Figures of Speech (高英）

Diction: Figures of Speech By figures of speech we refer here to those rhetorical devices termed tropes in classical rhetoric. Tropes have to do with the way words are made to mean other than what they would normally imply, and therefore involve deviation from the ordinary and literal meaning of words. They are ways of making our language figurative. We are said to be speaking or writing figuratively when we use words in non-literal senses to lend force to an idea, to heighten effect, or to create atmosphere. For example, it is more vivid and colorful to say that stars “twinkling like diamonds” in the sky, than to say simply that they “shine brightly” in the sky. Similarly, “Imperialism is a paper tiger” is an expression more suggestive of outward ferocity and inner weakness than the literal statement “Imperialism appears to be strong but inwardly it is weak.” Like a diamond is a simile, and paper tiger is a metaphor, and with metonymy, hyperbole, personification, paradox they make up a score or more of figures of speech most commonly used today. Each figure has its own form and characteristics, and its own way of achieving effect. Sometimes two or more figures can be used together for greater impact. At one time, overuse of these figures in speech or writing gave them a bad reputation. They became associated with “artifice” and “ornamentation” and even with verbal hypocrisy. The fault, alas, lay more with the users than the figures themselves. In recent times, there has been a renewal of interest in these figures, and their value in expressive and persuasive communication is being increasingly recognized. At one time, too, figures of speech were mainly associated with poetry and poetic writing, where they still are most lavishly used. But now they can be found in any form of writing --- prose, drama, scientific and other non-literary writing, and in advertisements. In fact, effective writing of any kind is seldom without a figure or two. A knowledge of these figures, and of how they are best used will, therefore, be of help to us not only in deepening our understanding of what we read, but also in appreciating more fully the finer points of a writer’s style. In the process, we might even learn to write better ourselves. It is difficult to be precise about how many figures existed in classical times. The numbers range from 65 to 200 or more. Many of these figures, however, were over-subtle distinctions of one type or another, and such hair-splitting refinement is not essential in our age of fast high-tech communication. So we are going to discuss those that are most universally used and those that are of the greatest practical value. I. Figures of resemblance or relationship: 1. Simile（明喻） A simile makes a comparison, but is different from an ordinary, literal comparison. When we say “Jim looks like his brother Billy” we are making an ordinary literal comparison, for we are comparing two like elements --- Jim and Billy are both human beings, and we mean Jim is literally like his brother Billy in appearance. But when we say “Jim and Billy are as like as two peas” we are using a simile, for we are comparing two unlike elements --- human beings and peas, and we don’t mean Jim and Billy are literally like peas, but only that they have one thing in common with peas: great similarity in appearance. So now we come to the definition of “simile” --- a figure of speech which makes a comparison between two unlike elements having at least one quality or characteristic in common. The comparison, however, is purely imaginative, that is, the resemblance between two unlike things in that one particular aspect exists only in our minds, on our “inward eye” and not in the nature of the things themselves. To make the comparison, words like as, as …as, so…as, as …so, and like are used to transfer the quality we associate with one to the other. Sometimes the association is between unfamiliar and familiar things, or between abstract and concrete images. The stronger the association that is felt, the greater the force of the comparison, the stronger the power of suggestion and the sharper the image produced. 1) And the whining schoolboy, with his satchel and shining morning face, creeping like snail, unwillingly to school… (Shakespeare) (An association between the slow pace of the reluctant schoolboy and the snail’s crawl.) 2) Records fell like ripe apples on a windy day. (E. B. White) (An association between the rapidity with which records were broken and the rapidity of ripe apples being blown down on a windy day.) 3) As cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country. 4) …there was a secret meanness that clung to him almost like a smell. (The suggestion of an all-prevailing meanness in the man.) Now let us end this part with the words of Doctor Samuel Johnson, “A simile, to be perfect, must both illustrate and ennoble the subject, must show it to the understanding in a clearer view and display it to the fancy with greater dignity.” 