Paralipsis: How To Emphasize An Idea By Deliberately Denying It

Sometimes the denial or absence of something draws more attention to it than having it there. You’ll find a lot of politicians, celebrities, speakers, and other highly visible people using this tactic in their speeches.

In rhetoric, this is called paralipsis. You might not have heard the term, but you’ve definitely used or even experienced this stylistic device when talking with others.

What is Paralipsis?

Paralipsis (also called apophasis, occupatio, and praeteritio) is where a speaker emphasizes something while saying very little about it or claiming not to say anything. It comes from the Greek word paraleipein meaning “to leave.” Its adjective form is paraliptic.

This way, you pretend to hide, deny or omit what you really want to express. You might even say that you don’t care about the subject. But because you bring it up, it leads your readers and listeners in that direction.

If you were to say “It would be bad of us to speak about his alleged drinking problems. Too many have already come out about his poor financial planning, so let’s not add to that. ” 

Here, you’re giving emphasis on the person’s current issues while positioning yourself as reluctant to talk about them. 

Here are a few more examples of paralipsis to help you better understand this rhetorical device.

• I’m not saying you’re responsible for this mess, but clean it up anyways.
• I’ve never called him short and fat. Why would I do that?
• Far be it from me to mention your many inadequacies.
• Let’s not talk about her shopping addiction, shall we?
• It looks like you spent a lot on that bag, not to mention you borrowed 60$ from me yesterday for food.
• It would be unnecessary of me to point out that you’re currently failing four classes.
• We’ve never told the press that he’s a lying, back-stabbing, sad caricature of a man.
• I’ll not waste time talking about how my opponent was caught outside a bar, at noon, reeking of vodka and in a state of undress.

Paralipsis in Literature, Pop Culture, and More

You’ll find a lot of examples of paralipsis in literature, pop culture, politics, and more. Here are some of the more famous ones.

1. Tony Stark in Iron Man 2

“I’m not saying I’m responsible for this country’s longest run of uninterrupted peace in 35 years! I’m not saying that from the ashes of captivity, never has a Phoenix metaphor been more personified! I’m not saying Uncle Sam can kick back on a lawn chair, sipping on an iced tea, because I haven’t come across any one man enough to go toe to toe with me on my best day!”

2. Ishmael in Moby Dick

“We will not speak of all Queequeg’s peculiarities here; how he eschewed coffee and hot rolls, and applied his undivided attention to beefsteaks, done rare.”

3. Chaucer in The Knight’s Tale

4. Mark Anthony in Julius Caesar

“Have patience, gentle friends, I must not read it.

It is not meet you know how Caesar lov’d you.

You are not wood, you are not stones, but men;

And, being men, hearing the will of Caesar,

It will inflame you, it will make you mad:

‘Tis good you know not that you are his heirs;

For if you should, oh, what would come of it!”

5. Donald Trump to Carly Fiorina

“I promised I would not say that she ran Hewlett-Packard into the ground, that she laid off tens of thousands of people and she got viciously fired. I said I will not say it, so I will not say it.“

6. Michelle Bachmann on the outbreak of swine flu

I find it interesting that it was back in the 1970s that the swine flu broke out…under another Democrat president, Jimmy Carter. And I’m not blaming this on President Obama. I just think it’s an interesting coincidence.

Using Paralipsis

Paralipsis is used in many ways. It’s a common tactic in politics to create ad hominem attacks while simultaneously disclaiming blame for them. For example, a politician might say “I’m not going to use my opponent’s youth and lack of education against him” to slyly bring the said characteristics to attention.

You could also use paralipsis passive-aggressively. You’ll see a lot of this in film and television scenes about couples fighting. Something like, “I’m not going to bring up that you’re always late. Or that you always forget chores. I won’t even talk about how you haven’t paid your share of the rent in 2 months!”

But paralipsis can also be used positively. You could use it to soften criticism and prevent hurt feelings. “It would be inappropriate of me to caution you against this, as I only care about your success.” 

With it, you can also approach taboo or dangerous subjects in a less obvious way. “I know we’re all friends, so we shouldn’t be too concerned about John’s frequent drinking.” Done right, it’ll spark a meaningful conversation about things that do need to be talked about.

What other examples of paralipsis can you think of? Share it in the comments below!

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