In rhetoric, litotes is a figure of speech in which a speaker, rather than making a certain claim, denies its opposite; for example, rather than call a person attractive, one might say she's "not too bad to look at". Litotes can be used to weaken a statement — "It's bad, but it's O.K." can be seen as self-contradictory, but one can weaken the first part using litotes, producing "It's not good, but it's O.K.", which is a reasonable statement. Conversely, litotes can be used as a form of understatement, strengthening or emphasizing a statement, as in the first example above. The interpretation of litotes thus depends on context, including cultural context. Rhetoric (from Greek , rhêtôr, orator, teacher) is generally understood to be the art or technique of persuasion through the use of spoken language; however, this definition of rhetoric has expanded greatly since rhetoric emerged as a field of study in universities. ... A figure of speech, sometimes termed a rhetoric, or elocution, is a word or phrase that departs from straightforward, literal language. ... Understatement is a form of speech in which a lesser expression is used than what would be expected. ...

Examples

Related phenomena

In the regional dialect of the Upper Midwest United States, particularly in Minnesota, the indirect approach of litotes is very common, and is the preferred method of making strong statements without offending listeners or going out on a limb. For example, a speaker may say, “Jenny’s hot dish wasn’t too good tonight,” which actually means that it was close to inedible. Whereas the phrase, “that sweet corn outside the Metrodome is not too bad; not too bad at all” is a form of the highest praise. Capital Saint Paul Largest city Minneapolis Area  Ranked 12th  - Total 87,014 sq mi (225,365 km²)  - Width 250 miles (400 km)  - Length 400 miles (645 km)  - % water 8. ...

In many languages, including some non-standard dialects of English, double negatives can be used to express a simple negation; for example, in Spanish, "No quiero nada" (literally "I don't want nothing") means "I don't want anything." Standard English is a controversial term used to denote a form of written and spoken English that is thought to be normative for educated users. ... This is a list of varieties of the English language. ... A double negative occurs when two forms of negation are used in the same sentence. ...

In some languages, some litotes are so idiomatic that they are not true figures of speech, but rather set phrases. For instance, in French, the sentence "Il faut qu'il aille" means "It's necessary that he go", while its opposite, "Il ne faut pas qu'il aille" means "it is necessary that he not go", which is much stronger than its English counterpart. A set phrase is an expression (i. ...

See also

Look up Litotes in
Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Auxesis
• Figure of speech
• Meiosis (figure of speech)

Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Wiktionary (a portmanteau of wiki and dictionary) is a multilingual, Web-based project to create a free content dictionary, available in over 150 languages. ... Auxesis is a form of hyperbole, in which something is referred to by a term disproportionate to its importance for the very purpose of amplifying that things importance or gravity. ... A figure of speech, sometimes termed a rhetoric, or elocution, is a word or phrase that departs from straightforward, literal language. ... Meiosis is a figure of speech which intentionally understates something or implies that it is less in significance, size, than it really is. ...

Reference

• Smyth, Herbert Weir (1920). Greek Grammar. Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press, p. 680. ISBN 0-674-36250-0.