I'm not going to write about occupatio today

I’m also not going to write about paralepsis.

This will be a short post because it will only be about how I’m not going to write about those two words.

Today, my friend Jan pointed out that I was using occupatio in a text I’d written her.

Of course, I looked it up¹.

Sure enough! I had been using occupatio.

And I found out that occupatio is also called paralepsis.

You can imagine my surprise when I learned that for years, I have written and spoken occupationally or proleptically without knowing it. Indeed you’ll have to imagine my surprise because I’m not going to write about it.

But it reminded me of a story I had once heard about a man who spoke prose but did not know it.

I didn’t remember who that man was, so I looked that up, too².

And I found out. But I’m not going to write about that, either.

“What are you going to write about, then?” Asks an imaginary reader.

“I don’t know,” I answer. “I’ve written enough about not writing, so maybe I’ll write about not posting it.”³

1. Which you can also do.

2. As you can do, also.

3. Or maybe not.