Stylistic Devices - Litotes
form of understatement

Litotes is a form of understatement which uses the denied 
opposite of a word to weaken or soften a message.

Examples:

That's not bad. (instead of: That's good/great.)
Boats aren't easy to find in the dark. (4) (instead of: 
Boats are hard/difficult to find in the dark.)
see also: → Understatement



On Tue, 21 Jun 2005 12:23:52 -0600
  Gordon Hultberg <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> You are looking for "litotes" (my mnemonic, perhaps not 
>technically quite accurate, way of recalling this is 
>"Negation of the opposite")--Hawthorne and Austen use 
>them frequently, of those authors I teach regularly.
> 
> 
> At 12:08 PM 06/21/2005, you wrote:
>>Hello All,
>>Hope you're enjoying a wonderful summer.  A friend
>>asked me for the name of a negative like Jane Austen
>>uses:  "It was not impossible" versus "It was
>>possible."
>>Thank you,
>>Mary Murray
>>
>>
>>
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> 
> To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the 
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> Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/

Peace,

David

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