For Want of a Shoe

foor-wont-uv-a-SHOO

One of the most enjoyable word repeaters, for want of a shoe layers its repetition by using the last word in the previous phrase or clause to begin the next one. The figure has its origins among the ancient Greeks, who named it anadiplosis (ana-die-PLO-sis), meaning “redouble.” Use it to explain a complex process or to make an outcome sound inevitable. 

For want of a shoe the horse was lost, for want of a horse the rider was lost... Benjamin Franklin

Because they didn’t bring enough water, they got dehydrated. Being dehydrated, they got hypothermia. Hypothermia impaired their judgment, and bad judgment led to their getting tragically lost. Word Hero