[General] A figure of speech question.

[jiaruchan]

They happened to be killed in the quake. They were not heros. I would rather call heros those Chinese who dare burn themselves to protest against the regime's misrule and tyranny.-----------

Here, the writer uses the pattern 'call heros those...............' rather than ' call those who .................. heros ' to balance the sentence. What is this called in figure of speech？ Thank you.

 

[jlinger]

I wouldn't call it a figure of speech. It is simpy a rhetorical pattern of consistency. I would also have put quotes around "heros" in the second instance.

If he had written ... "I would rather call those Chinese who dare burn themselves to protest against the regime's misrule and tyranny heros" then you can see how the "heros" is lost entirely, after tyranny. Sounds like a "tyranny hero" if there could be such a thing.

 

[jiaruchan]

I wouldn't call it a figure of speech. It is simpy a rhetorical pattern of consistency. I would also have put quotes around "heros" in the second instance.

If he had written ... "I would rather call those Chinese who dare burn themselves to protest against the regime's misrule and tyranny heros" then you can see how the "heros" is lost entirely, after tyranny. Sounds like a "tyranny hero" if there could be such a thing.

Thank you. Do you mean you would use 'call those .....................(a long clause) the heros' or put 'heros' ahead as the writer did?

 

[Anglika]

Minor issue - the plural of hero is heroes.

 

[jlinger]

Heros is an accepted variant plural spelling. At least, in my dictionaries. It's not preferred, but I wasn't going to niggle over someone spelling something in a (secondarily) accepted fashion.

 

[Raymott]

Heros is an accepted variant plural spelling. At least, in my dictionaries. It's not preferred, but I wasn't going to niggle over someone spelling something in a (secondarily) accepted fashion.

I've just checked four dictionaries and can't find 'heros'.
(M-W, Cambridge, Macquarie, Oxford)
Is this a Canadian variant?

 

[jlinger]

I take it back.

After further study...
Heros is only an acceptable plural for the sandwich, not the person who eats it. I'm going to make a note of that on my Word Traps list, because it's new to me, and probably, because it IS a legitimate word, that's why some spell checkers don't catch it.

Even at my age, I love to learn! Thanks!