noun1. ASTRONOMY
a prominent pattern or group of stars, typically having a popular name but smaller than a constellation.
2. a group of three asterisks (⁂) drawing attention to following text.
Also used as Therefore in mathematics.
Category: Language
Language is based in threes. Sender, message, receiver. Subject verb object. A language involves a semantic system, a phonological system, and a syntactic system. Phonetics study the sounds of languages from three basic points of view.
Rhetorical Devices — Rule of Three
The rule of three describes triads of all types — any collection of three related elements. Two more specific triad variants are hendiatris and tricolon.
Hendiatris
A hendiatris is a figure of speech where three successive words are used to express a central idea.
Examples of hendiatris include:
- “Veni, vidi, vici.” [Julius Caesar]
- “Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité“ [French motto]
- “Citius, Altius, Fortius” [Olympic motto]
- “Wine, women, and song” [Anonymous]
Tricolon
A tricolon is a series of three parallel elements (words or phrases). In a strict tricolon, the elements have the same length but this condition is often put aside.
Examples of tricola include:
- “Veni, vidi, vici.” [Julius Caesar]
- “Be sincere, be brief, be seated.” [Advice for speakers from Franklin D. Roosevelt]
- “Tonight, we gather to affirm the greatness of our nation – not because of [1] the height of our skyscrapers, or [2] the power of our military, or [3] the size of our economy.” [Barack Obama, Keynote speech to Democratic National Convention, July 2004]
3 Simple Phrases Great Leaders Always Use
July 23, 2016 • 311 Likes • 20
“By habitually using these 3 phrases, you will strengthen your ability to effortlessly lead others in the direction that you want them to go. And that simply will make your role as a leader much more powerful and meaningful – something we all want when leading other people.”
They are:
- “And here’s why…”
- “Would you mind…”
- “Does this make sense?”
An often-cited but frequently misunderstood communication study completed by UCLA researcher Albert Mehrabian found that 93% of communication comes from something other than the words used.
Translation – only 7% comes from the actual words themselves.
Sounds pretty straightforward, right?
So why is this nugget of useful information so commonly misunderstood? Because in reality, the study doesn’t really relate to understanding the literal meaning of the words that are communicated.
It really relates to the impact of the words or the impression the person has of the communicator.
