expressions - What do you call a phrase that doesn't need to be completed?


A long time ago somebody gave me a word for phrases that are so popular that they need not be completed to be understood.


For example, saying just "Old habits..." to imply the phrase "Old habits die hard".


Is there a name for phrases like this, or the act of using just the memorable parts of sayings?



Answer



In addition to what has already been said, this type of phrase might also be considered a Synecdoche:



a word or phrase which uses a part of something to represent its whole. Some general examples include using "suits" to refer to businessmen, "threads" to refer to clothing, and "stick shift" or "stick" to refer to the type of manual transmission of a car or even the car itself (e.g., "Can you drive a stick shift?").



Examples I can think of that are similar to yours include:



  • "Life is like a box of chocolates" to refer to the longer quote from Forrest Gump,

  • "Death and taxes" to refer to "The only two certainties in life are death and taxes",


and possibly



  • "Jack of all trades" to refer to "Jack of all trades, master of none" or "Blood of the covenant" to refer to "Blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb".


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