1 Figures of Speech in English

6.1 Figures of likeness

 Simile, an expression of comparison between two different things. It is usually introduce
by “as”, or “like”, and sometimes also by “as…so”, “than”, and “resemble” as the signs
of comparison, e.g.,
 Mercy drops as the gentle rain from heaven upon the place beneath. (Shakespeare)
 Metaphor, an implied simile, in which one thing is called by the name of another, or
described by the term usually for something else, e.g.,
 All the world’s a stage, / And all the men and women merely players.
(Shakespeare)
 Efficiency is undermined in a jungle of red tape.
 Personification, a figure of speech which represents an inanimate object, an animal, or
an abstract idea as a person—as capable of thought, feeling, and speech, e.g.,
 I bring fresh showers for the thirsting flowers,
 From the seas and the streams; (from Shelly’s The Cloud)
 …a lie goes halfway around the world before truth has time to get its trousers on.
With television today, truth catches up with half-truth. (Mortimer B. Zuckerman)
 Allegory, fable and parable. Allegory is a comparison which is continued through out
a whole story, i.e., a series of metaphors, used in a story from beginning to end. Such a
story is commonly used to teach some moral truth. A fable is a fictitious story in which
birds, beasts, or other inanimate things are made to speak, think, and act like men, to
teach some moral precept. A parable is a very short story with a moral often pointed out
at the end of the story.

6.2 Figures of association

 Metonymy, meaning a change of name, is somewhat like metaphor, but it commonly
lies in a single word, whereas metaphor is usually more extended. Metaphor is founded
upon likeness, while metonymy is founded upon relation. There are several kinds of
metonymy, e.g.,
 The container for the thing contained, e.g., The kettle boils.
 The symbol for the person or thing symbolized, e.g.,
 He succeed to the crown in 1848.
 The instrument or organ for the agent, e.g.,
 Give every man thine ear, but few thy choice. (Shakespeare)
 The name of people for the object or concept, e.g., He reads Shakespeare.
 The name of animal or plant for some feature, e.g., Check-in lines snake across the
hall, waiting for flights that are 10 hours late. (Jeff Trimble)
 Synecdoche, a figure which consists chiefly in putting a part for the whole, or the whole
for the part. There are six kinds of synechdoche.
 The part for the whole, e.g.,
 He has many mouths to feed in his family.
 The whole for the part, e.g.,
 All the plants in the cold country become green in the smiling year.
  The abstract for the concrete
 All the wit and learning of the world were assembled here.
 The concrete for the abstract
 There is a mixture of the tiger and the ape in the character of a Frenchman.
(Voltaire)
 An individual for a class, e.g., Shanghai is the New York of China.
 The material for the thing made, e.g., The judge has put the criminal in irons.

 Hyperbole, a figure in which things are represented as greater or less, better or worse,
than they really are, e.g., I’m the happiest man in the world.
 Transferred Epithet, a qualifying adjective transferred from a person to a thing or from
one thing to another, e.g.,
 The patient lay all night on his sleepless pillow.
 His dry humour doesn’t seem intentional.
 This new tendency has raised many a conservative eyebrow.

6.3 Figures of contrast

 Antithesis, an opposition or contrast of words or ideas in the same sentence, e.g.,
 A Madrigal
Youth is full of pleasure, age is full of care,
Youth like summer morn, age like winter weather,
Youth like summer brave, age like winter bare,
Youth is full of sport, age’s breath is short.
Youth is nimble, age is lame,
Youth is hot and bold, age is weak and cold,
Youth is wild, and age is lame,
Age, I do abhor thee, youth, I do adore thee.
Oh! My love, my love is long. (Shakespeare)
 Epigram, brief, pointed saying that has the nature of a proverb, e.g., The child is father
of the man. (Wordsworth)
 Bifocal visions, including oxymoron, paradox, and irony, in which another meaning is
achieved by the combination of two contradictory ideas.
 Oxymoron, a figure of speech in which apparent contradictory terms are combined
to produce an epigrammatic effect, e.g., cruel beauty, wise fool, urban bush, etc.
 Paradox, a figure of speech consisting of a statement or proposition which on the
surface seems self-contradictory, absurd, or contrary to established fact or practice,
but which on further thinking and study may prove to be true, e.g.,
 My only love sprung from my only hate
 Too early seen unknown, and known too late! (Shakespeare)
 The most incomprehensible thing about the world is that it is comprehensible.
(Albert Einstein)
 Irony, a figure of speech in which the words of the speaker or writer seem to mean
one thing, but in reality mean just the contrary.
 Climax, a series of words, phrases, clauses or sentences arranged in order with
 increasing strength or importance, e.g., Some books are to be tasted, others to be
swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested. (Francis Bacon)

6.4 Minor figures

 Alliteration
 Pun
 Parallelism
 Rhetorical repetition, etc.