***façon de parler*** (n.)

A turn of phrase or rhetorical formula, especially one that ought not to be taken literally, but rather as employed for convenience of expression only. [Wiktionary][1]

> A way or manner of speaking; a mere phrase or formula. 
> 
>  S. H. Hodgson *Let*. 8 Apr. in R. B. Perry Thought & Char. W. James
> (1935) I. 642   What is ‘the mind’?.. I suspect it is a mere **façon
> de parler**..which has a basis neither in psychological construction
> nor in philosophical analysis. 
> 
> 1907   W. De Morgan *Alice-for-Short* xlii. 439   **Which was palpably a
> lie, taken literally; but was a façon-de-parler that passed muster,
> taken leniently**. OED

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> Let us distinguish in mental phenomena a *virtual* part implemented by
> neurophysiological processes and a *fictitious* part not implemented at
> all, that is an **illusion** (or an idealization, or a mere ***façon de
> parler***) whose introduction in our language sometimes may be **quite
> useful** but that strictly speaking **does not exist**. [Oscar Vilarroya
> et al.; *Social Brain Matters*][2] (2007)
 
> There are no discrete unities identical to themselves and different
> from others. Distinguishing between natural kinds is merely ***façon
> de parler***, referring only to a certain way of *perceiving* reality.
> [Robert Spaemann; *Essays in Anthropology*][3] (2010)
 
> On the other hand, I do not know of any significant study of
> postmodernism that sees it object as a "reality" that is out there, to
> be discovered and mapped. What may appear as a result of the mimetic
> illusion is almost always a mere ***façon de
>  parler***, which is based on certain mimetic metaphors (the mind as a mirror, the mirror of nature, etc.) built into our language. [M.
> Calinescu in M. Calinescu and D. Fokkema (eds.); *Exploring
> Postmodernism*][4] (1987)


  [1]: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/fa%C3%A7on_de_parler
  [2]: https://www.google.com/books/edition/Social_Brain_Matters/pzWonWxlWDAC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22Let%20us%20distinguish%20in%20mental%20phenomena%20a%20virtual%20part%20implemented%20by%20neurophysiological%20processes%22&pg=PA184&printsec=frontcover
  [3]: https://www.google.com/books/edition/Essays_in_Anthropology/coNJAwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22facon%20de%20parler%22%20illusion&pg=PT44&printsec=frontcover
  [4]: https://www.google.com/books/edition/Exploring_Postmodernism/Pl4siiSXKi4C?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=What%20is%20a%20%22facon%20de%20parler%22%20%20illusion&pg=PA8&printsec=frontcover