Word of the Day: Caesura
Sometimes a verbal stumble means more than being tongue-tied.
cae·su·ra
si-ˈzyu̇r-ə -ˈzhu̇r-
plural
caesuras or caesurae
si-ˈzyu̇r-(ˌ)ē
…
1 in modern prosody : a usually rhetorical break in the flow of sound in the middle of a line of verse
2 Greek and Latin prosody : a break in the flow of sound in a verse caused by the ending of a word within a foot
3 : break, interruption
a caesura between the movie and its sequel
4 : a pause marking a rhythmic point of division in a melody
caesural
si-ˈzyu̇r-əl -ˈzhu̇r-
adjective
During the concert Friday night, the important silences between movements — caesuras central to the impact of the music — were consistently broken by applause.
| Luke Schulze, San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 Mar. 2023
Tapper and Thompson show how Biden and his inner circle created an alternate universe that they tried to sell to the media and the public — the sort of corrosive mirage of unreality that Trump excels at building.
It was painful and infuriating to watch, and it’s painful and infuriating to read about. The nadir, of course, was Biden’s cascade of caesurae at the debate. It was not, as his advisers insisted, merely a bad night. It was a stunning display of a steep mental decline.
| Maureen Dowd, The Tragedy of Joe Biden