protherapeia means A figure of speech used to secure indulgence or conciliate an audience before saying something potentially shocking, offensive, or difficult to accept. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 95 out of 100.
Why “protherapeia” is a great word
PROTHERAPEIA — [Noun] A rhetorical figure by which a speaker secures an audience’s goodwill before advancing a difficult or potentially offensive proposition. From Ancient Greek προθεραπεία (protherapeía, "previous care or treatment"), from πρό (pró, "before") + θεραπεία (therapeía, "service, medical attendance"). Unlike a palinodia (which retracts a statement with regret) or a prodiorthosis (which offers a blunt preparatory warning), protherapeia is the art of conciliatory preparation, a gentle laying of hands upon the listener's sensibilities. It is the measured clearing of the throat before delivering grave news, the offering of honey before a bitter draught, or the careful testing of bathwater with an elbow before stepping in—a tacit acknowledgment that truth, like medicine, often requires the precise pressure of courtesy to be borne.
Etymology
From Ancient Greek προθεραπεία (protherapeía, “previous care or treatment”), from πρό (pró, “before”) + θεραπεία (therapeía, “service, medical attendance”).
noun
- A figure of speech used to secure indulgence or conciliate an audience before saying something potentially shocking, offensive, or difficult to accept.“Acts 17:22: "Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are very religious..."”