#ISHRhetSilenceSeries
We all know the feeling of regret when we’ve said too much. Following the late-antique scholar Boethius, we should remind ourselves (#shhh): Si tacuisses, philosophus mansisses. / “Had you kept silent, you would have remained a philosopher”. Thus Boethius allegedly mocks a pseudo-intellectual who tries very hard to prove himself otherwise. Speaking is a slippery business. We hope that you can persuade all the Boethii in your life! #rhetoric #RhetoricOfSilence #TeamRhetoric

#ISHRhetSilenceSeries
What comes to mind when you see this statue? Maybe is it telling you to be quiet (#shhh)? Well, that's what the Greeks and Romans thought—they misinterpreted the raised finger near the lips as a gesture of #silence. The Graeco-Roman god of silence and secrecy Harpocrates was born. But originally that gesture simply meant “child”: a representation of the Egyptian child god Horus, the newborn sun. #Silence is often more than #silence.
#RhetoricOfSilence #TeamRhetoric

#ISHRhetSilenceSeries: #apophasis (#praeteritio). A rhetorical device defined as “the raising of an issue by claiming not to mention it” (Merriam-Webster), apophasis is the pretence of #silence. A speaker pretends... 🧵1/3

#ISHRhetSilenceSeries: #apophasis (/#praeteritio). A rhetorical device defined as “the raising of an issue by claiming not to mention it” (Merriam-Webster), apophasis is the pretence of #silence. A speaker pretends that they will be silent about something as a way of really affirming or insinuating it. A favourite of #Cicero, apophasis is routinely used in contemporary political discourse. A recent and misogynistic example?
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