Litotes. Examples will be explained: reduction or simplification?

Litota is a path. That is, allegory in one form or another. If a thought needs to be conveyed to the interlocutor or the reader not in one of its meanings, but with an additional shade of meaning, and sometimes not with one, the path is used. In one form or another. Another trail is often referred to as a figure of speech. "The sea is worried once, the sea worries two, the sea is worried three - speech, in a posture litoty zamri." And freezes. And a litote born in the heat of conversation or discussion, forever enters the Russian language as a sustainable trade.

Typical Litota

A pronounced litote, examples of which we can find in the media, is the use of diminutive caressing epithets in relation to the Russian "pop king" Philip Kirkorov, such as "Pokemonchik" or "Filipponchik" and "Philippyushkin" sometimes abbreviated to " Sticks. " "After all, he's really sweet, like a bun." So he wants to eat it, "fanatical devotees say. In this case, the litho conveys several meanings at once, gently combining the singer's passion for a particular breed of dogs, the cosmos and God knows what else with his carefully shaped image of the sweet-haired "pop idol". Interestingly, in the encyclopedias of the future, along with the hyperbolic Grozny and the Great, will the lithote Philippe Sweet?

Who is against the litos?

Litota as an understatement is always contrasted with hyperbole - exaggeration. When the rhetoric of the 7 free arts was still studied in every princely or monastic school, the hyperbole was a uniform form for exaggeration and understatement. And now the hyperbole is just an exaggeration, and the share of the lithotes is also the attitude, and simplification, and reduction, and clarification. A small and very remote path, this is our litote. Examples of lithology are most often found in fairy tales. Thumbelina is a litote. And Nekrasov's "peasant with a nail." By the way, both heroes defeat all troubles and cope with tasks much faster and more efficiently than the hyperbolized Robin Bobin Barabek. Giant Goliath is almost always defeated by the little David. And why? Apparently, because the wisdom of the people is inherent in seeing strength in weakness and smallness, and not in exaggerated power. The acorn is small, but grows into a large tree. Sometimes in the tree of the world.

Mitigation pathway

Sometimes we use the litho and in order to soften this or that sharp expression. You can rightly say: "Cows do not fly" - but a valuable agricultural animal can be offended. If we want to be more diplomatic, we use the litho as a stylistic means of softening the tonality and say that "to perform this exercise, the cow has nonideal aerodynamic characteristics." And the meaning is passed on, and no one is offended. That's in the practice of diplomats appears its own litote. Examples of diplomatic litanies are brighter. "The rebels on the Maidan are displeased," the US ambassador will say, reacting to the burned House of Trade Unions. Like any good weapon, the litota belongs not only to one side, the people, but can also be used by the opposite side. But not always successfully. As a double-edged weapon, it can be turned against the gigantism that the ambassador nation suffers. If the litote always defeats the 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 the Griboedov" spitz no more than a thimble ". But this is not interesting. It is always more interesting to look for a litot not straight, but hidden in any other constructions at first sight. For example, from Eugene Onegin, where a person is given the right to "think about the beauty of nails." This is also a litocha, a deliberate diminution of the significance of the image while preserving the expressed strength of the actor.

If we talk about the litote as an instrument of sarcasm and cynicism, then turning the image of Raskolnikov into an anecdote "one hundred old women is already a ruble" is the litote of the idea. The deliberate decline in the ideology that led to the murder, the ideology of the "right I have", the reduction of the dovoyevshchina and ideology of the superman to the banal self-interest, and the overtones of Dostoevsky's philosophy of humor to the simple humor of Kharms "and the old women all fell down."

Training in language skills

If you want to replenish your vocabulary in order to be able to give a decent definition of what a litote is, examples from fiction are exactly what you need. Since the reading of works of art not only enriches the lexicon, but also decently develops the very imagery of man's thinking. Take a newspaper article or a volume of Pushkin and independently find out where this litot is hiding, examples of which will help to expand the expressiveness of your own luggage. In addition, do not forget that it is better to give up more than say more than necessary. So, the more litos, the thinner and more expressive speech, the more meanings can be used and in fewer cases risk being accused of inaccuracy. And those who want to achieve success in the diplomatic or journalistic field, we must try to make maximum use of the capabilities of this tool. Increasingly, lately occurs in the Russian language. Look for examples of it better in folk tales.