Antonomasia

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Antonomasia is a rhetoric device: the substitution of any epithet or phrase for a proper name; the opposite substitution of a proper name for some generic term is also sometimes called antonomasia. The word derives from the Greek word antonomazein meaning "to name differently".

A frequent instance of antonomasia in the Late Middle Ages and early Renaissance was the use of the term, "the Philosopher", to refer to Aristotle. A more recent example of the other form of antonomasia was the use in 1930s journalism of "Solons" for "the legislators", after the semi-legendary Solon, lawgiver of Athens.

A contemporary example of an antonomastic usage occurs in the phrase "He's such a Nimrod!", substituting the fearless hunter's name—who isn't portrayed as being particularly idiotic—for "idiot" or "jerk", a usage that has been made popular by the 1940s Bugs Bunny cartoons, in which Bugs Bunny frequently refers to Elmer Fudd (who keeps hunting the hare without success) sarcastically as "poor little Nimrod".

Another frequently encountered example is the phrase "I'm no Croesus", meaning "I'm not a very rich person".

More examples:

• "Pelides" or "the son of Peleus" for Achilles.
• "the Stagirite" for Aristotle.
• "the author of Paradise Lost" for Milton.
• "the little corporal" for Napoleon I.
• "Macedonia's madman" for Alexander the Great.
• "Urbe" for Rome.
• "The Iron Duke" for the Duke of Wellington.
• "The Bard" for William Shakespeare.
• "The Magpies" for Newcastle United.
• "Old Blue Eyes" for Frank Sinatra.
• "The Scottish play" for Macbeth.

• "a Daniel" for a wise judge.
• "a Cicero" for an orator.
• "a Benedict Arnold" for a traitor.

[edit] See also

• Eponym
• Metonymy

[edit] References

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.