Today's Word "Prosopopeia"
Published in Vocabulary
prosopopeia \preh-so-peh-PEE-eh\ (noun) - 1 : A rhetorical figure by which an imaginary or absent person is represented as speaking or acting; the introduction of a pretended speaker; 2 : personification (a rhetorical figure in which human traits are given to a non-human object).
"We are awash in a veritable sea of prosopopeia such as; 'My car prefers high-test gasoline;' 'Justice is blind;' or he common phrase 'Mother Nature;' or when we claim that a piece of software is unforgiving."
Today's word is taken from Greek prosopopoiia "representation in human form,' which comes from prosopon "face, mask, dramatic character" + poiein "to make," the same verb "poetry" comes from. This word is related to the equally interesting word, prosopolepsy "respect for someone based on his or her appearance alone." The adjective is "prosopopeic" and the adverb, "prosopopeically." You may add the extra [o] to these forms, too.
Comments