Figure of speech. In one of his many puerile verbal
hijinks in Aeolus Lenehan refers to the death of Moses
with a long and absurdly hyphenated string of words: "A
sudden–at–the–moment–though–from–lingering–illness–often–previously–expectorated–demise."
He is practicing what the rhetoricians called periphrasis,
a type of circumlocution. Additionally, in the word
"expectorated" he is committing catachresis.
Periphrasis
(puh-RIF-ruh-sis, from Greek
peri- = around +
phrasein
= to declare) can have different meanings in rhetorical (and
linguistic) theory, but it principally denotes a roundabout way
of saying something––using many words where one or a few would
suffice. The elaboration may be as brief as saying "I am going
to do it" rather than "I will do it" or as long as Micawber's
offer to give directions in
David Copperfield: "‘Under
the impression,’ said Mr. Micawber, ‘that your peregrinations in
this metropolis have not as yet been extensive, and that you
might have some difficulty in penetrating the arcana of the
Modern Babylon in the direction of the City Road—in short,’ said
Mr. Micawber, in another burst of confidence, ‘that you might
lose yourself—I shall be happy to call this evening, and install
you in the knowledge of the nearest way.'”
In sonnet 74 Shakespeare imagines death as an officer of the
law: "when that fell arrest / Without all bail shall carry me
away." The metaphorical personification is not necessary, but it
lends force to the imagination of death's sudden, imperious, and
irresistible arrival on the scene. Lenehan does something
sillier. Moses' death, he suggests, must have seemed sudden at
the moment, but the man was old and infirm, so surely he
suspected that it might be coming. None of this needs saying or
adds much to one's understanding that Moses died at an advanced
age.
The unnecessary elongation in this phrase extends even to
changing the word "expected" to "expectorated." Gilbert
and Seidman call the change paragogue––altering
the spelling of a word by adding a letter or syllable––but
this does not really seem like variant orthograpy. Rather,
Lenehan appears to be childishly playing with the sounds of
words, as in the quasi-metathesis he works with
"Clamn dever." By inserting "orat," he produces an entirely
new word. "Expect" comes from the Latin root spectare
= to look at. "Expectorate" (from Latin pectus =
breast) means to eject from the chest––i.e., to spit.
Lenehan's choice of the wrong word, no matter whether ignorant
or deliberate, means that this passage should instead be
described as catachresis.
