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purple passage (PUR-puhl PAS-ij) noun, also purple patch, purple prose
1. A brilliant passage in an otherwise dull and uninspiring work. 2. A piece of writing marked by ornate, florid style. [From Latin pannus purpureus (purple patch), a phrase used by poet Horace in his Ars Poetica (The Art of Poetry) to suggest a patch of royal fabric on an ordinary cloth.] "Page after page is filled with drunken quarrels with his wife; with lies, infidelities, religious doubts, homosexual yearnings and, above all, with his daily, desperate search for a bottle. Interspersed among these dreary horrors are purple passages about his love for his children, his dog and his fine house." A Gin at Mid-Morning -- John Cheever: The Journals by John Cheever, The Economist (London), Jan 11, 1992. This week's theme: words with color as metaphors. ............................................................................ People who are willing to give up freedom for the sake of short term security, deserve neither freedom nor security. -Benjamin Franklin, statesman, author, and inventor (1706-1790) Subscribe: http://wordsmith.org/awad/subscribe.html Unsubscribe: http://wordsmith.org/awad/unsubscribe.html Change address: http://wordsmith.org/awad/address-change.html Gift subscription: http://wordsmith.org/awad/gift.html Pronunciation: http://wordsmith.org/words/purple_passage.wav http://wordsmith.org/words/purple_passage.ram
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