An epanorthosis is a figure of speech that signifies emphatic word replacement. The example "thousands, no, millions!" is a stock example.

More often, however, epanorthosis signifies immediate and emphatic self-correction, and as such often follows a slip of the tongue.

Examples:

• "The psychologist known as Sigmund Fraud--Freud, I mean!"
• "I've been doing this for six weeks!--er, days, that is."

Here the words in italics are technically the epanorthosis, although all of the words following the dash may be considered part of the epanorthosis as well.

Figures of speech