the.com/turn of phrase
The same idea, dressed better, suddenly impossible to forget.
means A particularly skillful, pleasing, or memorable way of putting something into words.
from Built from 'turn,' used since the 1500s-1600s for a particular shape, cast, or style given to something — you could 'turn' a compliment or a verse the way a craftsman turns wood on a lathe, shaping it just so. 'Phrase' comes from Greek 'phrasis,' meaning speech or way of speaking. Put together, a 'turn of phrase' is literally a verbal shape given to an idea — the lathe-work of language.
- not content
- Changes delivery, not the underlying meaning.
- memory hack
- Rhythm and surprise make sentences stick in brains.
- danger zone
- Cleverness can outrun clarity if unchecked.
- not new
- Rhetoricians catalogued these tricks 2,000 years ago.