/əˈnæfərə/  |  uh-NAFF-or-uh

Anaphora means…two separate things.  Because why not coin long, obscure words for extremely specific purposes only to use them again for something completely different?  O.K., O.K., the etymology (Greek, ~”bringing back”) does lend itself toward both definitions, but still.

The first refers to using a word to stand in for something that came before it.  Typically, this just means your average pronoun-antecedent reference, but it can also apply to certain auxiliary verbs.

Examples:

• I hate the slog because it is the worst.
• I want to annihilate the slog; so does Billy.

The second (and more fun) anaphora is the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of multiple sequential sentences or clauses.  Used as emphatic redundancy.

Examples:

• We are here to make a statement.  We are here to take a stand.  We are here to face the slog.
• I don’t like the slog, I don’t like that it exists, and I don’t like that it doesn’t not exist.

(…technically, there’s also a third definition, but it isn’t related to linguistics, so it can just…not…be here)

Anaphora.  Use it.

Bene scribete.