Silent Schwa

Paralepsis /ˌpærəˈlɛpsɪs/ – the suggestion, by deliberately concise treatment of a topic, that much of significance is being omitted, as in “not to mention other faults.”  From the Ancient Greek παράλειψις, meaning “omission.” Also spelled paraleipsis or paralipsis.

Here’s a real-life example of political paralepsis wherein then-candidate Barack Obama addressed Hillary Clinton’s suggestion that he (Obama) was unelectable:

“And this argument is being pushed, by the way, by a candidate who starts off with a 47% disapproval rating.  You know, so, I’m not going to mention names, but I mean the notion that a viability or an electability argument is being made by somebody who starts off with almost half the country not being able to vote for (pause and laughter) them doesn’t make sense.”

Cracked did a great article on words that don’t mean what most people think they mean.  As usual, funny but true.

http://www.cracked.com/article_15664_9-words-that-dont-mean-what-you-think.html

Ausgezeichnet /ˈausgətsaiçnət/ – excellent; awesome; fantastic

I love the sound of this word.  Listen for it in Quentin Tarantino’s “Inglorious Basterds” (an awesome movie for language nerds).