Apophasis

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Not to be confused with Apophysis, Apoptosis, or Apophis (disambiguation). Apophasis (Late Latin, from Greek from apophemi,[1] "to say no"[2]), Paralipsis () or occupatio,[3][4][5][6] also spelled paraleipsis or paralepsis, and known also as praeteritio, preterition, cataphasis (), antiphrasis (), or parasiopesis (), is a rhetorical device wherein the speaker or writer brings up a subject by either denying it, or denying that it should be brought up.[7] As such, it can be seen as a rhetorical relative of irony. Paralipsis is usually employed to make a subversive ad hominem attack, which makes it a frequently used tactic in political speeches to make an attack on one's opponent. Using paralipsis in this way is often considered to be bad form. The device is typically used to distance the speaker from unfair claims, while still bringing them up. For instance, a politician might say, "I don't even want to talk about the allegations that my opponent is a drunk." It can also be used in denying such claims entirely, for example by saying "I'm sure that my opponent is not lying; however, his grasp of the facts seems to be shaky."[8]
Contents
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1 Proslepsis 2 With proper names 3 See also 4 Notes 5 References 6 External links

Proslepsis[edit]
When paralipsis is taken to its extreme, then proslepsis occurs, whereby the speaker provides full details stating and/or drawing attention to something in the very act of pretending to pass it over; for example, "I will not stoop to mentioning the occasion last winter when our esteemed opponent was found asleep in an alleyway with an empty bottle of vodka still pressed to his lips."[9] Paralipsis was often used by Cicero in his orations. For example: "Obliviscor iam iniurias tuas, Clodia, depono memoriam doloris mei" ("I now forget your wrongs, Clodia, I set aside the memory of my pains [that you caused].")

Cicero, "Pro Caelio", Chapter 50 "It would be superfluous in me to point out to your lordship that this is war." Charles Francis Adams, U.S. Ambassador to Britain , dispatch to Earl Russell, 5 September 1863, concerning
Britain's relations with the Confederacy.

"Ssh," said Grace Makutsi, putting a finger to her lips. "It's not polite to talk about it. SO I won't mention the Double Comfort Furniture Shop, which is one of the businesses my fiance owns, you know. I must not talk about that. But do you know the store, Mma? If you save up, you should come in some day and buy a chair." Alexander McCall Smith, Blue Shoes and Happiness, Chapter 4 A more positive usage of paralipsis/paralepsis embodies the narrative style of Adso of Melk in Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose, where the character fills in details of early fourteenth-century history for the reader by stating it is unnecessary to speak of them.[10][example needed]

With proper names[edit]

When it is taboo to speak of an entity by name, an epithet or sobriquet can be used in place of the name. For example, when it was forbidden in Myanmar to speak the name of political prisonerAung San Suu Kyi, she was commonly referred to as "The Lady". Various names of God in Judaism are used to avoid writing or speaking sacred names. The name of the fictional Lord Voldemortin the popular Harry Potter universe is taboo, and he is commonly referred with epithets such as "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named" and "You-Know-Who".