What Does Syllogism Mean?

wondrous memeWhen you come across a word you don’t know in a book, do you look it up?  If so, you’re in the right place.  Welcome to Wondrous Words Wednesday, a meme for word nerds who want to improve their vocabulary.  Visit Kathy at Bermuda Onion to learn more.

My word this week comes from the YA novel Dream Boy by Mary Crockett and Madelyn Rosenberg.  It’s a paranormal thriller with this tag line: “If  dream can come true, so can nightmares.”  Perfect for Halloween, right?  I enjoyed the book and will have a full review for you on Friday.

Dream BoyHere’s a snippet from the climax, when Annabelle, the protagonist, must track down her nightmare:

“If we go to the woods, we find the girl.  If we find her, we find Stephanie.”  And Martin, I added silently.

“Syllogism,” Will said automatically.  “I’ll drive.”

Annabelle’s brainy friend Will always spouts out intellectual trivia, and I couldn’t follow him that time.

Syllogism \’si-lə-ji-zəm\ noun from Greek syn + logizesthai to calculate, from logos reckoning;

  1. a formal argument in logic that is formed by two statements and a conclusion which must be true if the two statements are true
  2. a crafty argument
  3. deductive reasoning

Word Nerd Workout

SherlockThink of a character who uses syllogism.  I’ve got a great example: Sherlock Holmes!  Who can you think of?

Thanks for getting nerdy with me!

Julia 

Julia Tomiak
I believe in the power of words to improve our lives, and I help people find interesting words to read. Member of SCBWI.

11 Comments

  1. I’m reading The Rosie Effect right now, and the main character (Don) definitely uses syllogism! If you read The Rosie Project, you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about. Logic is his middle name.

  2. Ooh! I saw that word somewhere else this week. It wasn’t in a book I was reading, and now I can’t remember where it was. But thanks, I’ll try to remember it and see if I can think of an example for Word Nerd Workout!

  3. You got me on that one!

    And Hercule Poirot is one of Agatha Christie’s recurring detectives. He’s a finicky little Belgian with a fancy mustache who gets irritated when he is mistaken for a Frenchman.

      1. Hercule Poirot is Agatha Christie’s quaint Belgian detective. I love Christie’s works! Anyway, I don’t think I’ve heard “syllogism” since those logic problems we used to do in school.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.