|figure of abuse, abusion|
|The use of a word in a context that differs from its proper application.|
|This figure is generally considered a vice; however, Quintilian defends its use as a way by which one adapts existing terms to applications where a proper term does not exist.|
In this example, what is meant is conveyed through
a misapplication of one part of the body to another.
The word "parricide" literally means a killer
of one's father, but for lack of proper terms, is also used to refer
to killing one's mother or brother:
In this example, no parallel idiom to "sight unseen"
exists for things auditory, so the idiom is wrenched from its proper
context to this unusual one.
Similarly, there is no word comparable to "sightseeing" for a similar sort of tour done with sound, and so a familiar (if technically inappropriate) use of "seeing" is used:
|Related Topics of Invention|
|Sources:||Ad Herennium 4.33.35 ("abusio"); Quintilian 8.2.6; 8.6.34-36; Susenbrotus (1540) 11 ("catachresis," "abusio"); Sherry (1550) 41 ("catachresis", "abusio"); Wilson (1560) 200 ("abusion"); Peacham (1577) C4r; Putt. (1589) 190 ("catachresis," "figure of abuse"); Day 1599 79; Hoskins 1599 11; Butler B1r-v|