Litota. Examples will explain: reduction or simplification?

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Litota is a trope. That is allegory in one form or another. If any thought needs to be conveyed to the interlocutor or reader not in its only meaning, but with an additional shade of meaning, and sometimes not with one, a trope is used. In one form or another. Another trope is often referred to as a figure of speech. “The sea worries once, the sea worries two, the sea worries three - speech, freeze in the pose of litotes.” And freezes. And born in the heat of a conversation or discussion, the litote forever enters the Russian language as a stable turnover.

Typical Litota

A pronounced litote, examples of which we can find in the media, is the use of diminutive epithets in relation to the Russian "king of the stage" Philip Kirkorov, such as "Pokemon" or "Filipponchik" and "PhilipplYushkin "sometimes shortened to "Plushka". “After all, he is really sweet, like a bun. You just want to eat him,” fanatically devoted fans assure. In this case, the litote conveys several semantic meanings at once, gently uniting the singer's passiona certain breed of dog, the cosmos and god knows what else with his carefully crafted image of a sweet-voiced "pop idol". Interestingly, in the encyclopedias of the future, along with the hyperbolic Grozny and Veliky, will the litote Philip the Sweet be used?

Who is against litotes?

Litota as an understatement is always opposed to hyperbole - exaggeration. When rhetoric as part of the 7 liberal arts was still studied in every princely or monastic school, hyperbole was the only form for exaggeration and understatement. And now only exaggeration remains for the share of hyperbole, and for the share of litotes - also attitude, and simplification, and reduction, and clarification. Small and remote, this trope, this litote of ours. Examples of litotes are most often found in fairy tales. Thumbelina is a litote. And Nekrasovsky "man with a fingernail." By the way, both heroes defeat all troubles and cope with tasks much faster and more efficiently than the hyperbolic Robin Bobbin Barabek. The giant Goliath is almost always defeated by the little David. And why? Apparently, because it is inherent in popular wisdom to see strength in weakness and smallness, and not in exaggerated power. The acorn is small but grows into a big tree. Sometimes in the world tree.

Mitigation Path

Sometimes we use litotes to soften a harsh expression. You can directly say: “Cows do not fly,” but a valuable farm animal may be offended. If we want to bemore diplomatically, we use the litote as a stylistic means of tone softening and say that "the cow is not aerodynamically ideal for this exercise." And the meaning is conveyed, and no one is offended. So in the practice of diplomats there is a litote. There are also brighter examples of diplomatic litotes. "The rebels on the Maidan are showing discontent," the American ambassador would say, reacting to the burnt house of the Trade Unions. Like any good weapon, the litote belongs not only to one side, the people, but can also be used by the opposing side. But not always successful. As a double-edged weapon, it can also be used against the gigantism that plagues the ambassador's nation. If litotes always win over hyperbole, then the days of the world gendarme are numbered.

Litota and Russian literature

If you try to remember the category “Litota. Examples from the literature”, then the first result that came to mind would be Griboyedov’s “spitz no more than a thimble”. But it's not interesting. It is always more interesting to look for litotes not directly, but hidden in some other constructions at first sight. For example, from Eugene Onegin, where an efficient person is given the right to "think about the beauty of nails." This is also a litote, a deliberate decrease in the significance of the image while maintaining the pronounced power of the character.

If we talk about litote as a toolkit of sarcasm and cynicism, then the transformation of the image of Raskolnikov into a joke “a hundred old women is already a ruble” is the litote of the idea. The deliberate reduction of the ideology that led to the murder, the ideology of "I have the right", the reduction of Dostoevism and the ideology of the superman to the banalself-interest, and the litote of the super-sense of Dostoevsky's philosophy to the simple humor of Kharms "and the old women all fell."

Language practice

If you want to expand your vocabulary to be able to give a decent definition of what a litote is, examples from fiction are exactly what you need. Since reading works of art not only enriches the lexicon, but also decently develops the very imagery of human thinking. Take a newspaper article or a volume of Pushkin and find out for yourself where such a litote is hidden, examples of the use of which will help expand the expressiveness of your own speech baggage. In addition, do not forget that it is better to understate than to say more than necessary. So, the more litots, the more subtle and expressive the speech, the more meanings you can use and in fewer cases risk being accused of inaccuracy. And those who want to succeed in the diplomatic or journalistic field should try to make the most of the possibilities of this tool. Increasingly, recently there is a litote in the Russian language. Look for examples of it better in folk tales.