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“bathos”
1. The sudden shift in speech or writing from a lofty level to a lower commonplace one, for contrast or humor, or overdone sentiment that has become melodramatic or maudlin: The actors played the old tear-jerker for bathos and were rewarded with many laughs.
2. Etymology: literally "depth", but figuratively "dull" or "inane", generally to a ludicrous degree.
2. Etymology: literally "depth", but figuratively "dull" or "inane", generally to a ludicrous degree.
The term has been misused with pathos, which is something entirely different: the Greek pathos, like the Latin passio, means "suffering", and a pathetic work is one which depicts, or elicits, suffering.
When a captious reviewer denounces a comic's "pathetic" attempts to be funny, what she or he really means is "bathetic".
This entry is located in the following units:
batho-, bathy-
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Latin Proverbs, Mottoes, Phrases, and Words: Group B
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bathos, pathos
bathos (BAY thos") (noun)
A sudden change in speech or a writing from what is a serious or important subject to one that is silly, ordinary, or disappointing; particularly when someone is striving for a much more serious effect: The important message of the film is ruined by the bathos of its ridiculous ending.
Clarice walked across the street, lifting her skirt to avoid the puddle, only to create a picture of bathos by stepping into the manure left by a passing horse.
pathos (PAY thos) (noun)
Something that genuinely evokes pity or sorrow: The people's knowledge of his tragic end adds an element of pathos to the story of his early success.
The stage play, based on the story of a farm boy, created a sense of pathos in the audience as they remembered their own experiences.
Because of the melodramatic bathos of the film, Shelby found it difficult to generate any genuine pathos for the main character.
This entry is located in the following unit:
Confusing Words Clarified: Group B; Homonyms, Homophones, Homographs, Synonyms, Polysemes, etc.
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