Figures of Speech

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 Figures Based on Similarity or
Agreement:-
–Simile
–Metaphor
 Simile

• A figure of speech involving the

comparison of one thing with
another thing of a different kind,
used to make a description more
emphatic or vivid (e.g. as brave
as a lion ).
 Simile - Example
“O my Luve’s like a red,
red rose
That’s newly sprung in
June;
O my Luve’s like the
melodie
That’s sweetly played in
tune.”
 Metaphor
• A metaphor is a figure of speech that
identifies something as being the same as
some unrelated thing for rhetorical effect,
thus highlighting the similarities between the
two. While a simile compares two items, a
metaphor directly equates them, and does
not use "like" or "as" as does a simile.
 Metaphor – Example
All the world's a stage,
And all the men and
women merely players;
They have their exits and
their entrances[...]

William Shakespeare,
As You Like It
 Figures of Speech Based on
Association
–Metonymy
–Synecdoche
–Transferred Epithet (Hypallage)
 Metonymy
Here are some examples of
• Metonymy is a figure of metonymy:
speech in which a thing • Crown - For the power of a king
• The White House - Referring to
or concept is not called the American administration
by its own name, but by • Dish - To refer an entire plate of
food
the name of something • . The Pentagon - For the
intimately associated Department of Defense and the
offices of the U.S. Armed Forces.
with that thing or • Pen - For the written word
concept. • Sword - For military force
• Hollywood - For US Cinema
• Hand - For help
 Metonymy – Example
• "The pen is mightier than the sword.“
 Synecdoche
• A synecdoche is a figure of speech in which a
term for a part of something refers to the
whole of something or vice versa.
• Examples from common English expressions
include "bread and butter" (for "livelihood"),
"suits" (for "businesspeople"), and "boots"
(for "soldiers")
Synecdoche - Example
 Difference between Synecdoche and
Metonymy
• In synecdoche, a part of something is used to refer to
the whole entity, or a whole entity is used to refer to
part of something
• For example, when Shakespeare had Antony say
in Julius Caesar: “Friends, Romans, Countrymen, lend
me your ears” he was speaking figuratively of the thing
the ears contained — that is, their function, their
ability to listen, not some literal component.
• The difference between synecdoche and metonymy is
that in metonymy the word you employ is linked to the
concept you are really talking about, but isn’t actually a
part of it.
 Transferred Epithet
• A transferred epithet is a figure of speech in
which an epithet (or adjective) grammatically
qualifies a noun other than the person or
thing it is actually describing. Also known in
rhetoric as hypallage.
• A transferred epithet often involves shifting a
modifier from the animate to the inanimate,
as in the phrases "cheerful money," "sleepless
night," and "suicidal sky."
Transferred Epithet - Examples
 Figures Based on Difference
– Antithesis
– Epigram
– Oxymoron
– Paradox
– Climax
– Anti-climax
 Antithesis
• Literal meaning opposite, is a rhetorical device
in which two opposite ideas are put together
in a sentence to achieve a contrasting effect
• An antithesis must always contain double
meanings due to the reproduction of two
ideas within one statement.
• The ideas may not be structurally opposite,
but they serve to be functionally opposite
when comparing two ideas for emphasis.
 Antithesis Examples
• Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice.
• Man proposes, God disposes.
• Love is an ideal thing, marriage a real thing.
• Speech is silver, but silence is gold.
• Patience is bitter, but it has a sweet fruit.
• Money is the root of all evils: poverty is the fruit
of all goodness.
• You are easy on the eyes, but hard on the heart.
 Epigram
• An epigram is a brief, interesting, memorable,
and sometimes surprising or satirical
statement.
• Any witty, ingenious, or pointed saying tersely
expressed.
 Epigram – Example
• “Mankind must put an end to war, or war will put and
end to mankind.” – John F. Kennedy
• “It is better to light a candle than curse the darkness.” –
Eleanor Roosevelt
• “A word to the wise ain’t necessary; it’s the stupid ones
who need all the advice.” – Bill Cosby
• “If we don’t end war, war will end us.” – H.G. Wells
• “Live simply, so that others may simply live.” – Mother
Teresa
• “I’m starting with the man in the mirror.” – Michael
Jackson
 Poetic Epigrams
What is an Epigram? a dwarfish whole,
Its body brevity, and wit its soul.
— Samuel Taylor Coleridge ("Epigram", 1809)

I'm tired of Love: I'm still more tired of Rhyme.

But Money gives me pleasure all the time.
— Hilaire Belloc

Here lies my wife: here let her lie!

