Figure of Speech

Figure of Speech
A figure of speech is a phrase or word having different meanings than its literal meanings. It conveys meaning by identifying or comparing one
thing to another, which has connotation or meaning familiar to the audience. That is why it is helpful in creating vivid rhetorical effect.
Personification
It occurs when a writer gives human traits to non-human or inanimate objects. It is similar to metaphors and similes that also
use comparison between two objects. For instance,
“Hadn’t she felt it in every touch of the sunshine, as its golden finger-tips pressed her lids open and wound their way through her hair?”
(“The Mother’s Recompense” by Edith Wharton)
Understatement and Hyperbole
These two figures of speech are opposite to each other. Hyperbole uses extreme exaggeration. It exaggerates to lay emphasis on a certain
quality or feature. It stirs up emotions among the readers, these emotions could be about happiness, romance, inspiration, laughter or sadness.
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.”
(“As I Walked Out One Evening” by W.H. Auden)
In this poem, Auden has used hyperbole to stress on how long his love his beloved would last. Just imagine when China and Africa would meet
and can river jump up over the mountains? How salmon can be intelligent enough so that it could sing and evolve enough and walk the streets?
Whereas understatement uses less than whatever is intended, such as,
“You killed my family. And I don’t like that kind of thing.”
(“The Chosen One” by Boon Collins and Rob Schneider)
In this line, the speaker is using an understatement because someone has killed his family and he is just taking it very normal like nothing
serious has happened.
Simile
It is a type of comparison between things or objects by using “as” or “like.” See the following example:
My heart is like a singing bird

Whose nest is in a water’d shoot;
My heart is like an apple-tree
My heart is like a rainbow shell…
(“A Birthday” by Christina Rossetti)
Rossetti has used simile thrice in this part of the poem, comparing her heart to a “singing bird”, “an apple-tree”, and a rainbow shell.” The poet
makes comparison of heart to a happy bird in a nest, an apple tree full with fruits and a beautiful shell in the sea, full of peace and joy.
Metaphor
Metaphor is comparing two unlike objects or things, which may have some common qualities.
Presentiment – is that long shadow – on the lawn –

Indicative that Suns go down –
The notice to the startled Grass
That Darkness – is about to pass –
(“Presentiment is that long shadow on the lawn” by Emily Dickinson)
In this example, Dickinson presents presentiment as a shadow. Presentiment actually means anxiety or foreboding, which she calls a shadow. In
fact, she makes compares it with shadow to provide a better description of anxiety that could creep up in a person’s life and cause fear.
Pun
Pun is the manipulation of words that have more than one meanings. It brings humor in an expression.
Whoever hath her wish, thou hast thy Will,

And Will to boot, and Will in overplus;
(“Sonnet 135” by William Shakespeare)

See the use of odd grammar rule, which is the capitalization of word “Will.” Usually in the middle of a line or sentence, writers capitalize a
name. Here it is the first name of Shakespeare. It means he has created pun of his own name.
Top 20 Figures of Speech
Using original figures of speech in our writing is a way to convey meanings in fresh, unexpected ways. They can help our readers understand
and stay interested in what we have to say.
1. Alliteration: The repetition of an initial consonant sound. Example: She sells seashells by the seashore.
2. Anaphora: The repetition of the same word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses or verses. Example: Unfortunately, I was in the
wrong place at the wrong time on the wrong day.
3. Antithesis: The juxtaposition of contrasting ideas in balanced phrases. Example:As Abraham Lincoln said, "Folks who have no vices have very
few virtues."
4. Apostrophe: Directly addressing a nonexistent person or an inanimate object as though it were a living being. Example: "Oh, you stupid car,
you never work when I need you to," Bert sighed.
5. Assonance: Identity or similarity in sound between internal vowels in neighboring words. Example: How now, brown cow?
6. Chiasmus: A verbal pattern in which the second half of an expression is balanced against the first but with the parts reversed. Example: The
famous chef said people should live to eat, not eat to live.
7. Euphemism: The substitution of an inoffensive term for one considered offensively explicit. Example: "We're teaching our toddler how to go
potty," Bob said.
8. Hyperbole: An extravagant statement; the use of exaggerated terms for the purpose of emphasis or heightened effect. Example: I have a ton
of things to do when I get home.
9. Irony: The use of words to convey the opposite of their literal meaning. Also, a statement or situation where the meaning is contradicted by
the appearance or presentation of the idea. Example: "Oh, I love spending big bucks," said my dad, a notorious penny pincher.
10. Litotes: A figure of speech consisting of an understatement in which an affirmative is expressed by negating its opposite. Example: A million
dollars is no small chunk of change.
11. Metaphor: An implied comparison between two dissimilar things that have something in common. Example: "All the world's a stage."
12. Metonymy: A figure of speech in a word or phrase is substituted for another with which it's closely associated; also, the rhetorical strategy
of describing something indirectly by referring to things around it. Example: "That stuffed suit with the briefcase is a poor excuse for a
salesman," the manager said angrily.
13. Onomatopoeia: The use of words that imitate the sounds associated with the objects or actions they refer to. Example: The clap of thunder
went bang and scared my poor dog.
14. Oxymoron: A figure of speech in which incongruous or contradictory terms appear side by side. Example: "He popped the jumbo shrimp in
his mouth."
15. Paradox: A statement that appears to contradict itself. Example: "This is the beginning of the end," said Eeyore, always the pessimist.
16. Pun: A play on words, sometimes on different senses of the same word and sometimes on the similar sense or sound of different
words. Example: Jessie looked up from her breakfast and said, "A boiled egg every morning is hard to beat."
17. Simile: A stated comparison (usually formed with "like" or "as") between two fundamentally dissimilar things that have certain qualities in
common. Example: Roberto was white as a sheet after he walked out of the horror movie.
18. Synecdoche: A figure of speech in which a part is used to represent the whole. Example: Tina is learning her ABC's in preschool.
19. Understatement: A figure of speech in which a writer or speaker deliberately makes a situation seem less important or serious than it
is. Example: "You could say Babe Ruth was a decent ballplayer," the reporter said with a wink.
Figure of speech is not only used to embellish the language, but also cause a moment of excitement when reading. It is used
equally in writing as well as in speech. It, in fact, provides emphasis, clarity or freshness to expression. Clarity, however, may
sometimes suffer because a figure of speech introduces double meanings such as connotative and denotative meanings. It also
strengthens the creative expression and description along with making the language more graphic, pointed and vivid.

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Figure of Speech

(“The Mother’s Recompense” by Edith Wharton)

Understatement and Hyperbole

I’ll love you, dear, I’ll love you

Whereas understatement uses less than whatever is intended, such as,

“You killed my family. And I don’t like that kind of thing.”

(“The Chosen One” by Boon Collins and Rob Schneider)

My heart is like a singing bird

(“A Birthday” by Christina Rossetti)

Presentiment – is that long shadow – on the lawn –

(“Presentiment is that long shadow on the lawn” by Emily Dickinson)

Whoever hath her wish, thou hast thy Will,

(“Sonnet 135” by William Shakespeare)

Top 20 Figures of Speech

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