Have you ever noticed how certain phrases just stick with you? They might make you laugh, think, or even want to grab a dictionary. This, my friend, is the magic of figures of speech. Common figures of speech spice up our communication, making it more colorful, persuasive, and memorable. This article explores how, with a little practice, you can make figures of speech work for you, whether you’re crafting an engaging speech, composing compelling marketing copy, or simply elevating your everyday conversations.
Many people encounter figures of speech most often in literature. But they are actually an integral part of language, showing up in everyday conversations, snappy advertising slogans, catchy greeting-card rhymes, memorable newspaper headlines, and even in the mottoes of families and institutions. Often these figures of speech pop up for their their humor.
Why Bother With Figures of Speech?
Let’s face it, sometimes plain language just doesn’t cut it. This is where figures of speech swoop in, offering a breath of fresh air to our vocabulary.
The Power of Figures of Speech
The beauty of figures of speech lies in their ability to transform ordinary meaning of language into something extraordinary. Figures of speech work by subtly tweaking the literal meanings, usual meaning or arrangement of words.
Think of them as a toolbox filled with powerful devices that add nuance, creativity, and impact to our words. It doesn’t take an expert in ancient Roman rhetoric to master the art of persuasion with figures of speech. You too can leverage these linguistic tools to captivate your audience.
Engagement and Clarity: Two Birds, One Stone
Figures of speech aren’t just about sounding fancy; they serve a very practical purpose. They draw your listeners in, turning a potentially dry speech or presentation into a captivating experience. By using vivid imagery and unexpected turns of phrase, they make complex ideas more accessible and memorable.
To use some speech examples, have you ever heard someone say “it’s raining cats and dogs” and felt confused? That phrase probably stayed with you because its illogic forced you to consider what it really meant. It also helped you to connect with the speaker’s feelings about the heavy rain in a more meaningful way.
And who could forget Shakespeare’s iconic line from Romeo and Juliet, “parting is such sweet sorrow,” which perfectly encapsulates the bittersweet nature of love and loss? This is a great example of an oxymoron. That phrase sticks with you in a way that “parting makes me sad but hopeful” wouldn’t because of its unexpected combination of words.
Used in poetry and prose, figures of speech also have a more intellectual and emotional impact, making the writer’s words linger longer in the reader’s mind.
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Types of Figures of Speech
There are two primary categories of figures of speech: tropes and schemes.
1. Schemes: Playing with Word Order
Schemes primarily revolve around syntax, word structure, and sounds. While their focus is more on the mechanics of language, they are still critical tools for writers to make a visceral, sensory impact on a reader. Schemes are also frequently used in poetry.
Alliteration
Alliteration creates a musical effect by repeating the same consonant sound in a series of words. Think “Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.”
This scheme makes phrases stand out and adds a touch of playfulness. You see alliteration in branding too (“Best Buy”) because of how it rolls off the tongue.
Assonance
Similar to alliteration, assonance uses vowel sounds instead of consonant sounds to create an internal rhyme. Think of the “ee” sound in the phrase “the sleek beagle peed on the street.”
It might not be the most beautiful example, but it definitely emphasizes those similar sounding words, drawing out those “ee” sounds into an almost-whine.
Anastrophe
Want to add some drama and weight to your words? Anastrophe, also known as inversion, involves altering the standard order of words or phrases.
One example of anastrophe that everyone has encountered are the Star Wars films, in which Yoda frequently inverts traditional sentence structure: “Powerful you have become, the dark side I sense in you.” This inversion helps to highlight certain words and add a touch of formality, or in the case of Yoda, emphasize that the speaker is not of planet Earth.
2. Tropes: Twisting Meaning
Let’s dig into tropes, those figures of speech that play with the literal meaning of words for dramatic effect. As you learn about them, consider if the figures of speech that most appeal to you are schemes or tropes.
Understanding the difference can also help to develop your personal voice and strengthen your command of rhetoric.
Tropes involve an intentional shift from the literal meaning of a word or phrase to a figurative one.
The ancient Greeks viewed tropes as the foundation of their understanding of rhetoric. This section of the article will go more in-depth on tropes.
Metaphor
Metaphors are the superheroes of figures of speech, instantly injecting life into language. Instead of stating an obvious comparison (that’s a simile’s job.), metaphors boldly declare that one thing is another thing.
Think of Shakespeare’s famous line “All the world’s a stage.” By making this comparison between the world and a stage, Shakespeare reveals a deeper truth about the nature of life, death, and everything in between. It’s concise and impactful, just like a great metaphor should be.
Simile
Similes, on the other hand, create a more gentle connection between two different things using words like “like” or “as.” Similes can add depth, beauty, or even humor to your writing, allowing readers to experience something familiar in a whole new light.
Think “Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee,” Muhammad Ali’s legendary quote, or this classic line from the Bible: “They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint” (Isaiah 40:31, New International Version). Note that metaphors don’t always use the most elevated language.
Hyperbole
Ready to exaggerate your way to a more exciting point? That’s what hyperbole is all about.
“This bag weighs a ton.” is a phrase that many of us have exclaimed as we struggle to carry groceries into the house, knowing full well that those bags of chips, salsa, and two-liter bottles of soda do not actually weigh 2,000 pounds. We use this figure of speech to highlight something—that the speaker is tired, that they may have over-shopped, or that it’s time to invest in stronger shopping bags.
