What's the word/phrase for defining something or someone by what they aren't?
For example, if you ask me what is good, and I say "Well, it's not murdering children, it's not stealing, etc.," then what am I doing?
What's the word/phrase for defining something or someone by what they aren't?
Wyatt Nguyen
Dominic Turner
Not sure but try
en.wikipedia.org
Also try this
en.wikipedia.org
Though apophasis has other specific rhetorical meanings
Christopher Clark
Thanks, but it's more of a casual idiom/phrase than a formal philosophical method/theory.
Also maybe worth noting is that I already tried various search engines which are all rendered useless when your query includes "define" because then all they want to give you is definitions of words.
Matthew Williams
litote
Ian Clark
Litote is trope that builds a slightly positive connotation through a negative grammatical construction.
I.e. That Shelley talks a lot but she's not undesirable.
Luke Wilson
Definition by Genus and Difference, or, A Genus-differentia defintion
en.wikipedia.org
This might not be what you are looking for
Camden Taylor
>For example, if you ask me what is good, and I say "Well, it's not murdering children, it's not stealing, etc.," then what am I doing?
"good" has a slightly positive connotation, bro
Ayden Long
Hate to be THAT guy, but "litote" is not a word. There is no such thing as "a litote", just the rhetorical device "litotes".
Angel Powell
Oh, and it also doesn't have to be only slightly positive. For example, if you comment about a girl saying that she's insanely hot, I might say "well, she isn't ugly" as a way of agreeing with you.
Nicholas Powell
This is different than what you posted in the OP
Owen Hernandez
the guy who can't speak french? or the guy who can't speak greek?
Nathan Anderson
Daniel Smith
>rhetorical device
aren't those words though
Asher Barnes
OP here. That guy isn't me.
Jayden Green
Critic. Basically you are just a bitch who posits nothing and can only attempt to negate the actual creativity of your superiors. Grow the fuck up.
Chase Jackson
That is not what I was meant. I'm not necessarily talking about values exclusively I just mean anyone defining anything or anyone by what that thing or person is not. For example, instead of saying you want to hire a painter, you might say "I want someone to work on my house who is not a plumber, not an electrician, and not a carpenter."
Carter Ortiz
It is literally this then OP
Joshua Hughes
why do you want a butcher to work on your house?
Daniel Young
Trying too hard to fit in.
I'm not sure if there's a word for it, but you're euphemistically slighting someone, implying they have no value to bring, except for the value that comes associated with being a normal human.
Adrian Howard
Because it implies that he cares little about the work and just wants it taken care of by someone quickly. (or maybe it's just sarcasm?)
Nicholas Reed
What the fuck are you talking about? I am talking about a term in English, motherfucker, do you speak it?
I really have no clue what the hell you're even trying to say.
How much simpler can I make this for you people. When referring to that particular rhetorical device while using the English language, we say "litotes". Always. There is no such fucking thing as "a litote". If you want to refer to the use of this rhetorical device, you would say "The writer employed litotes to emphasize the woman's beauty" NOT "The writer employed a litote . . . " Is that clear enough?
Nathan Sanchez
#
I'm not OP. I meant that litotes does not have to be used only to give a slightly positive connotation, but can also give a dramatically positive connotation, as in the example of my previous post.
Chase Bell
en.m.wikipedia.org
Probably not what youre looking for, but interesting nonetheless
Adrian Ward
...
Liam Wilson
damn she ugly