Pathos

The figure Ariana Grande uses to play coy

Its official name: the accismus. I call it the Oh-you-shouldn’t-have figure.

Jan 9 •

The fantods of dank beldams and other bijou words

Would sympathy for an empath make you gladsome?

Jan 6 •

The crashing magic of sound symbolism

Or, Things That Go Doink in the Night

Nov 25, 2024 •

Brain training with an ex-parrot

The synonymia is a figure that can temporarily liberate us from our smartphones.

Nov 21, 2024 •

How to manipulate a parent

Warning: The following very cool material is also morally dubious.

Nov 14, 2024 •

Magic in the Great Green Room

You will find almost all of rhetoric's power in this one children’s book.

Nov 11, 2024 •

Meet the Feghoot, a pun-enabled shaggy dog

Tell a story that makes bogs dark and Britannia waive the rules.

Nov 7, 2024 •

Tropes weaponize everything.

So why do I love them? And what exactly is a trope?

Oct 28, 2024 •

To win over any audience, find the commonplaces.

When you go highbrow, others might want low.

Sep 30, 2024 •

The secret to fear? Timing.

The immediacy of panic creates a problem for us persuaders.

Aug 29, 2024 •

Do we need a Society to Limit Acronym Proliferation (SLAP)?

We need to see all those LOLs and ICYMIs and contrived acronyms for what they are: a human version of what bonobos do to each other.

Aug 19, 2024 •

In a thorough memeification of a political candidate, Generation Z has declared Kamala Harris “brat.” She’s not just a brat, she’s brat.

Aug 6, 2024 •

#nojs-banner { position: fixed; bottom: 0; left: 0; padding: 16px 16px 16px 32px; width: 100%; box-sizing: border-box; background: red; color: white; font-family: -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 13px; line-height: 13px; } #nojs-banner a { color: inherit; text-decoration: underline; } This site requires JavaScript to run correctly. Please turn on JavaScript or unblock scripts