This week's theme: words with color as metaphors. purple prose (PUR-puhl proz) noun
An overly ornate piece of writing. [Two synonyms of the term are 'purple passage' and 'purple patch'. The idea comes from Latin pannus purpureus (purple patch), a phrase used by the poet Horace in his Ars Poetica (The Art of Poetry) to suggest a patch of royal fabric on an ordinary cloth, a brilliant piece of writing in an overall dull work. Purple was the color of choice by the royalty as the purple dye was the most rare and hence most expensive.] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "How much purple prose will they have to suffer through just to find the dang necklace?" Amanda Henry; King of the World? The Tampa Tribune (Florida); Dec 18, 2007. Sponsored by: See a map of your word in the Visual Thesaurus. Wordsmith readers save 10%. Try it free! http://www.visualthesaurus.com/?ad=aw&code=h7q Subscribe to http://delanceyplace.com -- a carefully selected non-fiction book excerpt free to your email each day. It's the thinking person's daily quotation. ............................................................................ Our heads are round so that thoughts can change direction. -Francis Picabia, painter and poet (1879-1953) Send your comments to (words AT wordsmith.org). To unsubscribe, update address send gift subscription, etc., visit http://wordsmith.org/awad/subscriber.html Pronunciation: http://wordsmith.org/words/purple_prose.wav http://wordsmith.org/words/purple_prose.ram Permalink: http://wordsmith.org/words/purple_prose.html This message was sent to "[EMAIL PROTECTED]".
