Posted by Eugene Volokh:
So That's What They Call It:
[1]A Word A Day tells us the name for locutions such as "Not to
mention X":
paralipsis (par-uh-LIP-sis) noun, plural paralipses (-seez)
Drawing attention to something while claiming to be passing over
it.
. . .
Paralipsis is especially handy in politics to point out an
opponent's faults. It typically involves these phrases: "not to
mention" "to say nothing of" "I won't speak of" "leaving aside"
An example from Moby Dick: "We will not speak of all Queequeg's
peculiarities here; how he eschewed coffee and hot rolls, and
applied his undivided attention to beefsteaks, done rare." . . .
References
1. http://www.wordsmith.org/awad/subscribe.html
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