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Metalepsis: figurative speech is used in a new context. Metaphor: an implied comparison between two things, attributing the properties of one thing to another that it does not literally possess. [19] Metonymy: a thing or concept is called not by its own name but rather by the name of something associated in meaning with that thing or concept.
The following is a list of common metonyms. [n 1] A metonym is a figure of speech used in rhetoric in which a thing or concept is not called by its own name, but by the name of something intimately associated with that thing or concept.
Figurative (or non-literal) language is the usage of words in a way that deviates from their conventionally accepted definitions in order to convey a more complex meaning or a heightened effect. [1] It is often created by presenting words in such a way that they are equated, compared, or associated with normally unrelated meanings.
The phrase "lend me your ear" is interpreted to metaphorically mean that the speaker wants the listener to grant the speaker temporary control over what the listener hears. First, analyze the verb phrase "lend me your ear" metaphorically to mean "turn your ear in my direction", since it is known that, literally lending a body part is ...
In linguistics, the conduit metaphor is a dominant class of figurative expressions used when discussing communication itself (metalanguage).It operates whenever people speak or write as if they "insert" their mental contents (feelings, meanings, thoughts, concepts, etc.) into "containers" (words, phrases, sentences, etc.) whose contents are then "extracted" by listeners and readers.
An idiom is a common word or phrase with a figurative, non-literal meaning that is understood culturally and differs from what its composite words' denotations would suggest; i.e. the words together have a meaning that is different from the dictionary definitions of the individual words (although some idioms do retain their literal meanings – see the example "kick the bucket" below).
A figurative analogy is a comparison about two things that are not alike but share only some common property. [1] On the other hand, a literal analogy is about two things that are nearly exactly alike. The two things compared in a figurative analogy are not obviously comparable in most respects. [2]
In this example, being rescued from the rabbit hole adapts the original meaning to convey that someone has stopped being deeply invested in a specific topic. The phrase All singing, all dancing was originally literally about movie musicals, later an idiom meaning "full of vitality", and more recently, "full-featured".