# "tmesis" - what a great word!

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tmesis-what-a-great-word/168709>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [April 14, 2003, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tmesis-what-a-great-word/168709 "2003-04-14T19:30:48Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Treviathan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/838e76/32.png) [@Treviathan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treviathan)\
**Post date:** [April 14, 2003, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tmesis-what-a-great-word/168709/1 "2003-04-14T19:30:48Z")

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From my daily e-mail from Dictionary.com:

**tmesis** \TMEE-sis, noun:

_In grammar and rhetoric, the separation of the parts of a compound word, now generally done for humorous effect; for example, “what place soever” instead of “whatsoever place,” or “abso-bloody-lutely.”_

I am posi-frickin’-tively going to bring up instances of tmesis whenever I get the chance. Tee hee!

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**Author:** ![IDemandBeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a88e57/32.png) [@IDemandBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IDemandBeer)\
**Post date:** [April 14, 2003, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tmesis-what-a-great-word/168709/2 "2003-04-14T19:55:26Z")

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Inso as I know far, this manner of speech can be rather con-fawkin’-fusing but neverthe rather amusing less. 🙂

–IDB

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**Author:** ![Mirror\_Image\_egamI\_rorriM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e56c9b/32.png) [@Mirror\_Image\_egamI\_rorriM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mirror_Image_egamI_rorriM)\
**Post date:** [April 14, 2003, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tmesis-what-a-great-word/168709/3 "2003-04-14T20:43:42Z")

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Hey, we have tmesis in Latin all the time! We also have litotes, asyndoten, synechdoche, chiastic word order, zeugma, polysyndoten, anaphora, and hysteron-proteron. Poetic terms are the best!

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**Author:** ![Alto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Alto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alto)\
**Post date:** [April 14, 2003, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tmesis-what-a-great-word/168709/4 "2003-04-14T21:32:56Z")

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My father taught me this little verse for remembering some of the figures of speech:

Honky little tonk is tmesis.  
“What the . . .” aposiopesis.  
He who woos with single roses  
flatters only by meiosis.  
Any girl should shut the door on  
such a dubious oxymoron.

(The example for oxymoron doesn’t make sense, but it does fix the word oxymoron in your head.)