Bathosphere
The class of literary works of any length, but particularly single sentences, that exhibit bathos, i.e., the quality of switching abruptly from the sublime (a beautiful or important subject) to the ridiculous (a silly or trite one), either intentionally (to create a humorous effect flowing from the incongruity) or inadvertently (reflecting the author's lack of aptitude for the craft). For example: "Jane Hammerlink’s mane of auburn hair blew in the morning breeze like Seabiscuit’s tail passing the quarter pole; her eyes sparkled like the finest cubic zirconia; and her snow-white apron and ruby-red lipstick gave me a tingling sensation in the extremities that I had theretofore associated only with Flo from Progressive." (Not to be confused with "bathysphere," a spherical chamber used for deep-sea exploration.)
Cathy: Oh, man, teaching freshman composition is brutal; these kids start off a sentence like Hemingway and end it like Homer Simpson.
Tim: Congratulations, oh warden of the bathosphere.
Tim: Congratulations, oh warden of the bathosphere.
Bathosphere by FitofPeak August 18, 2026
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