2. Metaphor（隐喻 / 暗喻） A metaphor, like a simile, also makes a comparison between two unlike elements, but unlike a simile, this comparison is implied rather than stated. Compare the following: 1) Jim was as cunning as a fox. (simile) 2) The world is like a stage. (simile) 3) Jim was a fox. (metaphor) 4) The world is a stage. (metaphor) So, a metaphor is in a sense a condensed simile, differing from the latter only in form and artistry. It is a higher form, though, and not all metaphors can be recast as similes. It requires greater ability on the part of the reader to perceive the hidden association, the insight into persons, things or ideas that is implied. For whereas in a simile the particular aspect of the point of resemblance between two unlike elements is given, in a metaphor nothing is stated. Taking the sentence “Jim was as cunning as a fox” as an example, we can see that the aspect of cunningness in both man and the fox is compared, but in “Jim was a fox” this aspect is not indicated. We assume that the sentence implies Jim is cunning, for the idea that a fox is shrewd and cunning is familiar to us. But it is not always possible to assume correctly, especially when writer and reader come from different cultural backgrounds and there is a gap between the writer’s range of knowledge and experience and reader’s. Full understanding of a metaphor, then, is a more complicated process than understanding of similes, but the “light” when it comes to us after we have resolved a subtle metaphor and perceived the hidden association is well worth the effort. 1) The hallway was zebra-striped with darkness and moonlight. ( A description of the alternate bands of light and shade in the hall, like a zebra’s stripes.) 2) The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure. (Thomas Jefferson) ( The suggestion here is that liberty cannot be achieved or defended without bloodshed --- the shedding of the blood of both the defenders and the oppressors of liberty in a violent struggle. Blood nurtures liberty.) 3) The street faded into a country road with straggling houses by it. 3. Personification（拟人） By definition, personification is a figure of speech that gives human form or feelings to animals, or life and personal attributes to inanimate objects, or to ideas and abstractions, e.g. 1) The wind whistled through the trees. 2) If not always in a hot mood to smash, the sea is always stealthily ready for a drowning. 3) Dawn was beginning to prowl about the sky and put out the stars. 4) The ancient wilderness dreamed, stretched itself all open to the sun, and seemed to sigh with immeasurable content. 4. Metonymy（换喻 / 转喻 / 借代） Metonymy is a figure of speech that has to do with the substitution of the name of one thing for that of another with which it is closely associated. This substituted name may be an attribute of that other thing or be closely associated with it. In other words, it involves a “change of name,” the substituted name suggesting the thing meant. Metonymy is a very useful and effective rhetorical device, for it compresses much into a single word or short noun phrase. We are perhaps familiar with the following examples: pen: what is written by the pen; books, articles, etc. sword: instrument of force and destruction; e. g. The pen is mightier than the sword. (Words have power.) table: source or supply of food; e. g. She sets a good/poor table. (She provides good/poor food.) bottle: liquor, wine, alcohol e. g. He took to the bottle. (He took to drinking.) Metonymy can be derived from various sources --- from names of persons, from animals, professions, locations or place names, etc., as illustrated below: A. Names of persons 1. John Bull: England, or the English people 2. Uncle Sam: the United States of America 3. Ivan: the Russian people 4. John Doe: ordinary American citizen B. Animals 1. British Lion: England or the English government 2. the Polar Bear: the former Soviet Union or the Soviet government C. Parts of the body 1. heart: feelings or emotions 2. head, brain: wisdom, intelligence, reason e. g. Her heart ruled her head. Use your head. 3. gray hair: old age D. Professions 1. the bar: the legal profession; 2. the bench: position (office) of judge or magistrate; 3. the veil: vocation of a nun; e. g. She took the veil at 20. 4. the press: newspapers; newspaper reporters; E. Locations of government, of business or industrial enterprises 1. Downing Street: the British government or cabinet; 2. the White House: the President or executive branch of the U. S. government 3. Capitol Hill: the legislative branch of the U. S. government; 4. the Pentagon: the U. S. military establishment; 5. Kremlin: the government or the former Soviet Union; 6. Fleet Street: the British press; 7. Wall Street: U. S. financial circles; 8. Madison Avenue: American advertising industry; 9. Hollywood: American film-making industry; 10. Foggy Bottom: U. S. State Department. 