Typophile

Rhetorical Device?

LexLuengas

Hi Typophiles,

I'm determining the name of a typeface I've almost finished, but need advice. (As the Critique section has been a bit desolate lately, I'm posting this here to catalyse the discussion for the sake of finishing my typeface before New Year.)

To what extent is Rhetorica a good name for a text typeface?

I chose the name mainly because of it's meaning in Spanish:

"f. Arte de bien decir, de dar al lenguaje escrito o hablado eficacia bastante para deleitar, persuadir o conmover." (Real Academia Española)

Nevertheless, I can't forget it's etymology, which is the art of public speech. I like the way the term has been generalized to the written language in Spanish-speaking countries, but I don't know if this has happened elsewhere. I was aiming at rhetorical device rather than rhetoric per se.

Do you think the majority of people will misinterpret Rhetorica in relation to the interpretation I'm aiming for?

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For those who feel they need to see my typeface to tell better, it's in the Critique section (I already inferred it :-) ). I'm not doing any advertising here.

Riccardo Sartori

It sounds good. That’s all it need.

Joshua Langman

Rhetorical devices are by definition devices of public speech. I don't quite understand the difference between the two interpretations you're contrasting.

tmac

Rhetorica sounds pretty good. I'll go over to the critique section and see what the type looks like.

The word Rhetoric, at least in North America, has shifted meaning. You will often read or hear pundits saying things like: "Enough with the rhetoric, we need action."

So there is some confusion or meaning-drift that equates rhetoric with sophistry -- ie: that rhetoric is deceptive word-play that is either without value (at best) or designed to fool the audience (at worst).

Of course, that's not the real definition of rhetoric. I think Rhetorica is enough removed from this misuse of the term rhetoric that it will be just fine.

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