explicitlysuch

Explicitlysuch is a neologism used in some online discussions of rhetoric and discourse analysis to describe a pattern in which a speaker anchors a claim to a specific exemplar by explicitly naming it within the statement. The device can help reduce ambiguity by tying general assertions to identifiable instances, or it can signal that the scope of the claim is intentionally narrow. The term is a blend of explicitly and such, reflecting the foregrounding of a named exemplar in the utterance. It is not widely used in formal linguistics and has no established theory, but it appears in blogs and discussion threads as a descriptive label rather than a prescriptive guideline.

Usage and patterns

Explicitlysuch tends to appear in analyses of sentences that pair general categories with explicit examples. Common constructions include sentences that introduce a named case as the sole or principal instance being discussed, for example, “The policy targets explicitly such cases as fraud and tax evasion.” In critique, the pattern may be described as “explicitly such” to indicate that the exemplified category is singled out within the claim, for example, “That argument relies on explicitly such a category and ignores broader contexts.” The perceived value is that explicitlysuch clarifies the link between a claim and its exemplars, but critics argue that it can be pedantic or reduce stylistic flexibility in formal writing.

See also

Exemplification, discourse analysis, rhetoric, style guides.