paralepsis

[Mark Mandel]

In another forum, I just used the word "paralepsize" as a nonce coinage in
the sense 'to suggest something by saying you won't mention it', from
"paralepsis". Then I looked for it in OED Online and got

There are no results.
The nearest alphabetical match-point is displayed in the side-frame.

and that was "paralerema, n".

"What?", I thought, "don't they have 'paralepsis'?!" And the answer is, not
exactly: it is listed only as an irregular form of "paralipsis", in
centuries "15 19-". I was surprised, having known the word for years, but
only in the "e" spelling. Googits are about 2-1 for the "i" spelling:

 "about 21,300 for paralipsis"
 "about 10,300 for paralepsis"

m a m

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