Accismus
Feigned refusal of something earnestly desired
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Accismus is a feigned refusal of something earnestly desired.[1][2][3]
The 1823 Encyclopædia Britannica writes that accismus may sometimes be considered as a virtue or sometimes a vice.[1]
The Latin term comes from the Greek word is "ἀκκισμός", which, according to Britannica, was "supposed to be formed from Acco (Greek: Ἀκκώ), the name of a foolish old woman, famous in antiquity for an affectation of this kind."[1] (An 1806 Lexicon manuale Graeco-Latinum et Latino-Graecum agrees with this derivation.[4] However an 1820 Lexicon Graeco-Latinum associates Acco with idle occupation, e.g., chatting with other women or looking into a mirror, hence the Greek coinages ἀκκίζομαι and ἀκκισμός).[5]
More particularly, in rhetorics, accismus is a figure of speech, a figure of refutation, and a type of irony.[1][2][6]
Examples
- (behaviour) Britannica cites Oliver Cromwell's refusal of the crown of England as an example of accismus.[1]
- (behaviour) Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia Of Literature cites the dismissal of the grapes by the fox in The Fox and the Grapes as an example.[6]
- When receiving gifts or honours, accismus is used to demonstrate modesty: "I am not worthy of the honor."[3]
- (ironic utterance) "I couldn't possibly accept such charity from you."[2]