Figure of Speech Examples
Here are some figures of speech, both schemes and tropes, frequently found in literary and religious texts as well as everyday life:
- Allusion: This figure of speech references a well-known person, place, event, or another piece of literature.“He’s a real Romeo, that one.” (This references the famous romantic hero of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet).
- Antithesis: This rhetorical device uses parallel sentence structures to contrast two opposing ideas, making each idea more memorable. Neil Armstrong’s famous words after stepping foot on the moon, “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.”
- Euphemism: A trope in which a generally more agreeable or less offensive term is substituted for one that may be considered offensive or unpleasant. Instead of saying “He died,” you might say, “He passed away,” which is generally considered to be a gentler, less blunt turn of phrase.
- Irony: There are three types of irony (dramatic, situational, and verbal), but they all work by establishing an unexpected or incongruent relationship between what is stated and what is meant or understood by the audience. A firehouse burns down, which is ironic because you wouldn’t expect the very building designed to put out fires to be susceptible to catching on fire itself.
- Litotes: You use this figure of speech to emphasize a point by using understatement. It often involves using double negatives. Imagine yourself approaching the first humans to ever land on Mars. Now, imagine that all you can think to say to them is “Well, that’s not bad.” Not only does that minimize their accomplishment, but it also suggests that you are not easily impressed.
- Metonymy: In this trope, a writer substitutes a word or phrase with a closely related concept or object, adding nuance to their language.We see this frequently when referring to actions by governments. Think, “The White House released a statement” instead of naming a specific political official. Or “The Crown gave a moving tribute” rather than just stating that the king made a speech.
- Onomatopoeia: This scheme replicates the natural sounds made by an object or action, helping us almost hear the word as we read it. Think “buzz,” “hiss,” “woof,” and “meow,” all of which attempt to replicate the actual sounds described.
- Oxymoron: Always a crowd-pleaser. An oxymoron juxtaposes two words that seem to contradict each other, but somehow create a new meaning or emphasize something about what’s being described. Some examples are “living dead,” “organized chaos,” or “deafening silence.”
- Personification: This popular figure of speech brings inanimate objects to life, attributing human qualities and human characteristics to things that are definitely not human. “The wind whispered secrets” and “The trees danced gracefully in the breeze.” This type of figurative language – anthropomorphizing an inanimate object – features heavily in ancient mythology, especially in Ancient Greek myths.
- Synecdoche: You use synecdoche when referring to something by either a part of it or what it contains, creating a subtle but significant relationship between the two. We often hear sportscasters using this trope: “England won the match” is frequently used in place of “The English team won the match.” Or, you might refer to your new car as your new “wheels.”
- Understatement: Often employed for humorous or ironic effect, understatement minimizes the severity or magnitude of something. This allows the speaker or writer to subtly highlight the ridiculousness of what’s being discussed, encouraging their audience to think critically about a situation. “It’s just a flesh wound,” says the knight in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, moments after his arm has been lopped off.
Mastering Figurative Speech: Top Tips
Knowing all of the official terms for various figures of speech is great, but it’s also helpful to internalize how they function if you actually want to incorporate these techniques into your work. What really makes these devices work for you are their appropriate usage, compelling word choices, and well-placed sentence structure. So get creative.
Read Widely
Just as an aspiring musician should listen to a variety of musical styles and a painter should experiment with various mediums and schools of art, writers need to pay attention to a range of writing styles. Consider closely how these figures of speech operate in different contexts.
Ask yourself, for instance, why certain texts resonate with you while others do not. Are you drawn to authors who incorporate lots of descriptive language (tropes like metaphors and similes), or do you gravitate towards work that values conciseness and plays with word arrangement and sound?
Practice, Practice, Practice.
Writing is just like any other skill in that the more you use it, the stronger you become in wielding its intricacies. Incorporate a few of these rhetorical devices into each piece that you write, whether you’re sending off a simple email or revising a talk that you’ll be delivering at an event.
Or, take the opening paragraph of one of your old blog posts, articles, speeches, or chapters and see how many ways you can rewrite it, with each draft focusing on a single type of figure of speech. Share these different versions with your colleagues, fellow writers, and trusted friends or beta readers. Ask them which versions land with the most impact or which are most memorable, intriguing, or persuasive.
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FAQs about figures of speech
What are the 25 figures of speech?
Trying to pin down the definitive “top 25 figures of speech” can be tough, as this category covers such a range of linguistic approaches. I encourage you to approach lists like this as starting points rather than complete guides because of how these devices have been categorized and recategorized over several centuries.
This makes coming up with a standard, accepted definition or number difficult. But as a start, consider adding these to your rhetorical arsenal:
- Simile
- Metaphor
- Personification
- Hyperbole
- Alliteration
- Assonance
- Onomatopoeia
- Litotes
- Irony
- Oxymoron
- Synecdoche
- Metonymy
- Euphemism
- Antithesis
- Anaphora
- Chiasmus
- Understatement
- Paradox
- Apostrophe
- Pun
- Anadiplosis
- Epistrophe
- Parenthesis
- Zeugma
Conclusion
Ultimately, figures of speech are more than just literary flourishes. They’re essential tools for adding layers of meaning, engaging your readers or listeners on a deeper level, and making your message unforgettable. Think about all of those song lyrics, book titles, poems, screenplays, and even podcast taglines that really resonate with you and I bet you’ll discover some creatively incorporated figures of speech.
