From alliterations and allusions to polyptotons, antitheses, merisms and blazons, Mark Forsyth and his book The Elements of Eloquence: How to Turn the Perfect English Phrase has provided ingenious ways on how to create memorable copy. Today, we’ll be digging deeper into the world of clever literary manipulation – some of which have the unfortunate consequence of making you sound like a maniac when used improperly!
Hyperbatons and skewing word ordering
The English language is rather finicky in terms of word placement. When word ordering is skewed or inverted, a hyperbaton is created. To put things into perspective, let’s use Barney the purple friendly big dinosaur as an example. Wait, that didn’t sound quite right, did it? Even though the adjectives all correctly apply to him, the way they were ordered appears rather daft. According to Forsyth, adjectives in English is “absolutely” bound to the following sequence: “opinion-size-age-shape-colour-origin-material-purpose Noun” – making Barney the big friendly purple dinosaur the only acceptable arrangement.
Have you also wondered why we always say flip-flop instead of flop-flip, ding-dong instead of dong-ding or other sort of ablaut reduplications? Without really questioning why, all we know is that the latter sounds positively preposterous. You may think that hyperbatons are good for nothing at this point, but Forsyth believed otherwise. In 1642, Richard Lovelace wrote the poem “To Althea, from Prison”, and it contained the following verse:
“Stone walls do not a prison make,
Nor iron bars a cage…”
If you were to compare the above to the grammatically correct “Stone walls do not make a prison”, Lovelace’s version is definitely catchier and more memorable. Furthermore, Forsyth argued that Lovelace’s form of hyperbaton (adjective noun does not a noun make) has been used countless times ever since – like in the American TV series Moonlighting. “Hyperbaton is a slap in the face to any English speaker, and when it works, it goes straight into the language,” he writes.
Note that there are instances where hyperbatons really do not work, such as with imperative phrasal verbs. Let’s say Little Timmy was about the fall down a well, so naturally we’d shout, “Look out!” to bring attention to Timmy’s impending doom. If we pull a hyperbaton and say “Out look!”, people would probably be too preoccupied figuring out what we just said to think about helping the child.
Renowned users of the anadiplosis.
Anadiplosis and commanding attention with reiterations
After people experienced the skewed speaking style of Jedi Master Yoda in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, hyperbatons started becoming more popular in mainstream media. However, Forsyth believed that Yoda’s strange speech did not create his most memorable quote – rather, it was his usage of anadiplosis (taking the last word of a sentence and repeating it as the first word of the next sentence):
“Fear is the path to the dark side… fear leads to anger… anger leads to hate… hate leads to suffering.”
~ Yoda in Star Wars: Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace
“The repetition of the last word of one clause as the first word of the next gives both lines their power,” writes Forsyth. From the Bible (Romans V: line 3) and Shakespeare (King Richard II – line 2400) to Reverend Jesse Jackson (fourth final paragraph) and Malcolm X (24th paragraph) and now Yoda, anadiplosis has been used extensively throughout the ages to imbue arguments with power. “Anadiplosis gives the illusion of logic. Like a conquering general it arrives at a word, plants a flag there and the moves on. By doubling down, it makes everything seem strong, structured and certain,” describes Forsyth.
However, an anadiplosis does not always need to be logical. Sometimes, it can simply be beautiful – like in the Beatle’s song “Here, There and Everywhere”:
“To lead a better life, I need my love to be here.
Here, making each day of the year,
Changing my life with the wave of her hand,
Nobody can deny that there’s something there.
There, running my hands through her hair,
Both of us thinking how good it can be,
Someone is speaking but she doesn’t know he’s there.”
As powerfully logical or beautiful as anadiplosis may be, use it sparingly, otherwise you risk creating run-on sentences that become an absolute chore to read – like with the periodic sentence.
Periodic sentences and the lost full stop
Imagine yourself reading a synopsis for Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, except the brakes have malfunctioned:
Young Harry Potter was an orphaned child living on 4 Privet Drive with his aunt, uncle and cousin, who were very abusive towards Harry ever since he showed up on their doorstep many years ago, and as he got older, he began developing strange and magical powers that earned him the invitation to the grandest magic school in the country – The Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry – however, all was not well, as the evil Lord Voldemort, who had caused the death of Harry’s parents and had allegedly been defeated by their sacrifice, was on the verge of a grand return.
A periodic sentence is defined as “a very big sentence that is not complete until the end,” and writers like Shakespeare are adept users of periodic sentences – like in John of Gaunt’s death scene in Richard II. As tedious as they are to read, the huge mass of words have a twofold effect: the details paint an addictively enticing picture that becomes more and more defined as the reader continues; and because of the sunk-cost fallacy, readers feel obligated to push through to avoid having their prior efforts wasted.
That said, Forsyth explains that not all periodic sentences need to run on for miles to make a point. Using Sting’s song “Every Breath You Take” as an example, he illustrated that periodic sentences can be equally charming and catchy when used with restraint (although the lyrics are somewhat creepy if taken out of context):
“Every breath you take,
Every move you make,
Every bond you break,
Every step you take,
I’ll be watching you.”
“So long as you remember not to blurt out your main verb too early, so long as you begin clause after clause with when or if or though or while or so long… periodic sentences are a doddle [trivial task],” he concludes.
Hyperbatons, anadiplosis and periodic sentences are often unfairly lumped together with grammatical errors. However, we hope that this article has provided some insight as to how these “errors” may be used to craft catchy copy. Stay tuned for more!