Help please....I need help with the name of the literary device used when a word defines itself. An example is the word, "standoffish". I know there is a literary device to describe it, but there are hundreds of literary devices. Please help. -Lawrence
I think it's a matter of linguistics. Literary devices, as far as I know, mean processes writers employ. If a word has a unique definition, or becomes a gerund or something, we take two full steps into linguistics. Better answer will likely come soon.
I found a different one saying essentially that the definition directly refers to a quality of the word itself. "Short" is a short word. "Categorical" is black and white, while "fluorescent" is bright. I can kinda see how ''standoffish" kinda stands off, with a chip on its shoulder, over by the other cool words....
It's a stretch for me, but it does seem to have some sort of inherent coldness to it, by virtue of its length and the explosive "off.'' But otherwise, I'm leaning 90% no way.
Smooth pompous English simply obfuscates mellifluous words. Thanks GingerCoffee, nice link. (I know this is terrible but I am not Wreybies afterall)
Yep. I'm with you on this one. I don't find anything standoffish about standoffish other than its inherent meaning. Now, magniloquent, on the other hand, is itself a very magniloquent word.