What is the literary term for deliberate understatement?
Understatement Understatement Understatement is a form of speech or disclosure which contains an expression of lesser strength than what would be expected. It is the opposite of an embellishment. The rhetorical form of understatement is litotes in which understatement is used for emphasis and irony. This is not to be confused with euphemism, where a polite phrase is used in place of a harsher or more offensive expression. Understatement often leads to litotes, rhetorical constructs in which understatement is used to emphasize a point. It is a staple of humour in English-speaking cultures. For example in "Monty Python's The Meaning of
English understatement mannerism" is considered by Frederick Bracher to be inherited from "an earlier, possibly common-Germanic, poetic tradition"; he notes that understatement is also found in mediaeval German poetry and Old Norse poetry. Such understatement may have the effect of mocking irony, humour, emphasis, and the tempering of an (otherwise rather sharp) expression. English understatement Understatement is a staple of traditional English culture. It has been exploited to humorous effect, but it is also characterised as part of the English cultural attitude to life. The stereotype of English understatement has been exploited in humour, for example in "Monty Python's The Meaning of