What's the literary device called when you say you won't mention something, but in doing so have mentioned it?

Question

I'm fairly certain Cicero did this quite often. For example, he might say, "And I won't even mention the heinous crimes of this shameless harlot, who was well known for her gold-digging." Or something like that.

Answer 1

The earlier answer is correct except the spelling is wrong.

It is called Apophasis (Late Latin, from Greek apophanai, "to say no" ) and refers, in general, to "mentioning by not mentioning". Apophasis covers a wide variety of figures of speech.

The first definition at dictionary.com is - denial of one's intention to speak of a subject that is at the same time named or insinuated, as “I shall not mention Caesar's avarice, nor his cunning, nor his morality.”

Apophasis was originally and more broadly a method of logical reasoning or argument by denial, a way of telling what something is by telling what it is not, a process-of-elimination way of talking about something by talking about what it isn't.

A useful inductive technique when given a limited universe of possibilities, the exclusion of all but the one remaining is affirmation through negation. The familiar guessing-game of "Is it bigger than a bread box?" is an example of apophatic inquiry.

This sense has generally fallen into disuse and is frequently overlooked, although it is still current in certain contexts, such as mysticism and negative theology. An apophatic theology sees God as ineffable and attempts to describe God in terms of what God is not. Apophatic statements refer to transcendence in this context, as opposed to cataphasis referring to immanence.

Answer 2

Segue

Answer 3

Hello Tom M,
What you describe is called "Apopaphis".
---"I'm not going to tell you he's too young."--

Answer 4

i think irony, but im not sure.