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Ecphonesis (Greek: ἐκφώνησις) is an emotional, exclamatory phrase (exclamation) used in poetry, drama, or song. It is a rhetorical device that originated in ancient literature.
A Latin example is "O tempora! O mores!" ("Oh, the times! Oh, the morals!"). A modern example is "Young man!" from the song YMCA by the Village People.
Edgar Allan Poe used ecphonesis in “The Tell-Tale Heart:”
"Almighty God!--no, no! They heard!--they suspected!--they knew!--they were making a mockery of my horror!--this I thought, and this I think. But anything was better than this agony! Anything was more tolerable than this derision! I could bear those hypocritical smiles no longer! I felt that I must scream or die! and now--again!--hark! louder! louder! louder! louder! "'Villains!' I shrieked, 'dissemble no more! I admit the deed!--tear up the planks! here, here!--It is the beating of his hideous heart!'"
Other examples of ecphonesis include when Homer Simpson said "No! No-no-no-no-no-no! Well, yes." during The Simpsons episode "Homer The Heretic,"[1] and when the Scarecrow said "Oh joy! Rapture! I got a brain!" in The Wizard of Oz.[2]
Donald Trump used the expressions "Sad!" and "Wrong!" without elaboration throughout his 2016 US presidential campaign.
- ^ "Homer The Heretic".
- ^ "The Wizard of Oz (1939) Quotes". IMDb.