Grammar Clinic: Figures of Speech

Figure of Speech

You might have heard the expression “it’s a figure of speech,” but what does that really mean? A figure of speech is just that – figurative language. It might be words with a literal meaning, a certain arrangements of words, or a phrase with a meaning that is something entirely other than that of the words themselves. Figures of speech can be refreshing and fun, but for some – especially those who are not native English speakers – a figure of speech can be very confusing. 

This refers to those collection of figures that place two or more things side by side with the purpose of emphasizing their differences but not similarities as in a comparison. Example: Antithesis, oxymoron, irony, paradox etc.

A figure of speech or figurative language is a literary device used to gain a particular effect. It is the use of a word or an expression beyond its ordinary or literal meaning.

There are over two hundred kind of figure of speech but the one mostly used will be discuss. They are simile, metaphor, personification, hyperbole, paradox,irony.

A figure of speech is used in prose and drama. Whenever an expression or word used to give a special effect and it is known as poetic devices in poetry. A figure of speech is designed to portray an idea more clearly or more interestingly. The most common types of figures of speech are metaphors,similes, idioms, personification, hyperbole, and euphemisms. Here are some of the most common figures of speech and what they mean. 

Collectively, most of the figures of speech are categorized into six groups

Categories of figures of speech

• Comparison or association
• Contrast
• Exaggeration
• Under statement
• Word manipulation
• Sounds

Figures of comparison or association

Under this category, the following are simile, metaphor,personification, allusion, allegory

• Simile
  This is a short comparison that directly or explicitly compares one thing and another by using the  word “as” or “like” Simile involves figure of speech involving the comparison of one thing with another thing of a different kind, used to make a description more. A simile is a figure of speech comparing two unlike things, often introduced with the word “like” or “as”. A simile likens one thing to another. A simile is a figure of speech that compares two unrelated things or ideas using “like” or “as” to accentuate a certain feature of an object by comparing it to a dissimilar object that is a typical example of that particular trait. It takes the form of:
  • X is (not) like Y
  • X is (not) as Y
  • X is (not) similar to Y

  Examples:

  • She sings like an angel.
  • He fights like a lion.
  • He swims as fast as a fish.
  • He is as short as a dwarf
  • Curses are like chicken

• Metaphor
  A metaphor is a compressed comparison actually substituting one thing for another. It lets the reader makes the necessary translation from the figurative to the literal. Where a simile draws a comparison between two ideas , a metaphor goes a step further and substitutes then second idea for the first, that is why it is called compressed. A metaphor asserts that one thing is something that it literally is not.
  Examples:
  • This bedroom is a prison.
  • He’s a real gannet. 
  • He is a lion on the field
  • she is a sheep

   

• Personification
  Personification can be defined as the transfer of human traits to animate object. Personification  is a figure of speech where human qualities are given to animals, objects or ideas. In the arts, personification means representing a non-human thing as if it were human. Personification is a figure of speech in which human characteristics are attributed to an abstract quality, animal, or inanimate object.

Examples: Let the floor clap their hands,

                Confusion heard his voice

Notice the use of personification in William Blake’s poem below:

Two Sunflowers Move in the Yellow Room.

“Ah, William, we’re weary of weather,”
said the sunflowers, shining with dew.
“Our traveling habits have tired us.
Can you give us a room with a view?”

They arranged themselves at the window
and counted the steps of the sun,
and they both took root in the carpet
where the topaz tortoises run. 

William Blake
(1757-1827)

• Allegory
  This is a narrative which has a secondary and deeper meaning which may be religious,political or normal. It is used to draw a parallel between one story that is told on the surface and the deeper meaning intended. Allegory is generally designed to teach some abstract truth.
  

Examples: John Bunyan’s pilgrim progress is a religious allegory.

