Author Topic: Enthymeme  (Read 2295 times)

hubag bohol

  • AMBASSADOR
  • THE SOURCE
  • *****
  • Posts: 89964
  • "Better to remain silent and be thought a fool...
    • View Profile
Enthymeme
« on: March 21, 2011, 01:18:21 PM »
By Richard Nordquist


Definition: In rhetoric, an informally stated syllogism with an implied premise. Adjective: enthymematic.

Etymology: From the Greek, "piece of reasoning"

Examples and Observations:

"Does this place look like I'm . . . married? The toilet seat's up, man!"
(The Dude in The Big Lebowski, 1998)

"With a name like Smucker's, it has to be good."
(slogan of Smucker's jams, jellies, and preserves)

"In modern times, the enthymeme has come to be regarded as an abbreviated syllogism--that is, an argumentative statement that contains a conclusion and one of the premises, the other premise being implied. A statement like this would be regarded as an enthymeme: 'He must be a socialist because he favors a graduated income-tax.' Here the conclusion (He is a socialist) has been deduced from an expressed premise (He favors a graduated income-tax) and an implied premise (either [a ] Anyone who favors a graduated income-tax is a socialist or [b ] A socialist is anyone who favors a graduated income-tax)."
(Edward P.J. Corbett and Robert J. Connors, Classical Rhetoric for the Modern Student, 4th ed. Oxford Univ. Press, 1999)

"Mark'd ye his words? He would not take the crown. Therefore 'tis certain he was not ambitious."
(Mark Antony speaking of Julius Caesar in William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar III.ii)

"If you have been healed or saved or blessed through TBN and have not contributed . . . you are robbing God and will lose your reward in heaven."
(Paul Crouch, co-founder of the Trinity Broadcasting Network, quoted by William Lobdell, The Week, Aug. 10, 2007)

"One of the Soviet Georgia's senior citizens thought Dannon was an excellent yogurt. She ought to know. She's been eating yogurt for 137 years."
(1970s television advertisement for Dannon Yogurt)

"If it's Borden's, it's got to be good."
(advertising slogan)

"Want him to be more of a man? Try being more of a woman!"
(advertising slogan for Coty perfume)

"In an enthymeme, the speaker builds an argument with one element removed, leading listeners to fill in the missing piece. On May 1, speaking from the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln, President Bush said, 'The battle of Iraq is one victory in a war on terror that began on September the 11th, 2001, and still goes on. . . . With those attacks, the terrorists and their supporters declared war on the United States. And war is what they got.' This is classic enthymematic argumentation: We were attacked on Sept. 11, so we went to war against Iraq. The missing piece of the argument--'Saddam was involved in 9/11'--didn't have to be said aloud for those listening to assimilate its message."
(Paul Waldman, Washington Post, Sep. 2003)

Pronunciation: EN-tha-meem


http://grammar.about.com/



Linkback: https://tubagbohol.mikeligalig.com/index.php?topic=39317.0
...than to speak out and remove all doubt." - Abraham Lincoln

Book your travel tickets anywhere in the world, go to www.12go.co

unionbank online loan application low interest, credit card, easy and fast approval

Tags: