Saying `I was not a little upset' when you mean `I was very upset' is an example of litotes. From Wordnet, Princeton University.
I'm not obscenely uneducated, but I had to look up "litotes". From Wordnik.com. [Steve Janke and dead, sodomized hookers? Hey, I'm just sayin'.] Reference
Belated kudos to ricky p., on that splendid "litotes" analogy. From Wordnik.com. [Your Right Hand Thief] Reference
They could be employing the subtle literary device of "litotes". From Wordnik.com. [A tidying-up exercise] Reference
A factually accurate restatement of my position, but a kind of litotes, like saying Lucy Liu is not very hideous at all. From Wordnik.com. [The Volokh Conspiracy » Would the Public Support “Cap and Refund”?] Reference
Center for Health Justice, even if he did use litotes to do so. From Wordnik.com. [Governor Vetoes Bill To Allow Condoms in Prisons] Reference
The place, he wrote in a superb litotes, was beginning to depress him. From Wordnik.com. [Revisiting Orwell's Wigan Pier] Reference
"He knew all the tricks: hyperbole, litotes, satire...he was vicious!". From Wordnik.com. [Happy Birthday, Monty Python's Flying Circus!] Reference
I'm just going to skim on by and assume the comment was meant as litotes. From Wordnik.com. [Shirky to TN Readers: Help Me Out?] Reference
We all use litotes even if we don't know what it's called, or how it operates. From Wordnik.com. [Steve Janke and dead, sodomized hookers? Hey, I'm just sayin'.] Reference
Ti-Guy--you may have missed the litotes in the first sentence of my last post. From Wordnik.com. [Steve Janke and dead, sodomized hookers? Hey, I'm just sayin'.] Reference
With no small joy we have observed the litotes bushes, once more in flower down by the littoral shores of our literal sea. From Wordnik.com. [VERTKRIEG] Reference
V. -- I pardon this epitrope, but pray use less metaphor and more litotes in the prosopography you dedicate to my modest entity. From Wordnik.com. [Prairie Farmer, Vol. 56: No. 3, January 19, 1884. A Weekly Journal for the Farm, Orchard and Fireside] Reference
I never had Joey down for being a master of litotes. From Wordnik.com. [Top stories from Times Online] Reference
How many even know the meaning of anaphora, antimetabole or litotes?. From Wordnik.com. [The Chicago Blog] Reference
Wot, no distinction between meiosis and litotes, or iambus and spondee?. From Wordnik.com. [VERBATIM: The Language Quarterly Vol VIII No 3] Reference
As we will see, "reconstructed temperature" turns out to be quite the litotes for AGW proponents. From Wordnik.com. [WHAT REALLY HAPPENED] Reference
Slang is sometimes characterized by understatement -- litotes, if you want the literary term for the device. From Wordnik.com. [VERBATIM: The Language Quarterly Vol IX No 1] Reference
It is a pretty big pool to be called a puddle, in any event, and English understatement (litotes) must have had a hand in the creation. From Wordnik.com. [VERBATIM: The Language Quarterly Vol VIII No 1] Reference
Providing an instance of litotes, a former English teacher of mine once remarked, "I would not say that he was the dullest of scientists.". From Wordnik.com. [VERBATIM: The Language Quarterly Vol XII No 1] Reference
“modesty,” the tendency toward litotes, understate - ment. From Wordnik.com. [CLASSICISM IN LITERATURE] Reference
"you may have missed the litotes in the first sentence of my last post.". From Wordnik.com. [Steve Janke and dead, sodomized hookers? Hey, I'm just sayin'.] Reference
Me did look up litotes too. From Wordnik.com. [Steve Janke and dead, sodomized hookers? Hey, I'm just sayin'.] Reference
This is litotes on steroids!. From Wordnik.com. [McCain Adviser: McCain Likely To Confront Obama About Ayers At Debate] Reference
Now, can you help me out with litotes?. From Wordnik.com. [Sticky Fingers and Sticky Issues: Thefts, Failures, Recalls, and Judgments] Reference
Ipfreely: I’ve always viewed that expression as a form of litotes. From Wordnik.com. [Tim Hortons Day Update: Dunkin Donuts Not Going Down Without a Fight | Midtown Lunch - Finding Lunch in the Food Wasteland of NYC's Midtown Manhattan] Reference
Jeez, Keeney, that's some devastating litotes. From Wordnik.com. [Adrian Monck] Reference
It is litotes. From Wordnik.com. [Propeller Most Popular Stories] Reference
"litotes"!!!. From Wordnik.com. [Tony Blair: The Next Labour Prime Minister?] Reference
(they will confuse these two), ellipsis ... probably oxymoron, onomatopoeia, hyperbole, and litotes, too. From Wordnik.com. [VERBATIM: The Language Quarterly Vol XII No 1] Reference
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