reducto+absurdum

A Latin phrase literally translating to "reviving the absurd" or "reduction to absurdity," this phrase is generally applied to arguments to denote that their conclusions are illogical in ways that seem absurd or ridiculous. In Quentin's section of The Sound and the Fury, Quentin's father suggests that the watch he hands down to Quentin will be used "to gain the reducto absurdum of all human experience" (TSAF 76). Here, the father seems to suggest that time itself is an instance of "reducto absurdum" as the watch did not fit the needs of any of its prior owners. The absurdity is that people wear watches to show ownership of time when in reality, no person can control time and Quentin's father does his part in advising his son to take heed of this power relation by describing how Quentin ought best (not) to utilize the device.

"...it's rather excruciating-ly apt that you will use it to gain the reducto absurdum of all human experience which can fit your human needs no better than it fitted his or his father's" (TSAF 76).