Now she's at rest – and so am I.
— John Dryden

NATURE and Nature’s Laws lay hid in Night:

God said, “Let Newton be!” and all was light.
- Alexander Pope
 Oxymoron
• An oxymoron is a figure of speech that
juxtaposes elements that appear to be
contradictory.
• The most common form of oxymoron involves
an adjective–noun combination of two words.
For example, the following line from
Tennyson's Idylls of the King contains two
oxymorons:
• And faith unfaithful kept him falsely true.
 Oxymoron – Example
• One famous oxymoron is • Great Depression
the phrase "the same • Cruel to be kind
difference." This phrase • Clearly Confused
qualifies as an oxymoron
because the words • Waking Dead
"same" and "difference" • Virtual Reality
have completely opposite • Pain in Pleasure
meanings. Therefore, • Open Secret
bringing them together
into one phrase produces • Heavy Diet
a verbally puzzling, yet • Unpopular Celebrity
engaging, effect.
Oxymoron – Terrible Beauty
 Paradox
• A paradox is a statement (or set of
statements) where a seemingly impossible
contradiction is presented.
 Paradox Examples
• I always lie. (If the person is a liar, then this is
true, which makes them not a liar).
• Death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt
die. (How can death die?)
• Youth is wasted on the young. (But how can
young people know the value of youth
without not having it?)
 Paradox Examples
• "War is peace."
"Freedom is slavery."
"Ignorance is strength."
(George Orwell, 1984)
• "Some of the biggest failures I ever had were
successes.” (American actress and singer
Pearl Bailey)
• "The swiftest traveler is he that goes afoot."
(Henry David Thoreau, Walden, 1854)
Difference Between a Paradox and an
Oxymoron.
• It is important to understand the difference
between a paradox and an oxymoron.
• A paradox may consist of a sentence or even a
group of sentences.
• An oxymoron, on the other hand, is a
combination of two contradictory or opposite
words.
• A paradox seems contradictory to the general
truth but it does contain an implied truth.
• An oxymoron, however, may produce a dramatic
effect but does not make sense.
 Climax
• When used as a literary term, a climax in a
story occurs when there is a turning point
from which there is no going back. The climax
is the point of highest tension in a narrative.
 Anti-climax
• Anti-climax is a rhetorical device which can be
defined as a disappointing situation or a
sudden transition in discourse from an
important idea to a ludicrous or trivial one. It
is when at a specific point, expectations are
raised, everything is built-up and then
suddenly something boring or disappointing
happens; this is an anti-climax.
 Figures based on Imagination
– Personification
– Pathetic fallacy
– Apostrophe
– Hyperbole
 Personification
• Personification is a figure of speech in which a
thing, an idea or an animal is given human
attributes. The non-human objects are
portrayed in such a way that we feel they have
the ability to act like human beings.
 Personification – Example
• Lightning danced across the sky.
• The wind howled in the night.
• The car complained as the key was turned.
• Rita heard the last piece of pie calling her name.
• My alarm clock yells at me every morning.
• The avalanche devoured anything standing in its way.
• Traffic slowed to a crawl.
• The door protested as it opened slowly.
• My house is a friend who protects me.
• The moon played hide and seek with the clouds.
• That book was so popular, it flew off the shelves.
• My car’s headlights winked at me.
• She is so beautiful the camera loves her.
Personification – Example
 Pathetic Fallacy
• The British cultural critic, John Ruskin, coined the
term in his book, Modern Painters (1843–60).
• Pathetic fallacy is a literary device that attributes
human qualities and emotions to inanimate
objects of nature. The word “pathetic” in the
term is not used in the derogatory sense of being
miserable; rather, here, it stands for “imparting
emotions to something else”.
 Difference between Pathetic Fallacy
and Personification
• Generally, Pathetic fallacy is confused with personification.
The fact is that they differ in their function.
• Pathetic fallacy is a kind of personification that gives human
emotions to inanimate objects of nature for example
referring to weather features reflecting a mood.
Personification, on the other hand, is a broader term. It
gives human attributes to abstract ideas, animate objects
of nature or inanimate non-natural objects.
• For example, the sentence “The somber clouds darkened
our mood” is a pathetic fallacy as human attributes are
given to an inanimate object of nature reflecting a mood.
But, “The sparrow talked to us” is a personification because
the animate object of nature “sparrow” is given the human
quality of “talking”.
 Apostrophe
• Figure of speech in which an absent person, a
personified inanimate being, or an abstraction is
addressed as though present.
• The term is derived from a Greek word meaning
"a turning away," and this sense is maintained
when a narrative or dramatic thread is broken in
order to digress by speaking directly to someone
not there -
• e.g., "Envy, be silent and attend!"—Alexander
Pope, "On a Certain Lady at Court."
Apostrophe – Example
 Apostrophe – Examples
O holy virgin! clad in purest white,
Unlock heav’n’s golden gates, and issue forth;
[William Blake]

