Dysphemism is the use of extreme words instead of more moderate or accurate words. The use of profanity is common in dysphemism and it is often a signal that the person using it is emotionally aroused.

Sons of bitches! cried Mr. Daedalus. When he was down they turned on him to betray him and rend him like rats in a sewer. Low-lived dogs! And they look it! By Christ, they look it! They behaved rightly, cried Dante. They obeyed their bishops and their priests. Honour to them!

[James Joyce, The Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man]

Dysphemism is extremely common in hip-hop as a form of braggadocio, showing both the intensity of the rapper’s emotions and their willingness to be outside of what is acceptable in polite society. Stereotypically, this is in the form of using violent and exaggerated imagery as a metaphor for being really good at rapping:

I rip many places on regular basis
And broken down mics were the only traces
That I’d been there and there at the party
The mic had my prints, and on it was a body
Big Daddy Kane, verse in “The Symphony”

A lot of terms used in discussions of hip-hop are also dysphemistic, like “she bodied that feature, she murdered everyone on that track”. This doesn’t mean the rapper is literally a murderer – it means she put on an amazing performance and made the other rappers look inadequate.

Dysphemism is an opposite to euphemism, where a mild word is used.

Shape poetry, also known as concrete poetry, is structured typographically in a way that aligns with the themes or content of the poem. Shape poems have the potential to please not only lovers of poetry, but also lovers of design and typography!

One of the earliest and most famous shape poems in English is George Herbert’s Easter Wings:

Haiku is a traditional Japanese poetic form, called hokku until the late 19th century. Hokku were originally opening stanzas of collaborative linked poems called renga (later renku), but they developed into a standalone form.

As adapted into English, the haiku typically consists of three lines of 17 total syllables. The first line is five syllables, the second line is seven, and the third line is five. This is a loose reflection of the 17 sound units called “on” or morae that compose traditional Japanese haiku. However, on do not correspond precisely to English syllables, and traditional haiku masters did not always follow this form.

Other conventions of the traditional haiku, such as reference to natural imagery, are occasionally adapted into English as well.