5. Synecdoche（提喻） Synecdoche has often been confused with metonymy, and sometimes even treated synonymously. This is not surprising, as both figures of speech involve substitution, only metonymy involves substitution of the name of one thing for that of another closely associated with it, whereas synecdoche involves the substitution of the part for the whole, or the whole for the part. A. The part for the whole 1. hand: crew member, worker, laborer, helper —They were short of hands at harvest time. 2. head: person —He paid the workers five dollars per head. 3. heart: brave fellow —Yet there were some stout hearts who attempted resistance. 4. legs: (colloquial) persons on foot; the infantry —The legs could hardly keep up with the tanks. 5. bread: food, esp. staple food —Give us this our daily bread. (Prayer) B. The whole for the part 1. Name of country for group of people of that country —Australia beat Canada at cricket. 2. Vehicle for engine, machine for mechanism of machine itself, etc. —The car conked out. —The plane has flamed out! 3. Person for part of his body —Then he cut me open and took out the appendix and stitched me up again. 6. Euphemism (委婉语) In the new edition of The Concise Oxford Dictionary (1976), euphemism is defined as “substitution of mild or vague or roundabout expression for harsh or direct one; expression thus substituted.” In Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary (1973), it is defined as “substitution of an agreeable or inoffensive expression for one that may offend or suggest something unpleasant.” Appropriate use of euphemisms requires that the user have a sharp or keen sense of “touchy” situations. For Chinese students of English, cultural elements should also be taken into account if they wish not to make mistakes by the improper use of euphemisms. Euphemism is more than just saying something unpleasant in a pleasant way. In the words of Hilaire Belloc, “The euphemism is a recognition by man of man’s own imperfection, and at the same time a recognition by man that he belongs to better things. It is play acting, but none the worse for that. It is a false word substituted for the true word in order to soften the shock of reality.” It seems that the urge to speak euphemistically is a universal trait, but varying in scope and motive with different individuals in different circumstances. The great complexity and variety of scope and motive can be seen from this list of “true words” and their euphemisms, the “gilded words”. A. About health, disease, and death 1. pregnant (怀孕) —be in the family way (B.E); be in a family way (A. E.); be inconvenient; be expecting 2. die —to pass away; to depart; to go to bed; to go to heaven 3. fat —plump; stout; chubby; weight-watcher 4. thin—lean; slim; willowy 5. old age—getting on (in years); past one’s prime; feeling one’s age; in one’s second childhood 6. mad —not all there; soft in the head; of unsound mind; simple-minded 7. stupid pupil—slow learner; under-achiever 8. ugly—plain; homely 9. graveyard—memory garden 10. menstruation—that time of the month; having one’s periods; a woman for a week B. About poverty, misfortunes and disappointment 1. poor—needy; underprivileged; the indigent 2. dismiss—lay off; ease out; give (get) the walking stick; pink slip 3. slum —substandard housing 4. penniless—out of pocket; hard up; in reduced circumstances 5. the poor—the have-nots; the underprivileged; the disadvantaged 6. in debt—in difficulties; in embarrassing obligation to C. In relation with sexual life 1. sex—the facts of life 2. pornographic movies—adult films; X-rated films; for adults only 3. have sex with—make love with; go to bed with 4. free love (同居) —trial marriage 5. illegitimate child (私生子) —love child D. In relation with crimes and war 1. burglary—surreptitious entry 2. young criminals—juvenile delinquents 3. prostitute—call girl; street walker 4. prostitution—the oldest profession in the world 5. nuclear bomb—nuclear device 6. ground war—ground operation 7. retreat—strategic withdrawal 8. suicidal attack—one-way mission E. In relation with menial jobs or professions 1. maid, housekeeper—domestic help; day-help; live-in help 2. chief waiter, waitress—captain; hostess 3. hairdresser—beautician 4. janitor—superintendent; custodian 5. undertaker—mortician 6. rat-catcher—exterminating engineer; pest control operator II. Figures of emphasis or understatement: 1. Hyperbole (夸张) Hyperbole is the deliberate use of overstatement or exaggeration to achieve emphasis. Instead of saying in plain language “She is a pretty girl” or “He laughed heartily” we could express the same idea more emphatically by saying “She is the prettiest girl in the world” or “He almost died of laughing.” Effective hyperbole is more than just to emphasize something in exaggerated terms. In the hands of experienced writers it can be used to achieve various literary effects: to intensify emotion, to elevate a person or thing to heroic or mythical status, or to poke fun at or ridicule. Moreover, its form, too, can vary from a phrase,, a sentence, to a paragraph or paragraphs of description. Sometimes a whole story or article may be one big hyperbole. 