Rhetoric - paralipsis

paralipsis [ˌpærəˈlɪpsɪs] n.

1.) A rhetorical figure in which the speaker emphasizes something by affecting to pass it by without notice, usually by such phrases as "not to mention", or "to say nothing of" (Oxford English Dictionary Second Edition).

Etymology: adopted from Greek παράλειψις passing by omission, from παραλείπειν to leave on one side, pass by; late Latin paralipsis (Aquila).

"quid vero? nuper cum morte superioris uxoris novis nuptiis locum vacuefecisses, nonne etiam alio incredibili scelere hoc scelus cumulavisti? quod ego praetermitto et facile patior sileri, ne in hac civitate tanti facinoris immanitas aut exstitisse aut non vindicata esse videatur" (Oratio Qva L. Catilinam Emisit In Senatv Habita, Marcus Tullius Cicero, 63 B.C.)

"What? when lately by the death of your former wife you had made your house empty and ready for a new bridal, did you not even add another incredible wickedness to this wickedness? But I pass that over, and willingly allow it to be buried in silence, that so horrible a crime may not be seen to have existed in this city, and not to have been chastised" (The Orations of Marcus Tullius Cicero, C. D. Yonge and B. A. London (trans.), 1856).

(Cicerone denuncia Catilina, Cesare Maccari, 1889) _____________________________________________________

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