Figure of speech Totally Explained

Everything about Figure Of Speech totally explained

A figure of speech, sometimes termed a rhetoric, or locution, is a word or phrase that departs from straightforward, literal language. Figures of speech are often used and crafted for emphasis, freshness of expression, or clarity. However, clarity may also suffer from their use.Note that all theories of meaning necessarily have a concept of "literal language" (see literal and figurative language). Under theories that do not, figure of speech isn't an entirely coherent concept.
As an example of the figurative use of a word, consider the sentence, I am going to crown you. It may mean:

I am going to place a literal crown on your head.
I'm going to symbolically exalt you to the place of kingship.
I'm going to put a second checker piece on top of your checker piece to signify that it has become a king (as in the game of checkers).
I'm going to punch you in the head with my clenched fist.
Scholars of classical Western rhetoric have divided figures of speech into two main categories: schemes and tropes. Schemes (from the Greek schēma, form or shape) are figures of speech in which there's a deviation from the ordinary or expected pattern of words. For example, the phrase, "John, my best friend" uses the scheme known as apposition. Tropes (from the Greek tropein, to turn) involve changing or modifying the general meaning of a term. An example of a trope is the use of irony, which is the use of words in a way that conveys a meaning opposite to its usual meaning ("For Brutus is an honorable man; / So are they all, all honorable men").
During the Renaissance, a time when scholars in every discipline had a passion for classifying all things, writers expended a great deal of energy in devising all manner of classes and sub-classes of figures of speech. Henry Peacham, for example, in his The Garden of Eloquence (1577) enumerated 184 different figures of speech:
"For the sake of simplicity, this article divides the figures between schemes and tropes, but doesn't attempt further sub-classification (for example, "Figures of Disorder"). Within each category, words are listed alphabetically. Each figure links to a page that provides greater detail and relevant examples, but a short definition is placed here for convenience. Some of those listed may be considered rhetorical devices, which are similar in many ways."
Schemes

accumulation: Summarization of previous arguments in a forceful manner.

adnominatio: Repetition of a word with a change in letter or sound

alliteration: A series of words that begin with the same letter or sound alike

anacoluthon: A change in the syntax within a sentence

anadiplosis: Repetition of a word at the end of a clause at the beginning of another

anaphora: The repetition of the same word or group of words at the beginning of successive clauses

anastrophe: Inversion of the usual word order

anticlimax: the arrangement of words in order of decreasing importance

antimetabole: Repetition of words in successive clauses, in reverse order

antistrophe: The repetition of the same word or phrase at the end of successive clauses (see epistrophe)

antithesis: The juxtaposition of opposing or contrasting ideas

aphorismus: statement that calls into question the definition of a word

aposiopesis: Breaking off or pausing speech for dramatic or emotional effect

apostrophe: Directing the attention away from the audience and to a personified abstraction

apposition: The placing of two elements side by side, in which the second defines the first

assonance: The repetition of vowel sounds, most commonly within a short passage of verse

asteismus: Facetious or mocking answer that plays on a word

asyndeton: Omission of conjunctions between related clauses

cacophony: The juxtaposition of words producing a harsh sound

classification (literature & grammar): linking a proper noun and a common noun with an article

chiasmus: Reversal of grammatical structures in successive clauses

climax: The arrangement of words in order of increasing importance

consonance: The repetition of consonant sounds, most commonly within a short passage of verse

dystmesis: A synonym for tmesis

ellipsis: Omission of words

enallage: The substitution of forms that are grammatically different, but have the same meaning

enjambment: A breaking of a syntactic unit (a phrase, clause, or sentence) by the end of a line or between two verses.

enthymeme: Informal method of presenting a syllogism

epanalepsis: Repetition of the initial word or words of a clause or sentence at the end of the clause or sentence.

epistrophe: The repetition of the same word or group of words at the end of successive clauses. The counterpart of anaphora (also known as antistrophe)

euphony: The opposite of cacophony - for example pleasant sounding

hendiadys: Use of two nouns to express an idea when the normal structure would be a noun and a modifier

hendiatris: Use of three nouns to express one idea

homographs: Words that are identical in spelling but different in origin and meaning

homonyms: Words that are identical with each other in pronunciation and spelling, but differing in origin and meaning.

homophones:Words that are identical with each other in pronunciation but differing in origin and meaning.

hypallage: Changing the order of words so that they're associated with words normally associated with others

hyperbaton: Schemes featuring unusual or inverted word order.

hyperbole: An exaggeration of a statement.

hysteron proteron: The inversion of the usual temporal or causal order between two elements.

isocolon: Use of parallel structures of the same length in successive clauses

internal rhyme : Using two or more rhyming words in the same sentence

kenning: A metonymic compound where the terms together form a sort of synecdoche

merism: Referring to a whole by enumerating some of its parts

non sequitur: a statement that bears no relationship to the context preceding

onomatopoeia: A word imitating a real sound (for example tick-tock or boom)

paradiastole: Repetition of the disjunctive pair "neither" and "nor"

parallelism: The use of similar structures in two or more clauses

paraprosdokian: Unexpected ending or truncation of a clause

parenthesis: Insertion of a clause or sentence in a place where it interrupts the natural flow of the sentence

paroemion: A resolute alliteration in which every word in a sentence or phrase begins with the same letter

parrhesia: Speaking openly or boldly, or apologizing for doing so (declaring to do so)

perissologia: The fault of wordiness

pleonasm: The use of superfluous or redundant words

polyptoton: Repetition of words derived from the same root

polysyndeton: Repetition of conjunctions

pun: When a word or phrase is used in two different senses

sibilance: Repetition of letter 's', it's a form of alliteration

superlative: Saying something the best of something for example the ugliest,the most precious