1. Belinda smiled, and all the world was gay. 2. She is dying to know what job has been assigned her. 3. Jesse went out. The whole world seemed to have turned golden. 4. Bob’s younger sister, Jenny, made an exploding success in the field of maths. 5. Henry’s two sons are different in their personalities in a thousand and one ways. 2. Understatement（克制陈述） 1. Understatement is the opposite of hyperbole, or overstatement. It achieves its effect of emphasizing a fact by deliberately understating it, impressing the listener or the reader more by what is merely implied or left unsaid than by bare statement. 2. He was a man of no mean wealth. 3. It’s no laughing matter. 4. It took a few dollars to build this indoor swimming-pool. 5. I didn’t half like that. ( I liked that very much.) 6. This is no small accomplishment. (This is an accomplishment of considerable magnitude.) 7. The German fleet was not an unworthy opponent. (a formidable opponent) 3. Antithesis Antithesis means the setting of contrasting phrases opposite each other for emphasis. In true antithesis the opposition between the elements is manifested through parallel grammatical structure. 1. The quest for righteousness is Oriental, the quest for knowledge, Occidental. (Sir William Osler) 2. Good breeding consists in concealing how much we think of ourselves and how little we think of the other person. (Mark Twain) 3. Its failures became a part of history but its successes held the clue to a better international order. 4. Does one like islands because one unconsciously appropriates them, a small manageable domain in a large unmanageable world? 4. Paradox (似非而是) A paradox is a figure of speech consisting of a statement or proposition which on the face of it seems self-contradictory, absurd or contrary to established fact or practice, but which on further thinking and study may prove to be true, well founded, and even to contain a succinct point. 1. Nurse: His name is Romeo, and a Montague, The only son of your greatest enemy. Juliet: My only love sprung from my only hate, Too early seen unknown, and known too late! Prodigious birth of love it is to me, That I must love a loathed enemy. 2. He’s all fault who has no fault. 3. There is this quality, in things, of the right way seeming wrong at first. 4. The suspense is terrible. I hope it will last. 5. In fact, it appears that the teachers of English teach English so poorly largely because they teach grammar so well. 5. Oxymoron (矛盾修饰法) An oxymoron is a compressed paradox, formed by the conjoining of two contrasting, contradictory or incongruous terms. An understanding of oxymoron can help us to appreciate more fully the implied complexity of descriptions and feelings. Like paradox, an oxymoron initially surprises one with its incongruity of terms, which really hides a certain truth, or a significant point. 1. He was suddenly filled with bitter-sweet memories. 2. The poor man’s proud humility impressed us all. 3. She read the letter from home with a tearful smile. 4. I know that they are all being idly busy. 5. Note the following expressions: a living death; conspicuous absence; tearful joy; jarring concord; cold pleasant manner; poor rich guys; dully bright; mercifully fatal; hasten slowly; shine darkly; a love-hate relationship; a glorious defeat. 6. Rhetorical Question It is a question neither requiring nor intended to produce a reply but asked for emphasis. The assumption is that only one answer is possible. 1. Was I not at the scene of the crime? 2. If winter comes, can Spring be far behind? (Shelley: Ode to the West Wind) 7. Irony It is the expression of actual intent in words that carry the opposite meaning. It is an effective literary device because it gives the impression of great restraint. 1. …until we are marching backwards to the glorious age of the 16th century. (L10) 2. He was my friend, faithful and just to me: But Brutus is an honourable man.(Shakespeare: Julius Caesar. Antony here is saying just the opposite. He means that Brutus is not honorable. He is a murderer.) 8. Sarcasm It is a cutting remark, a verbal sneer. Sarcasm pretends to disguise its meaning, but does not intend to be misunderstood. 1."Oh, you're really a great friend, aren’t you?” (addressed to one who won't lend the speaker 5 Yuan ) 2. He is very generous i