purple passage (PUR-puhl PAS-ij) noun, also purple patch, purple prose

   1. A brilliant passage in an otherwise dull and uninspiring work.

   2. A piece of writing marked by ornate, florid style.

[From Latin pannus purpureus (purple patch), a phrase used by poet Horace in
his Ars Poetica (The Art of Poetry) to suggest a patch of royal fabric on an
ordinary cloth.]

   "Page after page is filled with drunken quarrels with his wife; with lies,
   infidelities, religious doubts, homosexual yearnings and, above all, with
   his daily, desperate search for a bottle. Interspersed among these dreary
   horrors are purple passages about his love for his children, his dog and
   his fine house."
   A Gin at Mid-Morning -- John Cheever: The Journals by John Cheever,
   The Economist (London), Jan 11, 1992.

This week's theme: words with color as metaphors.

............................................................................
People who are willing to give up freedom for the sake of short term
security, deserve neither freedom nor security. -Benjamin Franklin,
statesman, author, and inventor (1706-1790)

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Pronunciation:
http://wordsmith.org/words/purple_passage.wav
http://wordsmith.org/words/purple_passage.ram