11.6. Litotes

Litotes (3) is a stylistic device of a peculiar use of negative constructions. The negation plus noun or adjective establishes positive feature in a person or thing.

1. It is not a bad thing. - It is a good thing.

2. He is no coward. - He is a brave man.

The negative construction is weaker than the affirmative one. But the negative constructions have a stronger impact on the reader than the affirmative. The latter have no additional connotation, the former have. These constructions are regarded as stylistic devices. Litotes is a deliberate understatement used to produce a stylistic effect. Here two meanings are materialized simultaneously: the direct (negative) and transferred (affirmative).The stylistic effect of litotes depends on intonation. Litotes is a construction with two negations, as in not unlike, not promising, not displeased. Two negatives make a positive. Litotes is used in different styles of speech, excluding those which may be called the matter-of-fact styles