FIGURES OF SPEECH
Anaphora: the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses.
"We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and
oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we
shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we
shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we
shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender."
(Winston Churchill, speech to the House of Commons, June 4, 1940)
Antithesis: the juxtaposition of contrasting ideas in balanced phrases or clauses.
"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was
the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it
was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it
was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us,
we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way."
(Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities)
Apostrophe: A figure of speech in which some absent or nonexistent person or thing
is addressed as if present and capable of understanding.
"Blue Moon, you saw me standing alone
Without a dream in my heart
Without a love of my own."
(Lorenz Hart, "Blue Moon")
"Bright star, would I were steadfast as thou art" (John Keats)
Chiasmus: a verbal pattern (a type of antithesis) in which the second half of an
expression is balanced against the first with the parts reversed.
"Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your
(JFK)
country.”
Euphemism: The substitution of an inoffensive term (such as "passed away") for one
considered offensively explicit ("died").
Pre-owned for used or second-hand; enhanced interrogation for torture; industrial
action for strike; misspoke for lie; tactical withdrawal for retreat; revenue
augmentation for raising taxes; wind for belch or fart; convenience fee for surcharge;
courtesy reminder for bill;unlawful combatant for prisoner of war
"Wardrobe malfunction" (Justin Timberlake's description of his tearing of Janet
Jackson's costume during a half-time performance at Super Bowl XXXVIII)
Litotes: figure of speech consisting of an understatement in which an affirmative is
expressed by negating its opposite.
"We made a difference. We made the city stronger, we made the city freer, and we
left her in good hands. All in all, not bad, not bad at all." (Ronald Reagan, Farewell
Address to the Nation, January 20, 1989)
Metonymy: A figure of speech in which one word or phrase is substituted for another
with which it is closely associated (such as "crown" for "royalty").ALSO: the rhetorical
strategy of describing something indirectly by referring to things around it, such as
describing someone's clothing to characterize the individual.
The White House
"All hands on deck" (meaning sailors, not literal hands).
Brush up on your Shakespeare (his works, that is).
Who finished the box (of cereal)?
Madison Avenue (meaning the advertising industry).
He's just a suit (or the guy who wears one) from New York.
"Detroit is still hard at work on an SUV that runs on rain forest trees and panda
blood."
(Conan O'Brien)
Oxymoron: A figure of speech in which incongruous or contradictory terms appear
side by side; a compressed paradox.
"How is it possible to have a civil war?" (George Carlin)
"Health food makes me sick." (Calvin Trillin)
"We have to believe in free will. We have no choice." (Isaac Bashevis Singer)
"O brawling love! O loving hate! . . .
O heavy lightness! serious vanity!
Misshapen chaos of well-seeming forms!
Feather of lead, bright smoke, cold fire, sick health!
Still-waking sleep, that is not what it is!
This love feel I, that feel no love in this." (William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet)
Paradox: A figure of speech in which a statement appears to contradict itself.
"Perhaps this is our strange and haunting paradox here in America--that we are
fixed and certain only when we are in movement." (Tom Wolfe)
"Je ne parle pas Français." (Bart Simpson, The Simpsons)
Pun: A play on words, either on different senses of the same word or on the similar
sense or sound of different words.
A vulture boards a plane, carrying two dead possums. The attendant looks at him
and says, "I'm sorry, sir, only one carrion allowed per passenger."
Synecdoche: A figure of speech in which a part is used to represent the whole (for
example, ABCs foralphabet) or the whole for a part ("England won the World Cup in
1966").
"[I]t is often difficult to distinguish between metonymy and synecdoche. Plastic =
credit card is a case of synecdoche because credit cards are made from plastic, but
it is also metonymic because we use plastic to refer to the whole system of paying by
means of a prearranged credit facility, not just the cards themselves. In fact, many
scholars do not use synecdoche as a category or term at all." (Murray Knowles and
Rosamund Moon, Introducing Metaphor. Routledge, 2006)
Understatement: A figure of speech in which a writer or speaker deliberately makes
a situation seem less important or serious than it is.
"I am just going outside and may be some time." (Captain Lawrence Oates, Antarctic
explorer, before walking out into a blizzard to face certain death, 1912)
"The British are feeling the pinch in relation to recent terrorist bombings and threats
to destroy nightclubs and airports, and therefore have raised their security level
from 'Miffed' to 'Peeved.' Soon, though, security levels may be raised yet again
to 'Irritated' or even 'A Bit Cross.' Brits have not been 'A Bit Cross' since the Blitz in
1940 when tea supplies all but ran out." (anonymous post on the Internet, July 2007)