The A to Z Challenge Blog 2022: the letter L

Posted bySusanne MatthewsPosted inUncategorized

As a child, did you sing: “Rain, rain go away?” I did and I feel like doing it again today! Dreary skies are depressing, but we must think positive. This too will end. It will be warm and sunny, flowers will bloom, and life will go on. So many people have it worse than I do. What’s a little rain?

Today’s letter is the letter L. To me in my writing, L stands for Litotes. I can hear you right now saying, litotes? What the heck are those? Litotes are a figure of speech using understatement as a rhetorical device. This is done by using the negative to mean the opposite, and believe it or not, we do it all the time. Yes, that’s right. Even you do it.

How many times have you said, “not bad” about something that was good? Not bad can mean anything from so-so to excellent. Another example might be, I don’t hate it, when what you really mean is you like it or you’re undecided. Litotes are deliberate understatements used for emphasis, with the interpretation of the negation depending on the context, intonation, and emphasis. It may also depend on the generation. For example, what was cool to me, might be sick to someone else.

That’s it. Come back tomorrow for more. Check out the other posts here. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1nuoAOJ-BUAXE1Yl2yIArhUHInj902PHVX6_gL4oKiSo/edit#gid=1195767304

Published by Susanne Matthews

Hi! I live in Eastern Ontario. I'm married with three adult children and five wonderful grandchildren. I prefer warm weather, and sunshine but winter gives me time to write. If I’m listening to music, it will be something from the 1960s or 1970s. I enjoy action movies, romantic comedies, but I draw the line at slasher flicks and horror. I love science fiction and fantasy as well. I love to read; I immerse myself in the text and, as my husband says, the house could fall down around me, and I’d never notice. My preferences are as varied as there are genres, but nothing really beats a good romance, especially one that is filled with suspense. I love historical romance too, and have read quite a few of those. If I’m watching television, you can count on it being a suspense — I’m not a fan of reality TV, sit-coms, or game shows. Writing gives me the most pleasure. I love creating characters that become real and undergo all kinds of adventures. It never ceases to amaze me how each character can take on its own unique personality; sometimes, they grow very different from the way I pictured them! Inspiration comes from all around me; imagination has no bounds. If I can think it, imagine it, I can write it!

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