hi researchers - there's a word to describe when someone says "well I
won't mention it again, but...", and then goes on to talk about the
very thing he said he won't mention.  what's the word?

---

Request for Question Clarification by pinkfreud-ga on 21 Jul 2005 15:07 PDT

Howdy, statestraveller.

Is the word that you're seeking "apophasis"?

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?r=66&q=apophasis

---

Clarification of Question by statestraveller-ga on 21 Jul 2005 15:22 PDT

Hi there, Pink - long time, no questions:-)  You appear to have
located the word - many thanks.

I'm glad to have been able to help you with this! Many years ago I
took a course in formal rhetoric, and "apophasis" was one of many
interesting words that I learned in the course. It is odd that I am
able to recall a word like this, which has stayed unused in my mind
for decades, yet I have difficulty remembering where I put my spare
pair of eyeglasses. ;-)

Here you'll find links to more sources than you probably want about
the word "apophasis":

OneLook: apophasis
http://onelook.com/?w=apophasis&ls=b

Best,
Pink

Too funny.  Almost all of your answers to my questions begin "Many years ago...":-)

statestraveller,

The reason I use the phrase "many years ago" so often is that the
majority of my life happened in ancient times. I was born in the first
half of the twentieth century, and I am flabbergasted to find that I
have lasted into the twenty-first. As my granny used to say, if I'd
known I was gonna last so long, I woulda took better care of myself.
;-)

~pinkfreud

"Many years ago" I had to take Latin, managing as far as Cicero, and
wrote terms  for rhetorical expressions on the endpaper of my now
twice re-covered dictionary.
"Preterition  - 'I'm not going to tell you how .... etc.' (Cicero)"

Praeteritio:
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Praeteritio&redirect=no
paralipsis,  paraleipsis:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paralipsis

But stick with Pinkfreud's answer, Statestraveller; she remembered, I
just remembered where ...  :-)

Myoarin

Myoarin

Count yourself lucky! I had to learn not only Latin but also Irish
(i.e an almost dead language and a totally dead language)
The only live language i learned was French (which I wished I had paid
more attention to when I lived in Belgium)
 
Kind Regards

Mongolia