• Synecdoche: a figure of speech in which a part is made to represent the whole or vice versa, It is the use of a part to represent   a whole or a whole can be used to represent a part

Example: I want all heads on dock

                  She controls all the heads in the village

                  Thousands of eyes gaze on on him at the occasion

• Euphemism

Euphemism is used to express a mild, indirect, or vague term to substitute for a harsh, blunt, or offensive term. Euphemism is often contrasted with dysphemism. Some euphemisms intend to amuse, while others intend to give positive appearances to negative events or even mislead entirely. A euphemism is the use of agreeable or inoffensive words to replace rude or offensive ones. For example:

Examples:

These are examples of euphemism:

1. Going to the other side = death,
2. Passed away = die.
3. On the streets = homeless.
4. kicked the bucket = has died
5. knocked up = is pregnant
6. letting you go = you’re fired

• Hyperbole

Hyperbole is the use of exaggeration as a rhetorical device or figure of speech. It may be used to evoke strong feelings or to create a strong impression, but is not meant to be taken literally. Hyperboles are exaggerations to create emphasis or effect.

Examples

Examples of hyperbole include:

• I am so hungry; I could eat a horse!
• She’s older than the hills.
• I could sleep for a year; I was so tired.
• I have a million problems.
• He’s filthy rich. He’s got tons of money.

• Onomatopoeia

This figure of speech is partly pleasure and partly business. It is used to replicate sounds created by objects, actions, animals and people. This is the use of a word that actually sounds like what it means. Good examples include “hiss” or “ding-dong” or “fizz.” These words are meant to describe something that actually sounds very much like the word itself. For example: Cock-a-doodle-do, quack, moo.

• Alliteration

Alliteration consists in the repetition of the letters or syllable, or the same sound at the beginning of two or more words in a line. In this way language becomes musical.
Examples:
How high His Honour holds his haughty head.
“The fair breeze blew, the white foam flew, the furrow   followed free.”

• Paradox
  

  This involves uniting two conflicting ideas. It is much more than an antithesis, as the two opposing ideas are contradictory in nature and are involved in the same thought.

  For example:

  • I live without living in me.
  • I can resist anything but temptation
  • Be cruel to be kind
• Epigram : It is a brief statement that usually introduces an antithetical idea. It closely resembles proverb. Examples: a. more haste; less speed. B. Know then thyself, presume not God to scan.
• Metonymy: It is the representation of an object by something closely associated with it. Example: a. Law and state b. The crown is supreme.
• Oxymoron: It is the placing side by side of two seemingly contradictory words. It is known as a shrunk paradox. Examples: a. what a sick health! B. He had a feather of lead.
• Antonomasia: This is a special form of figure of speech in which the name of a well known person, place or event is used to represent some quality which it epitomizes. Examples: He is a veritable Job. B. She is the Jezebel of our time.
• Consonance: It is the repetition of middle consonant sounds. It is also the agreement in sound between two stressed consonant in a line of a poem. Example: pitter patter, pitter patter, here comes the rain.
• Assonance: Assonance is a repetition of the vowel sounds. Such a figure of speech is found most commonly in short sentences or verses.
  For example: And murmuring of innumerable bees
• Climax: In a climax, the words are placed in an ascending order, depending on their significance. These words generally revolve around a central theme and are arranged in an increasing order to create a strong impression on the mind of the reader.

  For example: “There are three things that will endure: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is

  Irony: Irony is used to stress on the opposite meaning of a word. When people are looking to be sarcastic, they employ irony.
  For example: He was so intelligent, that he failed all his tests.

  Polysyndeton: Polysyndeton refers to that figure of speech which makes good use of conjunctions and in close succession.
  For example: He ran and jumped and laughed for joy.

  Zeugma
  Zeugma refers to the employment of a word to bridge two or more words, but here the word makes sense to one word or all words in dissimilar ways.
  For example: She lowered her standards by raising her glass, her courage, her eyes and his hopes.
  Anticlimax
  An anticlimax as a figure speech refers to the building up a climax that results in something that cannot really be described as a climax.
  For example: On discovering that his friend was murdered, with vengeance on his mind Ravi rushed back to his college, only to find his friend sipping on coffee in the college canteen.