Anticlimax sometimes needs only two steps of descends, e.g. -- O dear! O dear! What shall I do? I have lost my beau and lipstick too. Sometimes, it is not to create satire nor ridicule nor humor, but emphasis, e.g. For God, for America, and for Yale. Religion, credit and the eye are not to be touched. (proverb)
9.3 Syllepsis一语双叙


In Greek, “taking together” It is a way of using words in which one word collocates with two or more other words in different meanings—with some it is literal meaning, with others it is figurative meaning. 1) He lost his coat and his temper. 2) Yesterday, he had a blue heart and coat. 3) She dropped a tear and her pocket handkerchief. 4) They sell clothes that fit figures and times.

9.4 Zeugma轭式搭配




Greek, meaning „yoke.‟ A word is used to modify or govern two or more words while its use is grammatically or logically incorrect with one of them. E.g. put on kimono, airs, and the water to boil for coffee to kill the man and the luggage; to wage war and peace; to disinherit somebody of his lands and of his courtesy; etc.


9.2 Anticlimax 渐降/层降



Anticlimax involves stating one‟s thought in a descending order of significance or intensity from strong to weak, from weighty to light , from the sublime to the ridiculous. The bomb completely destroyed the cathedral, the new cinema, several dozen houses and my dustbin. “a sudden drop from the dignified or important thought or expression to the commonplace or trivial, sometimes for humorous effect” (Webster‟s New World Dictionary);



Climax is widely employed by speakers and writers. In persuasive speech or writing, it is extremely effective in stirring up feelings and emotions: 1) It is an outrage to bind a Roman citizen; to scourge him is a crime; to put him to death is almost parricide. (Cicero) 2) We do not retreat. We are not content to stand still. As Americans, we go forward, in the service of our country, by the will of God. (Franklin D. Roosevelt)


1. One verb + two or more objects. 1)He caught a bus and a cold. 2)He swallowed bread and butter and a spasm of emotion. 3)She opened the door and her heart to the homeless child. 2. One adjective + two or more nouns. 1) Yesterday he had a blue heart and coat. (“a blue heart” means “was unhappy”.) 2) He had short coat-tails and temper.

A climax usually consists of three or more parts
and is used together with other figures of speech.

I came, I saw, I conquered. (with anaphora.)
Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man. (with parallelism) I was born an American; I live an American; I shall die an American. (with simploce) Having power makes totalitarian leadership isolated; isolation breeds insecurity; insecurity breeds suspicion and fear; suspicion and fear breed violence. (with anadiplosis)
9.5 Chiasmas交错配列



Greek, “cross-wide” a construction involving the repetition of words or elements in reverse order (a b : b a). Beauty is truth, truth (is) beauty.
Practice: He lost his credit card and his temper. At noon Mrs. Turpin would get out of bed and humor, put on kimono和服, airs, and the water to boil for coffee. (O. Henry) Nhomakorabea

1) We often joked about his passionate love for his daughter, his cat and his ashtray. 2) Where shall I find hope, happiness, friends, cigarettes? 3) He lost his empire, his family and his fountain pen.




3. One proposition + two or more objects. 1) He fought with desperation and a stout club. 2) She was serving soup with a ladle and a scowl. 3) The businessmen left in high spirits and a Cadillac. 4. Two nouns + one verb. 1) At length down went her head and out came the truth and tears. 2) His temper was as short as his coattails.
Chapter 9 Syntactic Figures of Speech (II)
9.1 Climax 渐升/层进/递进法




Climax comes from Greek meaning “ladder.” It is the arrangement of words, phrases, clauses or sentences in ascending order of importance. Ideas arranged in such a way develop gradually, like climbing a ladder, each idea outweighing the preceding one until reaching the summit. 彼采葛兮，一日不见，如三月兮。 彼采萧兮，一日不见，如三秋兮。 彼采艾兮，一日不见，如三岁兮。—《诗经》



Difference between zeugma and syllepsis: in syllepsis, the key word refers correctly to all the words it modifies; in zeugma, the key word does not refer properly to all of them.