Tricolon

Three parallel words or phrases. From Greek “three unit.”1

When combined with alliteration or rhyme, it can produce a surprising effect when the third breaks form, as in, “Wine, women, and song,” and “Ready, steady, go.”2

It’s also effective if the last item is longer, as in, “Friends, Romans, countrymen,” and “We few, we happy few, we band of brothers.”3

  1. Definition and Examples of Tricolons in Rhetoric ↩

  2. The Elements of Eloquence pg. 99 ↩

  3. The Elements of Eloquence pg. 100 ↩

Notes mentioning this note

Figures of rhetoric
Figures of rhetoric [[Different types of repetition]] [[Alliteration]] [[Antithesis]] [[Merism]] [[Hendiadys]] [[Synaesthesia]] [[Tricolon]]
Tricolon
Tricolon Three parallel words or phrases. From Greek “three unit.”1 Definition and Examples of Tricolons in Rhetoric ↩