A figure of speech is a use of a word that diverges from its normal meaning, or a phrase with a specialized meaning not based on the literal meaning of the words in it. Figures of speech often provide emphasis, freshness of expression, or clarity. However, clarity may also suffer from their use, as any figure of speech introduces an ambiguity between literal and figurative interpretation. A figure of speech is sometimes called a rhetoric or a locution.
Not all theories of meaning have a concept of "literal language" . Under theories that do not, figure of speech is not an entirely coherent concept.
Rhetoric originated as the study of the ways in which a source text can be transformed to suit the goals of the person reusing the material. For this goal, classical rhetoric detected four fundamental operations[1] that can be used to transform a sentence or a larger portion of a text. They are: expansion, abridgement, switching, transferring.
Anticlimax, sequence of ideas that abruptly diminish in dignity or importance at the end of a sentence or passage, generally for satirical effect.Examples:
“Among the great achievements of Benito Mussolini's regime were the revival of a strong national consciousness, the expansion of the Italian Empire, and the running of the trains on time.”
Antithesis, juxtaposition of two words, phrases, clauses, or sentences contrasted or opposed in meaning in such a way as to give emphasis to contrasting ideas. following line by the English
Example:
“To err is human, to forgive divine.”-(Alexander Pope)
Apostrophe, device by which an actor turns from the audience, or a writer from readers, to address a person who usually is either absent or deceased, an inanimate object, or an abstract idea.
Examples:
“Hail divinest Melancholy, whose saintly visage is too bright to hit the sense of human sight.”
-(John Milton...from the poemIl Penseroso)
Climax, arrangement of words, clauses, or sentences in the order of their importance, the least forcible coming first and the others rising in power until the last.
Example:
“It is an outrage to bind a Roman citizen; it is a crime to scourge him; it is almost parricide to kill him; but to crucify him—what shall I say of this?”
Conceit, an elaborate, often extravagant metaphor or simile (see below) making an analogy between totally dissimilar things. The term originally meant “concept” or “idea.” The use of conceits is especially characteristic of 17th-century English metaphysical poetry.
Examples:
“A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning,”-( John Donne),
Euphemism, substitution of a delicate or inoffensive term or phrase for one that has coarse, sordid, or otherwise unpleasant associations.
Examples:
“lavatory” or “rest room” for “toilet,”
“pass away” for “die.”
Exclamation, sudden outcry or interjection expressing violent emotion, such as fright, grief, or hatred.
Example:
the line in the English playwright William Shakespeare's drama Macbeth in which Lady Macbeth says, “Out, out, damned spot .... !” and the line in Shakespeare's tragedy Hamlet where the prince cries, “O villain, villain, smiling damned villain!”
Hyperbole, form of inordinate exaggeration according to which a person or thing is depicted as being better or worse, or larger or smaller, than is actually the case.
“Dr. Johnson drank his tea in oceans.” -(Thomas Babington Macaulay)
Irony, dryly humorous or lightly sarcastic mode of speech, in which words are used to convey a meaning contrary to their literal sense.
Example:
“A Modest Proposal”, that the poor people of Ireland should rid themselves of poverty by selling their children to the rich to eat.-(Jonathan Swift)
Litotes, understatement employed for the purpose of enhancing the effect of the ideas expressed.
Example:
“The English poet Thomas Gray showed no inconsiderable powers as a prose writer,” meaning that Gray was in fact a very good prose writer.
Metaphor, use of a word or phrase denoting one kind of idea or object in place of another word or phrase for the purpose of suggesting a likeness between the two.
Example:
“a light to his feet and a lamp to his path.” -(biblical Book of Psalms)
“He uttered a volley of oaths”
“The man tore through the building.”
Metonymy, use of a word or phrase for another to which it bears an important relation, as the effect for the cause, the abstract for the concrete, and similar constructions.
Examples:
“He was an avid reader of Chaucer,”-( Geoffrey Chaucer)
“The hostess kept a good table,”
Onomatopoeia, imitation of natural sounds by words.
Examples:
“the humming bee,”
”the cackling hen,”
”the whizzing arrow,”
“the buzzing saw.”
Oxymoron, combination of two seemingly contradictory or incongruous words, as in the line by the English poet Sir Philip Sidney in which lovers are said to speak.
Examples:
“of living deaths, dear wounds, fair storms, and freezing fires.”(Sir Philip Sydney)
Paradox, statement or sentiment that appears contradictory to common sense yet is true in fact.
Examples:
“mobilization for peace”
“a well-known secret agent.”
Personification, representation of inanimate objects or abstract ideas as living beings.
Examples:
“Necessity is the mother of invention,”
”Lean famine stalked the land,”
“Night enfolded the town in its ebon wings.”
Rhetorical question, asking of questions not to gain information but to assert more emphatically the obvious answer to what is asked. No answer, in fact, is expected by the speaker.
Examples:
“Did you help me when I needed help? Did you once offer to intercede in my behalf? Did you do anything to lessen my load?”
Simile, specific comparison by means of the words “like” or “as” between two kinds of ideas or objects.
Examples:
“Christianity shone like a beacon in the black night of paganism”
“But, like a thirsty wind, to roam about.”-(William Wordsworth)
Synecdoche, figurative locution whereby the part is made to stand for the whole, the whole for a part, the species for the genus, and vice versa.
Examples:
“50 head of cattle,””head” is used to mean whole animals
“The president's administration contained the best brains in the country,””brains” is used for intellectually brilliant persons.
