"That's a great deal to make one word mean," Alice said in a thoughtful tone. "When I make a word do a lot of work like that," said Humpty Dumpty, "I always pay it extra."

Wednesday, 23 January 2013

Prolepsis

In its simplest form prolepsis is anticpation.  In grammar it is the anticipation and answering of possible objections in rhetorical speech - the answering of an argument before one's opponent has put it forward.

It is also the anachronistic representation of something as existing before its proper or historical time;

The Free Dictonary by Farlex also adds -
a) the assignment of something, such as an event or name, to a time that precedes it, as in If you tell the cops, you're a dead man.
b) The use of a descriptive word in anticipation of the act or circumstances that would make it applicable, as dry in They drained the lake dry.
 

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