Acutezza () is the act or use of

wordplay Word play or wordplay (also: play-on-words) is a literary technique and a form of wit in which words used become the main subject of the work, primarily for the purpose of intended effect or amusement. Examples of word play include puns, pho ...

. It is an Italian derived word. Therefore, the direct translation from Italian to English is acuteness, shrewdness or shrillness.

In rhetoric

Writers A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, p ...

most commonly use

to give the audience a sense relevance to themselves and a sense of likability. Writers also use ''acutezza'' to mask an unpleasant-sounding phrase as a means of persuasion. At times ''acutezza'' can seem clever or witty as if the writer is trying to "put one over" on the audience similar to an

enthymeme An enthymeme ( el, ἐνθύμημα, ''enthýmēma'') is a form of rational appeal, or deductive argument. It is also known as a rhetorical syllogism and is used in oratorical practice. While the syllogism is used in dialectic, or the art of logi ...

, which can be the case. More often than not the speaker is only trying to make their case sound better and as positive as possible. In addition to speech, ''acutezza'' can be seen visually as well. This is done through positioning words in a certain manner on the page to reflect the actual content of the sentence or phrase, yet, still giving it the illusion of positiveness.Anderson, Holly, and Morgan Styles, eds. Teaching Through Texts: Promoting Literacy Through Popular and Literary Texts in the Primary Classroom. N.p.: Routledge, 2002. 99-100. Web. 21 Oct. 2014.

References

{{Reflist Italian words and phrases