"Trope" Aaaarrrgghhh!!!!

[ardcarp]

Certain word suddenly become buzz words. Now that 'existential' has been done to death [!], 'trope' seems to be used by the trendy set, meaning, I suppose (ironically) a significant or recurrent theme or motif.

I'm afraid for me it retains its musical meaning of extra words (+usually extra notes) in plainsong, e.g. 'deus creator omnium' in a Kyrie, or the often lengthy Marian tropes in Magnificats.

Should this be in pedants' corner?

[ahinton]

Certain word suddenly become buzz words. Now that 'existential' has been done to death [!], 'trope' seems to be used by the trendy set, meaning, I suppose (ironically) a significant or recurrent theme or motif.

I'm afraid for me it retains its musical meaning of extra words (+usually extra notes) in plainsong, e.g. 'deus creator omnium' in a Kyrie, or the often lengthy Marian tropes in Magnificats.

Should this be in pedants' corner?

Better in the "teeth on edge" one, I'd have thought...

[DracoM]

Certain word suddenly become buzz words. Now that 'existential' has been done to death [!], 'trope' seems to be used by the trendy set, meaning, I suppose (ironically) a significant or recurrent theme or motif.

I'm afraid for me it retains its musical meaning of extra words (+usually extra notes) in plainsong, e.g. 'deus creator omnium' in a Kyrie, or the often lengthy Marian tropes in Magnificats.

Should this be in pedants' corner?

Yup.............driving me crackers too.
Image / metaphor / comparison?

[Maclintick]

Certain word suddenly become buzz words. Now that 'existential' has been done to death [!], 'trope' seems to be used by the trendy set, meaning, I suppose (ironically) a significant or recurrent theme or motif.

I'm afraid for me it retains its musical meaning of extra words (+usually extra notes) in plainsong, e.g. 'deus creator omnium' in a Kyrie, or the often lengthy Marian tropes in Magnificats.

Should this be in pedants' corner?

The Urban Dictionary seems to suggest that "trope",is, like, morphing definition-wise....

trope
An overused, nearly meaningless word worn out by pretentious twits, much like paradigm. See hackneyed and vacuous.

Something similar happened to the adjective "random" a long time ago....
Yes, this thread should totally be moved to Pedant's Corner, or even Pedants' Corner....

[gurnemanz]

Is it related to the "meme"? Both sound like creatures from the "Jabberwocky" and neither will be joining my active vocabulary.

[ardcarp]

Possible to have a corner occupied by only one pedant, I suppose.

[MrGongGong]

I always think about this one

[Richard Barrett]

Is it related to the "meme"? Both sound like creatures from the "Jabberwocky" and neither will be joining my active vocabulary.

The term "meme" was coined by Richard Dawkins to denote a "unit of cultural transmission" as an analogy with the gene as a unit of genetic transmission, but its meaning has become somewhat specialised and these days seems to mean a unit of cultural transmission through the internet. Dawkins' original intention was to demonstrate that such units (one example being jokes) diffuse through society by a process of natural selection akin to the way that genes proliferate and/or die out, which was at the very least a questionable notion, while the current usage of "meme" refers to something much more specific and recognisable, so it is actually the only word that concisely characterises the object/phenomenon in question, even though it might not be a thing you personally wish to talk about.

A "trope" on the other hand has for a very long time denoted "any literary or rhetorical device, as metaphor, metonymy, synecdoche, and irony, that consists in the use of words in other than their literal sense." So it's more general than the term "metaphor". It does seem to have suddenly become much more popular than before, though.

[french frank]

A "trope" on the other hand has for a very long time denoted "any literary or rhetorical device, as metaphor, metonymy, synecdoche, and irony, that consists in the use of words in other than their literal sense."

Indeed. I've known it as a kind of rhetorical/literary device for about five decades. I didn't use it, though, as I was never quite sure of its precise meaning

[gradus]

Indeed. I've known it as a kind of rhetorical/literary device for about five decades. I didn't use it, though, as I was never quite sure of its precise meaning

How did you learn to use language?

[french frank]

How did you learn to use language?

When I was two years old? I learnt differently then from now.

[Stanfordian]

Certain word suddenly become buzz words. Now that 'existential' has been done to death [!], 'trope' seems to be used by the trendy set, meaning, I suppose (ironically) a significant or recurrent theme or motif.

I'm afraid for me it retains its musical meaning of extra words (+usually extra notes) in plainsong, e.g. 'deus creator omnium' in a Kyrie, or the often lengthy Marian tropes in Magnificats.

Should this be in pedants' corner?

Can't say I've heard the word 'trope' used in conversation as yet. I'll listen out for it.

[Serial_Apologist]

Can't say I've heard the word 'trope' used in conversation as yet. I'll listen out for it.

It was used in yesterday's Jeremy Vine programme in conversation, on Channel 5. The most use I've noted of it recently has been in connection with antisemitism: "trope" being used to describe terms or clichés said to indicate antisemitic sentiments by those using them, for example "the international banking fraternity". Anything can be made to mean anything these days, apparently...

[ardcarp]

Yes it certainly cauliflower.

[verismissimo]

In the nineties we seemed to have paradigms, particularly shifts in them …
Then in the noughties it became necessary for all academic papers and lectures to include tropes …
Now we seem to be awash with memes …