spoonerism: Interchanging of (usually initial) letters of words with amusing effect

symploce: Simultaneous use of anaphora and epistrophe: the repetition of the same word or group of words at the beginning and the end of successive clauses

synchysis: Interlocked word order

synesis: An agreement of words according to the sense, and not the grammatical form

synizesis: The pronunciation of two juxtaposed vowels or diphthongs as a single sound

synonymia: The use of two or more synonyms in the same clause or sentence

tautology: Redundancy due to superfluous qualification; saying the same thing twice

tmesis: Division of the elements of a compound word

Tropes

allegory: An extended metaphor in which a story is told to illustrate an important attribute of the subject

allusion: An indirect reference to another work of literature or art

anacoenosis: Posing a question to an audience, often with the implication that it shares a common interest with the speaker

antanaclasis: A form of pun in which a word is repeated in two different senses

anthimeria: The substitution of one part of speech for another, often turning a noun into a verb

anthropomorphism: Ascribing human characteristics to something that isn't human, such as an animal or a god (see zoomorphism)

antiphrasis: A word or words used contradictory to their usual meaning, often with irony

antonomasia: The substitution of a phrase for a proper name or vice versa

aphorism: A tersely phrased statement of a truth or opinion, an adage

apophasis: Invoking an idea by denying its invocation

aporia: Deliberating with oneself, often with the use of rhetorical questions

apostrophe: Addressing a thing, an abstraction or a person not present

archaism: Use of an obsolete, archaic, word(a word used in olden language, for example Shakespeare's language)

auxesis: A form of hyperbole, in which a more important sounding word is used in place of a more descriptive term

catachresis: A mixed metaphor (sometimes used by design and sometimes a rhetorical fault)

circumlocution: "Talking around" a topic by substituting or adding words, as in euphemism or periphrasis

commiseration: Evoking pity in the audience.

correctio: Linguistic device used for correcting one's mistakes, a form of which is epanorthosis.

denominatio: Another word for metonymy

double negative: grammar construction that can be used as an expression and it's the repetition of negative words

dysphemism: Substitution of a harsher, more offensive, or more disagreeable term for another. Opposite of euphemism.

epanorthosis: Immediate and emphatic self-correction, often following a slip of the tongue.

enumeratio: A form of amplification in which a subject is divided, detailing parts, causes, effects, or consequences to make a point more forcibly.

erotema: Synonym for rhetorical question

euphemism: Substitution of a less offensive or more agreeable term for another

hermeneia: Repetition for the purpose of interpreting what has already been said

hyperbole: Use of exaggerated terms for emphasis

hypophora: Answering one's own rhetorical question at length

hysteron proteron: Reversal of anticipated order of events

innuendo: Having a hidden meaning in a sentence that makes sense whether it's detected or not

invocation: An apostrophe to a god or muse

irony: Use of word in a way that conveys a meaning opposite to its usual meaning

litotes: Emphasizing the magnitude of a statement by denying its opposite

malapropism: Using a word through confusion with a word that sounds similar

meiosis: Use of understatement, usually to diminish the importance of something

metalepsis: Referring to something through reference to another thing to which it's remotely related

metaphor: An implied comparison of two unlike things

metonymy: Substitution of a word to suggest what is really meant

neologism: The use of a word or term that has recently been created, or has been in use for a short time. Opposite of archaism.

onomatopoeia: Words that sound like their meaning

oxymoron: Using two terms together, that normally contradict each other

parable: An extended metaphor told as an anecdote to illustrate or teach a moral lesson

paradox: Use of apparently contradictory ideas to point out some underlying truth

paradiastole: Extenuating a vice in order to flatter or soothe

parallel irony: An ironic juxtaposition of sentences or situations (informal)

paralipsis: Drawing attention to something while pretending to pass it over

paronomasia: A form of pun, in which words similar in sound but with different meanings are used

pathetic fallacy: Using a word that refers to a human action on something non-human

periphrasis: Using several words instead of few

personification/prosopopoeia/anthropomorphism: Attributing or applying human qualities to inanimate objects, animals, or natural phenomena

praeteritio: Another word for paralipsis

procatalepsis: Refuting anticipated objections as part of the main argument

prolepsis: Another word for procatalepsis

proslepsis: An extreme form of paralipsis in which the speaker provides great detail while feigning to pass over a topic

proverb:A succinct or pithy expression of what is commonly observed and believed to be true.

repetition: The repeated usage of word(s)/group of words in the same sentence to create a poetic/rhythmic effect.

rhetorical question: Asking a question as a way of asserting something. Or asking a question not for the sake of getting an answer but for asserting something (or as in a poem for creating a poetic effect).

simile: An explicit comparison between two things

superlative: Saying something the best of something for example the ugliest, the most precious etc

syllepsis: A form of pun, in which a single word is used to modify two other words, with which it normally would have differing meanings

syncatabasis ("condescension, accommodation"): adaptation of style to the level of the audience

synecdoche: A form of metonymy, in which a part stands for the whole

synesthesia: The description of one kind of sense impression by using words that normally describe another.

transferred epithet: The placing of an adjective with what appears to be the incorrect noun

truism: a self-evident statement

tricolon diminuens: A combination of three elements, each decreasing in size

tricolon crescens: A combination of three elements, each increasing in size

zeugma: a figure of speech related to syllepsis, but different in that the word used as a modifier isn't compatible with one of the two words it modifies

zoomorphism: applying animal characteristics to humans or gods Further Information

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