figures of speech
? 1. Simile
?Definition:
?It is a comparison between two distinctly different things and the comparison is indicated by the word as or like.
?
? 2. metaphor
?the substitution of a word for another word whose meaning is close to the original word
? A metaphor is generally supposed to be one thing equated with another thing, such as:
?"a" is "b".
?there must a common ground between "a" and "b".
? For example, in English, a common metaphor is:
?John is a teddy bear.
?Tenor = The subject of the metaphor (i.e., "a" in: "a" is "b")
?Vehicle = The subject compliment of the metaphor (i.e., "b" in: "a" is "b")
?Ground = The culturally understood commonality between the tenor and the vehicle Many metaphors are "hidden",
i.e., not so obvious
?I made up my mind to do something.
?Therein above, the metaphor is "hidden" from view.
?The actual metaphor is: my mind is material/matter that can be composed.
?Tenor = mind
Vehicle = material/matter that can be composed
Common Ground = both are changeable; both are able to be manipulated ?Grasp a concept
?
? 3. Personification
?Personification: (拟人）It gives human form of feelings to animals, or life and personal attributes to inanimate(无生命的) objects, or to ideas and abstractions ?For example,
?The water beckoned invitingly to the hot swimmers.
Tell us the object being personified and the meaning of the personification.
?The wind sang her mournful song through the falling leaves.
?The strawberries seemed to sing, "Eat me first!“; "Eat me first!"
?The rain kissed my cheeks as it fell.
?The daffodils nodded their yellow heads at the walkers.
?The snow whispered as it fell to the ground during the early morning hours.
?The china danced on the shelves during the earthquake.
?The car engine coughed and sputtered when it started during the blizzard.
?Metonymy (转喻）It is a figure of speech that has to do with the substitution of the name of one thing for that of another with which it is closely associated.
? 4. Metonymy
? A metonymy is similar to a metaphor, but different in function.
?The function of a metaphor is understanding.
?The function of a metonymy is reference
?
?The crown ordered all soldiers to arms.
?[crown = king]
?The pen is mightier than the sword.
?[pen = writer; sword = fighter]
?The Pentagon announced it's new policy yesterday.
?[Pentagon = chiefs of staff at the Pentagon]
?The White House called a press conference.
?[White House = chiefs of staff at the White House]
?Hopefully, 9/11 will never happen again.
?[9/11 = the destruction of the World Trade Center Towers in New York on that day: 9/11/2001]
?
? 5. Synecdoche
? A figure of speech in which a part is used for the whole, the whole for a part , the specific for the general, the general for the specific ,or the material for the thing from which it is made
?提喻法
?There are two mouths to feed in my family.
?[mouth = person]
?China beat Japan in this exciting Ping-pong game.
?[China = China Ping-pong player ]
?I count twenty heads at the party.
?[head = person]
?Two beers, please
6. Euphemism
?Euphemism : (委婉）It is the substitution of an agreeable or inoffensive expression for one that may offend or suggest something unpleasant.
?Example: you are fired.
?career change opportunity,
?downsizing, restructuring,
?workforce imbalance correction
?dustmen=refuse collectors
?road sweepers=street orderlies
Guess what they are
?education welfare manager
?truancy officer
?"utensil maintenance man"
?dishwasher
?appearance engineer or a tonsorial artist
?hairdresser
?canine control officer
?dog-catcher
?customer operations leader\senior conductor
?railway train guard
?bonus
?bribe
?
7. Irony
Irony: (反语）It is a figure of speech that achieves emphasis by saying the opposite of what is meant, the intended meaning of the words being the opposite of their usual sense.
8. Overstatement\ Hyperbole
?Hyperbole: (夸张）It is the deliberate use of overstatement or exaggeration to achieve emphasis. For instance,
?Hamlet: I loved Ophelia: forty thousand brothers could not, with all their quantity of love, make up my sum.
?His eloquence could split rocks.
?I'd give my whole fortune for a bowl of bean soup.
?
9. Understatement
?Understatement: (含蓄陈述）It is the opposite of hyperbole, or overstatement. It achieves its effect of emphasizing a fact by deliberately understating it, impressing the listener or the reader more by what is merely implied or left unsaid than by bare statement.
?if one were in a desert where the temperature was 45 degrees,
?and if one were to describe thermal conditions saying "It's a little warm today." that would be an understatement.
