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Commoratio Repetition

Commoratio (A Type of Deliberate Repetition)

homeglossaryCommoratio Repetition
There are three main types of repetition: anaphora, epiphora, and commoratio.

Commoratio

Commoratio is deliberately repeating an idea back to back, but in different words. For example:
  • "It’s not pinin’. It’s passed on! This parrot is no more! It has ceased to be! It’s expired and gone to meet its maker! This is a late parrot! It’s a stiff! Bereft of life, it rests in peace! If you hadn’t nailed it to the perch, it would be pushing up the daisies! Its metabolical processes are of interest only to historians! It’s hopped the twig! It’s shuffled off this mortal coil! It’s run down the curtain and joined the choir invisible! This is an ex-parrot!"
  • (Monty Python’s Dead Parrot Sketch)
  • "Space is big. You just won’t believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it’s a long way down the road to the chemist’s, but that’s just peanuts to space.
  • (From The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, 1952–2001)

Commoratio in Business Writing

Here is an example of how commoratio might appear in business correspondence:
  • We have considered your solution and are impressed by its practicality. It looks very viable. Very viable indeed.
teachers note

A Note from Teacher

Repeating words or ideas in your document can be useful. Used occasionally, deliberate repetition can:
  • Be used for emphasis.
  • Be memorable.
  • Make an impact.
  • Make you look confident.
beware

Beware!

As with all these creative techniques, there are also a few dangers. If you want to spice up your writing with deliberate repetition, you must avoid:
  • Over-cooking. When you make your point so strongly your readers grow suspicious and start questioning it.
  • "The lady doth protest too much, methinks."
    (From Hamlet by William Shakespeare, 1564–1616)
  • Redundancy. When you waste your readers’ time by telling them what you’ve just told them and this overrides the "spice" you’d sought with the repetition.


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