The Elements of Eloquence: Secrets of the Perfect Turn of Phrase

Forsyth (The Etymologicon) has written a witty "dictionary" of rhetorical sayings used in contemporary English-language writing. The structure of the book is as funny as it is intelligent. For instance, in the chapter dedicated to the merism, a poetic device used when an author writes around an object of love instead of naming it directly, Forsyth ends the section with a transition sentence that includes the rhetorical device for the next chapter, the blazon, a technique whereby the author writes a merism so extreme, it requires a new definition. Forsyth shows his skills as a writer and presents technical terms for those interested in the many forms and poetic techniques as defined and discussed by the Greeks. The book contains a wide range of devices such as hendiadys, a recombining of independent words, and adynaton, a hyperbolic negative response to a question or request. Forsyth smartly references pop culture, quoting everything from the King James Bible and Shakespeare to James Bond films and the Beatles.