AntanagogeAntanagoge — illustrated emblem for the Mr. B Quotes glossary, category Rhetoric & Figures of Speech“ARHETORIC & FIGURES OF SPEECH
Rhetoric & Figures of Speech

Antanagoge

Answering an unavoidable negative by placing a compensating positive beside it.

Antanagoge (Greek: 'a leading up against') is the figure of balancing a bad point with a good one instead of denying it. The speaker concedes the criticism and immediately sets an advantage against it, so the audience weighs a pair rather than a single fault.

It is the rhetorical engine of the proverb 'When life gives you lemons, make lemonade' and of most product disclaimers: 'It is not the cheapest, but it will outlast three of them.' The concession buys credibility; the counterweight does the persuading.

The figure differs from paromologia, which concedes a minor point to win a larger one, in that antanagoge does not dismiss the negative — it lets it stand and pays for it with something of equal or greater weight in the same breath.

Common mistake: offering a counterweight that answers a different objection. 'The software is slow, but our support team is friendly' invites the reader to notice that the reply does not touch the complaint.

Example
“The house is small, but every window looks at the sea.”
— figure demonstration · The defect is admitted in the first clause and paid for in the second — the two halves are weighed against each other, not against different claims.
Related terms

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