| aposiopesis |
| Definition: When your speech peters out or halts because you are, seemingly, overpowered by emotion. |
| Example: My tongue isn't long enough to say how much I love you …. |
| Etymology: It derives from a Greek word that means "to keep silent." |
| OED: The word's first OED citation is from 1578: "A figure called Aposiopesis, after the which something not expressed is to be understood." (Timme Calvin on Gen. 146) |