Reference > The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy > 7. Conventions of Written English
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  The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition.  2002.
 
epigram
 
 
Any pithy, witty saying or short poem. An aphorism can serve as an epigram, if it is brief.  1
‡ Several authors are noted for their epigrams, including Mark Twain and Oscar Wilde. One of Wilde’s epigrams is “I can resist everything except temptation.”  2
‡ Two other words are similar: an epigraph is usually an inscription, as on a statue; an epitaph can be such an inscription or it can be a brief literary note commemorating a dead person.  3
 
 
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition. Edited by E.D. Hirsch, Jr., Joseph F. Kett, and James Trefil. Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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