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hendiadys (hen-DAY-uh-dis) - n., (rhet.) an expression using two independent words connected by and instead of a more usual combination of modifier plus independent word.
So "nice and warm" instead of "nicely warm," or "sound and fury" (Macbeth V.5) instead of "furious sound." In English, it's often two nouns, but it can be verbs, as in "come and get it" for "come get it." The result is generally considered more emphatic and vivid, thus Shakespeare's addiction to the figure. Like almost all terms of rhetoric, this is from Ancient Greek via Latin, in this case the phrase hèn dià duoîn, one (idea) through two. (And yes, there's such a thing as hendiatris, as in "sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll.")
And that wraps up a theme week of language terms. Next week will be short because of the US holiday, so no theme aside from the usual one of "words that are at the front of my to-post list."
---L.
So "nice and warm" instead of "nicely warm," or "sound and fury" (Macbeth V.5) instead of "furious sound." In English, it's often two nouns, but it can be verbs, as in "come and get it" for "come get it." The result is generally considered more emphatic and vivid, thus Shakespeare's addiction to the figure. Like almost all terms of rhetoric, this is from Ancient Greek via Latin, in this case the phrase hèn dià duoîn, one (idea) through two. (And yes, there's such a thing as hendiatris, as in "sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll.")
And that wraps up a theme week of language terms. Next week will be short because of the US holiday, so no theme aside from the usual one of "words that are at the front of my to-post list."
---L.
