Definition: An epigram is usually a brief couplet or quatrain. Epigram comes from epigramma, the Greek word for inscription. These short poems are often characterized by wit and humor. Dorthy Parker and Oscar Wilde sometimes used epigrams to express a clever expression or observation.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge once wrote: "What is an epigram? A dwarfish whole,/ Its body brevity, and wit its soul."
Oscar Wilde wrote, "I summed up all systems in a phrase, and all existence in an epigram."
Samuel Taylor Coleridge once wrote: "What is an epigram? A dwarfish whole,/ Its body brevity, and wit its soul."
Oscar Wilde wrote, "I summed up all systems in a phrase, and all existence in an epigram."
Also Known As: bon mot, witticism, quip
Common Misspellings: epigramme, epigramm, epiram
Examples:
Bruce Bennett, "Ironist""I mean the opposite of what I say.
You've got it now? No, it's the other way."
Matthew Prior, "A True Maid":
"No, no, for my virginity,
When I lose that, says Rose, I'll die:
Behind the elms, last night, cried Dick,
Rose, were you not extremely sick?"
John Wilmot, "Impromtu on Charles II":
"God bless our good and gracious king,
Whose promise none relies on,
Who never said a foolish thing,
Nor ever did a wise one."