10. Transferred Epithet
?Transferred Epithet: (转类形容词）It is a figure of speech where an epithet (an adjective or descriptive phrase) is transferred from the noun it should rightly modify to another to which it does not really apply or belong.
?For instance, I spent sleepless nights on my project.
?restless night\happy morning
?"The ploughman homeward plods his weary way" -Thomas Gray
11. Oxymoron
?Oxymoron: (矛盾修饰）It is a compressed paradox, formed by the conjoining of two contrasting, contradictory or incongruous(不协调) terms as in bitter-sweet memories, orderly chaos .
?open secret
?larger half
?clearly confused
?act naturally
?pretty ugly
?Hell's Angels
?deafening silence
?virtual reality
?living dead
?only choice
?tragic comedy
?working holiday
?
?12. Alliteration
?Alliteration: (头韵）It has to do with the sound rather than the sense of words for effect. It is a device that repeats the same sound at frequent intervals and since the sound repeated is usually the initial consonant sound, it is also called "front rhyme".
?For instance,
?the fair breeze blew, the white foam flew, the furrow followed free.
?Tongue twisters
?
13. Onomatopoeia
Onomatopoeia: (拟声）It is a device that uses words which imitate the sounds made by an object (animate or inanimate), or which are associated with or suggestive of some action or movement.
14. Pun
?Pun: (双关语）It is a play on words, or rather a play on the form and meaning of words.
?For instance,
?He is not a grave man until he is a grave man.
?They pray for you today and prey on you tomorrow.
?他们今天为你祈祷，明天就会加害于你。
?
15. Paradox
?Paradox: (似非而是的隽语）It is a figure of speech consisting of a statement or proposition which on the face of it seems self-contradictory, absurd or contrary to established fact or practice, but which on further thinking and study may prove to be true, well-founded, and even to contain a succinct point.
?For example more haste, less speed.
?In fact, it appears that the teachers of English teach English so poorly largely because they teach grammar so well.
?(Wendell Johnson, in an article in Language, Meaning and Maturity, ed. by S.I.Hayakawa)
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16. Innuendo
?Innuendo: (暗讽）It is a mild form of irony, hinting in a rather roundabout way at something disparaging(不一致) or uncomplimentary to the person or subject mentioned.
?For example, the weatherman said it would be worm. He must take his readings in a bathroom.
?
17. Sarcasm
Sarcasm: (讽刺）Sarcasm is a strong form of irony. It attacks in a taunting and bitter manner, and its aim is to disparage, ridicule and wound the feelings of the subject attacked.
18. Zeugma
?Zeugma: (轭式修饰法) It is a single word which is made to modify or to govern two or more words in the same sentence, wither properly applying in sense to only one of them, or applying to them in different senses.
?For example,
?COATTAILS: Clothes that fit the man and the times
?(Advert. in New Y ork Times Magazine, 1980)
?(fit the man is used in a literal sense; fit the times is a figurative expression, meaning to be modern and fashionable.)
? 1. Miss Bolo rose from the table considerably agitated, and went straight home, in a flood of tears and a sedan chair.
?(Dickens: The Pickwick Papers)
? 2. ... old people gathering in the social hall for comradeship and a hot lunch.
?(National Geographic June, 1980)
? 3. Ten minutes later, the coffee and Commander Dana of Naval Intelligence arrived simultaneously.
?(J.P.Bachman: "The Maro Incident")
?(Commander Dana arrived himself, but the coffee was really brought in by someone else.)
?
19. Antithesis
?Antithesis: (对照）It is the deliberate arrangement of contrasting words or ideas in balanced structural forms to achieve emphasis.
?For example, speech is silver; silence is golden.
?"It has been my experience that folks who have no vices have very few virtues." —Abraham Lincoln
?"It can't be wrong if it feels so right" —Debbie Boone
?“Hee for God only, shee for God in him”(John Milton)
?“他只为上帝，她则为他心中的上帝”(约翰·米尔顿)
?
20. Climax
?Climax : (渐进）It is derived from the Greek word for "ladder" and implies the progression of thought at a uniform or almost uniform rate of significance or intensity, like the steps of a ladder ascending evenly.
?For example, I came, I saw, I conquered.
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22. Apostrophe
?Apostrophe ：(顿呼）In this figure of speech, a thing, place, idea or person (dead or absent) is addressed as if present, listening and understanding what is being said. ?For instance,
? 1.England! awake! awake! awake!
? 2. Oh, Rain, how long will you fall upon me?
? 3."O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?"