Bon mot -> 名言警句

Bon mot (Noun)   名言警句
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A clever saying; a witticism¹.
妙语聪明的说法；智慧之言




Pronunciation: [b?n)-'mo]

Definition 1: A witticism, a clever or witty² turn of phrase.

Usage 1: The plural³ of today's word is "bon mots," pronounced the same as the singular. A bon mot is a particularly well-turned phrase, distinguished⁴ more by wittiness⁵ than by profundity⁶, such as Adlai Stevenson's famous line, "A politician is a man who approaches every question with an open mouth." An epithet⁷ is an adjectival characterization of someone, as Lyndon Johnson's characterization of a senatorial colleague as someone who could not chew gum and walk at the same time. Apothegms and maxims⁹ are more purposeful philosophical¹⁰ opinions, e.g. Lord Acton's famous apothegm, "Power tends to corrupt¹¹ and absolute power corrupts¹² absolutely" or Charlemagne's profound maxim⁸, "To know another language is to have a second soul."

Suggested usage: People who craft bon mots are always a pleasure: "Sam Westgate fights the anfractuosities of the federal bureaucracy with a quiver of finely crafted bon mots," implies that Dr. Westgate loves the cleverly turned phrase. He might even use this one, again by the past master, Adlai Stevenson: "In America any boy may become president; I suppose that's the risk he takes."

Etymology¹³: Today's word is a French expression meaning "good word" or "good saying," based on "bon" from Latin bonus梕ven in English something quite "good," plus mot "word, saying, motto" (or, as the Italians say, "motto"), from late Latin *mottum from muttire "to murmur¹⁴, utter." Latin bonus "good" derives¹⁵ from an original root *d[e]w- with a variable [e] plus the suffix¹⁶ -en, also the source of bene "well," found in "benefit," "benediction," and "benign¹⁷." Initial *dw did not convert to [b] in Greek and so appears with the same -en suffix in Greek dynasthai "to be able" found in English "dynamic," "dynasty," and "dynamite¹⁸." This brings us to Dr. Sam Westgate, the dynamite guy who has been a real bonus to his colleagues in the U.S. State Department's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs for almost five years. Dr. Westgate's coworkers want him to know that he and his bon mots will be sorely missed when he moves over to the Bureau of European Affairs next week."