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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

to emphasize everything is to emphasize nothing en · X

Etymology

Perhaps coined by American liberal arts professor John Scott Clark (see quote 1886) but more likely to be traditional. Used with many variations.

Meanings

  1. Emphasize excessively and nothing will stand out.
    • The temptation is constantly to tresspass upon the domain of Elocution, and indicate beforehand all particular emphasis; moreover, to emphasize everything is to emphasize nothing. 1886, John Scott Clark, chapter V, in A Practical Rhetoric for Instruction in English Composition and Revision in College and Intermediate Schools, New York: Henry Holt and Company, page 27: