| Definition: A figure of speech where the speaker deviates from expected word patterns. As opposed to tropes, which deviate from expected meanings. |
| Example: The phrase Dave, my friend's best friend uses the scheme called
apposition
. It deviates from the expected pattern by omitting the word is. |
| Etymology: It derives from the Greek schema, form or shape. |
Oxford English Dictionary: The word's first OED citation is from 1553: "I might tary a longe time in declaryng the nature of diuerse Schemes, whiche are woordes or sentencies altered … contrarie
to
the vulgare custome of our speache."
(T. Wilson Rhetoric, 94) |