How we change what others think, feel, believe and do

Epitrope

Techniques > Use of language > Figures of speech > Epitrope

Method | Example | Discussion | See also

Description

Epitrope is the admission of wrong or concession of a point in order to gain something else.

Example

Ok. You can drive there. I'll drive back.

I was wrong to ask for help when you should be volunteering.

You know, I guess I can't add up. But then I can afford not to mind.

Discussion

In arguments or presentations, it is common to provide some form of negotiation, where giving in on something is done for the purpose of gaining something more valued.

This plays to the need for fairness and distributive justice, where we will accept something that is not necessarily desirable, but where it is deemed fair. In this way, epistrophe offers the listener a tacit bargain of accepting a point in a deal that is based social capital.

Epitrope can be used for irony, where the speaker is not really conceding, but is actually making a contrary point.

Classification: Reasoning