O cunning Love! with tears thou keep’st me

blind,
Lest eyes well-seeing thy foul faults should find.
[William Shakespeare]
 Hyperbole
• Hyperbole, derived from a Greek word meaning “over-
casting” is a figure of speech, which involves an
exaggeration of ideas for the sake of emphasis
• A hyperbole is an extreme exaggeration used to make a
point. It is like the opposite of “understatement.” It is
from a Greek word meaning “excess.”
• Hyperboles can be found in literature and oral
communication. They would not be used in nonfiction
works, like medical journals or research papers; but,
they are perfect for fictional works, especially to add
color to a character or humor to the story.
• Hyperboles are comparisons, like similes and
metaphors, but are extravagant and even ridiculous.
 Hyperbole - Examples
• “I’ve told you a million times”
• “It was so cold, I saw polar bears wearing jackets”
• This car goes faster than the speed of light.
• That new car costs a bazillion dollars.
• We are so poor; we don’t have two cents to rub
together.
• That joke is so old, the last time I heard it I was
riding on a dinosaur.
• They ran like greased lightning.
• He's got tons of money.
 "As I Walked Out One Evening" by
W.H. Auden
"I'll love you, dear, I'll love you till China and
Africa meet,
And the river jumps over the mountain
And the salmon sing in the street,
I'll love you till the oceanIs folded and hung up
to dry
And the seven stars go squawkingLike geese
about the sky."
 Figures based on Indirectness
– Irony
– Sarcasm
– Periphrasis
– Euphemism
– Litotes
 Irony
• Irony is a figure of speech in which words are
used in such a way that their intended
meaning is different from the actual meaning
of the words. It may also be a situation that
may end up in quite a different way than what
is generally anticipated.
 Examples of Irony
• Yet Brutus says he was ambitious; And Brutus
is an honorable man. (Julius Caesar, William
Shakespeare)
• "It grieves me much," replied the Peer again,
"Who speaks so well should ever speak in
vain.“ (The Rape of the Lock, Alexander Pope)
• Otto Lilienthal, creator of a flying glider, was
killed by his own invention.
Irony
 Sarcasm
• A mocking, often ironic or satirical remark,
usually intended to wound as well as amuse
• Sarcasm is derived from French
word sarcasmor and also from a Greek
word sarkazein that means “tear flesh” or
“grind the teeth”. Somehow, in simple words it
means to speak bitterly.
 Sarcasm - Examples
• “Good fences make good neighbours.”
• “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less travelled by,
And that has made all the difference.”
(Road not taken by Robert Frost)
• "Honesty is the best policy -- when there is
money in it." - Mark Twain
• "I like long walks, especially when they are
taken by people who annoy me." - Fred Alle
 Periphrasis
• Periphrasis originates from a Greek word
periphrazein which means “talking around”. It
is a stylistic device that can be defined as the
use of excessive and longer words to convey a
meaning which could have been conveyed
with a shorter expression or in a few words.
• It is an indirect or roundabout way of writing
about things. For example, using “I am going
to” instead of “I will” is periphrasis.
 Examples of Periphrasis
• Instead of simply saying “I am displeased with your
behavior”, one can say, “the manner in which you have
conducted yourself in my presence of late has caused
me to feel uncomfortable and has resulted in my
feeling disgruntled and disappointed with you”.
• The first time I saw you, I didn't know what had
happened to me. I couldn't take my eyes off your face,
like it cast a spell on me. The way you laughed made
my entire day. One glimpse of you, and that was all i
wanted like a daily prescription for my smile. But i just
wished all the time, if this glimpse could one day turn
into eternity. And here you are today, right in front of
me, the love of my life!
Examples of Periphrasis – Three Idiots
Examples of Periphrasis – Three Idiots
• Machine Class Professor: Why are you back?
• Rancho: Sir, I forgot to take something...
• Machine Class Professor: What?
• Rancho: Instruments that record, analyse, summarise, organise,
debate and explain information; that are illustrated, non-illustrated,
hardbound, paperback, jacketed, non-jacketed; with foreword,
introduction, table of contents, index; that are indented for the
enlightenment, understanding, enrichment, enhancement and
education of the human brain through sensory route of vision -
sometimes touch.
• Machine Class Professor: [confused] What are you trying to say?
• Rancho: Books sir! I forgot to take my books.
 Examples of Periphrasis
• It is not that James is welcome or otherwise,
or that he is sometimes here or not. I do
wonder, though, if he might be thinking what
it's all about. (= I don't like James)
• When I am with you, my toes tingle and my
knees are weak. The world is a better place
altogether and I find myself giving my fortune
to beggars, and I am a beggar before you,
craving a smile, a whim. (= I love you)
 Euphemism
• The term euphemism refers to polite, indirect
expressions which replace words and phrases
considered harsh and impolite or which
suggest something unpleasant.
• He is dead – He passed away. He is no more.
 Euphemism - Examples
• You are becoming a little thin on top (bald).
• Our teacher is in the family way (pregnant).
• He is always tired and emotional (drunk).
• We do not hire mentally challenged (stupid)
people.
• He is a special child (disabled or retarded).
 Litotes
• Litotes, derived from a Greek word meaning
“simple”, is a figure of speech which employs
an understatement by using double negatives
or, in other words, positive statement is
expressed by negating its opposite
expressions.
 Examples of Litotes
• He’s not the friendliest person.
• It wasn’t a terrible trip.
• She’s not unkind.
• They aren’t unhappy with the presentation.
• Not too shabby!
• The two concepts are not unlike each other.
• She’s no spring chicken.
• It’s not exactly a walk in the park.
 Figures Based on Sound

