Figures of Speech

Metaphor

„All the world's a stage“, „the heart of the city“, „a sea of troubles“.

💡 Did you know? Metaphors are so ordinary we stop noticing them: a chair has legs, a mountain has a foot, a bottle has a neck.

Simile

„As busy as a bee“, „like a bull in a china shop“; the „like“ is what separates it from a metaphor.

💡 Did you know? Homer filled the Iliad with similes so long that the image almost takes over the scene.

Personification

„The wind whispered“, „opportunity knocks“, „time flies“.

💡 Did you know? Weather reports are full of it: a front „pushes through“, a high-pressure system „refuses to budge“.

Hyperbole

„I've told you a million times“: nobody counted, and that is the point.

💡 Did you know? The word comes from the Greek „hyperbolḗ“, a throwing beyond: the same root as the mathematical hyperbola.

Litotes

„Not bad at all“ means good; „no small feat“ means impressive; „not unlike“ means similar.

💡 Did you know? Old English poetry was fond of it: calling a fierce battle „no small meeting“ was high praise.

Irony

„Lovely weather!“ in a downpour. The tone of voice carries the real message.

💡 Did you know? Writing strips that tone away, which is why irony is the most common source of misunderstanding in messages and email.

Oxymoron

„Deafening silence“, „bittersweet“, „living dead“, „open secret“.

💡 Did you know? An oxymoron is a pair of words: stretch the contradiction across a whole statement and it becomes a paradox.

Paradox

„I know that I know nothing.“ „Less is more.“ „The only constant is change.“

💡 Did you know? Logic uses the word more strictly: „This sentence is false“ is a paradox because it refutes itself either way.

Alliteration

„Full fathom five thy father lies“: Shakespeare, The Tempest. Also „safe and sound“, „rock and roll“.

💡 Did you know? Before rhyme took over, alliteration carried English verse: Beowulf is built on it line by line.

Anaphora

„We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds …“: Churchill, 1940.

💡 Did you know? Martin Luther King repeated „I have a dream“ eight times; the phrase was not even in his prepared text.

Onomatopoeia

Buzz, hiss, clang, splash, cuckoo, meow.

💡 Did you know? Animal noises differ by language: an English rooster says „cock-a-doodle-doo“, a German one „kikeriki“.

Euphemism

„Let go“ instead of fired, „passed away“ instead of died, „pre-owned“ instead of used.

💡 Did you know? Euphemisms wear out: once the softening is seen through, a new one is needed: linguists call it the euphemism treadmill.

Rhetorical question

„Who wouldn't want that?“ „Do I look like I'm joking?“

💡 Did you know? It works because the listener supplies the answer and people rarely argue with a thought they produced themselves.

Climax

„I came, I saw, I conquered.“ Each element outweighs the one before.

💡 Did you know? The reverse exists too: an anticlimax builds up and then lands deliberately flat, usually for comic effect.

Antithesis

„It was the best of times, it was the worst of times“: Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities.

💡 Did you know? Unlike an oxymoron, an antithesis needs two separate members: the contradiction is not squeezed into one phrase.

Chiasmus

„Ask not what your country can do for you: ask what you can do for your country.“: John F. Kennedy, 1961.

💡 Did you know? The name comes from the Greek letter chi (Χ): draw lines between the matching parts and you get that cross.

Ellipsis

„The more, the merrier.“ „So far, so good.“ The verbs are missing and nobody misses them.

💡 Did you know? Advertising thrives on it: the fewer words on the page, the faster the line is read and remembered.

Pleonasm

„Free gift“, „burning fire“, „added bonus“, „end result“.

💡 Did you know? Some doublings are deliberate: „null and void“ and „aid and abet“ come from law French, where each pair covered two legal traditions.