Make Your Point > Archived Issues > APHORISM
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pronounce
APHORISM:
Say it "AFF uh rizz um."
To hear it, click here.
connect this word to others:
1. "Doubt is the beginning, not the end, of wisdom" (George Ile?).
2. "The good thing about science is that it's true whether or not you believe in it." (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
3. "Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter" (Yoda).
Those statements are aphorisms: brief, insightful sayings.
Aphorisms are always p__hy: short and full of meaning, as in "Show me your friends, and I'll tell you what you are."
And they might be epi_____atic: not only brief and insightful, but also clever, as in "There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about" (Oscar Wilde).
Could you recall both of those adjectives?
(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)
definition:
Our word "aphorism" has roots that literally mean "something marked off," or even more literally, "bound from." In English, we first used "aphorism" to mean "a definition" or "a statement of a scientific principle."
Eventually, the meaning morphed into the one we use today. An aphorism is a short, wise statement.
grammatical bits:
Part of speech:
Noun, the countable kind: "He's remembered for his aphorisms;" "She starts each chapter with a quoted aphorism."
Other forms worth knowing:
The most common ones are "aphorisms," "aphoristic," and "aphoristically."
And, aphorists are people who write or publish aphorisms.
how to use it:
Our word "aphorism" is the formal, common, serious one we need when words like "cliché" and "saying" are too vague.
Talk about someone's aphorisms: "He's always repeating Ben Franklin's aphorisms." Or, talk about people sharing or reciting aphorisms, or gathering or publishing them, pondering them, proving them or disproving them, etc.
examples:
"The well-worn aphorism of the Frenchman, 'History repeats itself,' was about to assert itself."
— Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, Checkmate, 1871
"The founder of the drug company... was remembered for the aphorism 'Show me a drug with no side effects, and I'll show you a drug with no effects.'"
— Mitch Daniels, Washington Post, 31 December 2020
has this page helped you understand "aphorism"?
study it:
Explain the meaning of "aphorism" without saying "maxim" or "precept."
try it out:
Here's one of my favorite aphorisms: "Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence."
Oh, and this one:
Talk about one or two of your own favorite aphorisms.
If you don't have any favorites, see if you can find some you like on this list.
before you review, play:
Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.
Our game for January is "Find the Missing Link."
In each chain of words, find the one that's missing from the middle. This missing link, according to a thesaurus, is a synonym of each word on its left and right. But as you'll see, the words on the left and right are most definitely not synonyms!
For example, if I give you "special → _____ → typical," then you answer, "peculiar," because sometimes "peculiar" means "special, different, odd," but other times it means "typical of this, specific to this, distinctively this."
To see the answer, scroll all the way down. Your answer might be different from mine but just as good. Enjoy!
Try this one today:
winning → _____ → initial
review this word:
A. ILL-FITTING and AWKWARD.
B. LONG-WINDED and FOOLISH.
C. SHORT-LIVED and TRANSIENT.
2. In middle school, my choir director's #1 aphorism was "_____."
A. Energy, energy, energy
B. Well, you'd best get to stepping
C. A choir is only as good as its weakest member
a final word:
I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love.
I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.
From my blog:
36 ways to study words.
Why we forget words, & how to remember them.
How to use sophisticated words without being awkward.
To be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.
Disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.
1. "Doubt is the beginning, not the end, of wisdom" (George Ile?).
Our word "aphorism" has roots that literally mean "something marked off," or even more literally, "bound from." In English, we first used "aphorism" to mean "a definition" or "a statement of a scientific principle."
Part of speech:
Our word "aphorism" is the formal, common, serious one we need when words like "cliché" and "saying" are too vague.
"The well-worn aphorism of the Frenchman, 'History repeats itself,' was about to assert itself."
Explain the meaning of "aphorism" without saying "maxim" or "precept."
Here's one of my favorite aphorisms: "Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence."
Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.
I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love.
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