Verbal Tryptics?
April 6, 2013 2:38 PM   Subscribe

There is a name for a type of grammatical phrasing in which something is described at the end of a sentence of paragraph by distinct but different examples. For instance, "The dish was delightful to look, smelled wonderfully and was absolutely delicious." This phrasing is most often in threes. What is it called?
posted by CollectiveMind to Writing & Language (3 answers total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
tricolon
posted by tintexas at 2:52 PM on April 6, 2013 [1 favorite]


Prozeugma. Be prepared for "OMG there's a name for that" overload.
posted by zengargoyle at 4:19 PM on April 6, 2013 [1 favorite]


I would agree on tricolon. Though there are a lot of Google hits as well for the concept of the "rule of three" more broadly in writing and speaking, to sound decisive or impressive.
posted by nakedmolerats at 4:43 PM on April 6, 2013


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