I get Google alerts for the word epicaricacy. Usually it's a nothing, such as a post by this fool named "epicaricacy." However, today's alert was on zoenox's Livejournal, posting about words. I had a question about his entry for trope, which I've not heard of. One of his definitions is "a common or overused theme or device: cliché." When I look it up elsewhere, I find defnitions like "A figure of speech using words in nonliteral ways, such as a metaphor." Except for Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary (which apparently zoenox copied his definition from, word for word), the other cites don't describe it as "overused" or a "cliché." Interestingly, Wiktionary says that it's "Similar to a cliché, but not necessarily pejorative."

Have you seen trope to mean using words in nonliteral ways, such as a metaphor, or have you seen that definition to go further, calling it "overused" or a "cliché?"

quote:

Have you seen trope to mean using words in nonliteral ways

That's the only meaning I know.

I know it only as a lit. crit. term from rhetoric. Latin tropus means 'turn' as in in turn of phrase or figure of speech. I think zoenox ought to leave lexicography to the professionals.

I've not seen it as a stand-alone word, but then I don't get out much. I'm only familiar with it as a part of other words, as in heliotropic, or zoetrope.

Is it related to strophe? Sure does look like it.

Is it related to strophe?

Yes, as in apostrophe, lit. 'a turning away'. Also related to apotropaic, entropy, trophy, and tropic. The Latin is borrowed from the Greek tropos. From the PIE root *trep- 'to turn' (link).