–Onomatopoeia
–Alliteration
–Pun
 Onomatopoeia
• Onomatopoeia refers to a word that phonetically
mimics or resembles the sound of the thing it
describes.
• For example, the words we use to describe the noises
that animals make are all onomatopoetic, such as a
dog’s “bark,” a cat’s “meow,” or a coo’s “moo.”
Interestingly, the onomatopoetic words for animal
sounds change quite a bit from one language to
another, as the words must fit into the larger linguistic
system. Therefore, while a pig says “oink” in English, it
says “buu” in Japanese, “grunz” in German, “knor,” in
Dutch, and so on.
Onomatopoeia
 Onomatopoeia – Examples
• Machine noises—honk, beep, vroom, clang, zap,
boing
• Animal names—cuckoo, whip-poor-will,
whooping crane, chickadee
• Impact sounds—boom, crash, whack, thump,
bang
• Sounds of the voice—shush, giggle, growl, whine,
murmur, blurt, whisper, hiss
• Nature sounds—splash, drip, spray, whoosh,
buzz, rustle
 Alliteration
• Alliteration is the repetition of the same consonant
sounds at the beginning of words that are in close
proximity to each other. This repetition of sounds
brings attention to the lines in which it is used, and
creates more aural rhythm. In poems, alliteration can
also refer to repeated consonant sound in the stressed
syllables of a line.
• For example, in Shakespeare’s Sonnet 30, we find the
line “Then can I grieve at grievances foregone.” In this
case, the “g” sound is alliterative in “grieve”,
“grievances”, and “foregone”, since the stressed
syllable in “foregone” starts with “g”.
 Examples of Alliteration
• Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
• She sells seashells by the seashore.
• A big black bug bit a big black dog and the big
black dog bled blood.
• Betty Botter bought some butter, but she said,
this butter’s bitter; if I put it in my batter, it
will make my batter bitter, but a bit of better
butter will make my bitter batter better.
 Pun
• A pun is a joke that makes a play on words. A
pun, also called paronomasia, uses words that
have several meanings or words that sound
similar but have different meanings.
 Pun – Example
• A bicycle can't stand on its own because it is
two-tired.
• Being struck by lightning is really a shocking
experience!
• An elephant’s opinion carries a lot of weight.
Punnnnnn...
 Figures based on Construction
– Zeugma
– Chiasmus
– Aposiopesis
– Hendiadys
– Asyndeton
– Polysyndeton
– Hyperbaton.
 Zeugma
• A zeugma is a figure of speech in which a word or phrase
joins together two distinct parts of a sentence. There are a
few different definitions of zeugma that illustrate the ways
in which this figure of speech works. The most common
definition of zeugma is a word that is used once, but works
in two different ways, such as in the following sentence.
• “She tossed her hair back and the salad.” The word
“tossed” in this example has two functions in the sentence.
It is a verb in both cases but refers to very different actions.
Zeugma can also be as simple as the role of the word
“conquered” in the sentence “Lust conquered shame;
audacity, fear; madness, reason” (a quote from Cicero). In
this case, zeugma refers to the way that the verb does not
need to be repeated for it is implied.
 Examples of Zeugma
• “Histories make men wise; poets, witty; the
mathematics, subtle; natural philosophy, deep;
moral, grave; logic and rhetoric, able to contend.”
—Francis Bacon
• “A house they call the rising sun, where love and
money are made.” —Dolly Parton, “The House of
the Rising Sun”
• “You are free to execute your laws, and your
citizens, as you see fit.” —Star Trek: The Next
Generation
Zeugma
 Chiasmus

