Bathos

[puckimprov]

What does the term "Bathos" mean....I have heard of ethos and logos, but what is bathos????

[ravenhair]

Bathos refers to a sudden switch in style from the very highbrow or elevated to the very lowbrow or commonplace in writing or speaking; it's from the Greek word for depth.

[artisan]

Another word for this term of speech is anticlimax. Some speech goes up to climax, some doesn't. An example would be: The great, the wonderful, the terrific...ant.

[barra]

Cut and paste verbatim ___>
ba�thos Pronunciation Key (bths, -th�s)n. An abrupt, unintended transition in style from the exalted to the commonplace, producing a ludicrous effect. An anticlimax.
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Insincere or grossly sentimental pathos: 'a richly textured man who... can be... sentimental to the brink of bathos' (Kenneth L. Woodward).
Banality; triteness.
[Greek, depth, from bathus, deep.]

Source: The American Heritage� Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright � 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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bathos \Ba"thos\, n. [Gr. ? depth, fr. ? deep.] (Rhet.) A ludicrous descent from the elevated to the low, in writing or speech; anticlimax.
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, � 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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bathos

n 1: triteness or triviality of style 2: insincere pathos [syn: mawkishness] 3: a change from a serious subject to a disappointing one [syn: anticlimax]