marcus

RHETORIC The art of making life less believable; the calculate use of language, not to alarm but to do full harm to our busy minds and properly dispose our listeners to a pain they have never dreamed of. The context of what can be known establishes that love and indifference are forms of language, but the wise addition of punctuation allows us to believe that there are other harms—the dash gives the reader a clear sign that they are coming. (78)

Marcus, Ben. The Age of Wire and String. Dalkey Archive P, 1995.