• Chiasmus employs two or more clauses which

are related grammatically and conceptually,
but in which the grammar and concepts are
reversed. Chiasmus is a figure of speech that
displays inverted parallelism.
 Chiasmus
• I went to the doctor five days ago. Yes, last week I
went to the hospital.
• He told me he isn’t coming back. He’s not
returning, he said.
• She disappeared for just a moment. In just a
second she’ll reemerge.
• We ate all the leftovers so quickly. Speedily we
polished off all that food.
• You should get a pet to help you with your
anxiety. That worry could be cured by a dog.
 Chiasmus
But O, what damned minutes tells he o'er
Who dotes, yet doubts; suspects, yet strongly
loves. —Shakespeare, Othello 3.3

"Dotes" and "strongly loves" share the same

meaning and bracket "doubts" and "suspects".
 Aposiopesis
• Aposiopesis is the rhetorical device of breaking off in
the middle of speech. The sentence or thought is
unfinished and the end left to the imagination of the
interlocutor or audience. This can signify a speaker’s
unwillingness or inability to continue for any number of
reasons. Usually these reasons have to do with an
extreme emotion interfering with continuous thought
processes, such as fear, anger, joy, etc. Aposiopesis can
also signal modest, an epiphany, or when the speaker
means to be suggestive to his or her interlocutor.
Sometimes the silence that ensues from an aposiopesis
example is called a “pregnant pause.”
 Examples of Aposiopesis
• Don’t go there, or else…!
• If only…
• Why I ought to…
• How could you…?
 Hendiadys
• A figure of speech in which two words joined by and
express an idea that is more commonly expressed by
an adjective and a noun.
• The expression of a single idea by two words
connected with ‘and’, e.g. nice and warm, when one
could be used to modify the other, as in nicely warm.
• Come and get it (also come get it)
• This coffee is nice and hot can become This is nice
hot coffee
 Asyndeton
• Asyndeton ("unconnected", sometimes called
asyndetism) is a figure of speech in which one
or several conjunctions are omitted from a
series of related clauses.
• Examples are veni, vidi, vici and its English
translation "I came, I saw, I conquered".
 Asyndeton – Examples
• "...and that government of the people, by the people, for the
people shall not perish from the earth". Abraham Lincoln,
Gettysburg Address

• "...that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship,
support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the
success of liberty." John F. Kennedy Inaugural Address, 20 January
1961.
• Another frequently used, extended example, is Winston Churchill's
address, "We shall fight on the beaches": "We shall go on to the
end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans,
we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the
air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall
fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall
fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we
shall never surrender. . ."
Asyndeton
 Polysyndeton
• Polysyndeton is a stylistic device in which several
coordinating conjunctions are used in succession
in order to achieve an artistic effect.
Polysyndeton examples are found in literature
and in day-to-day conversations.
• “And Joshua, and all of Israel with him, took
Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver, and the
garment, and the wedge of gold, and his sons,
and his daughters, and his oxen, and his asses,
and his sheep, and his tent, and all that he had.”
(The Bible)
Polysyndeton
 Hyperbaton
• Hyperbaton is a figure of speech that consists
of an alteration of the syntactic order of the
words in a sentence, or in which normally
associated words are separated.
• The term may also be used more generally for
all different figures of speech which transpose
natural word order in sentences.
 Hyperbaton – Examples
• “Alone he walked on the cold, lonely roads”. This sentence
is a variation of the more conventional, “He walked alone
on the cold, lonely roads”.
•
"Some rise by sin, and some by virtue fall."
(Escalus in William Shakespeare's Measure for Measure,
Act II, scene one)
• "And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made"
(W. B. Yeats, "The Lake Isle of Innisfree")
• "pity this busy monster man unkind not” (e.e. cummings)
• "One swallow does not a summer make, nor one fine day."
(Aristotle)