hidden one beneath it.

Actually, we preferred Giuliani’s dig earlier in the debate, when he speculated on why Thompson, a notoriously laid-back Senator-turned-actor, had failed to show.  “Maybe we’re up past his bedtime,” said Rudy. The ex-mayor is trying his darndest to look more statesmanlike than a flip-the-bird New Yorker; and he’s failing delightfully.

Snappy Answer:  “So he’s just an actor.  Like Ronald Reagan.”