Figurative Language About Words

Tropes about Words:

1.       Metaphor

·         “Words are the nails we use to hammer our beliefs, opinions, biases, and expressions in place.”

·         Words are not literally tools, but they are the means we use to communicate and solidify our individual thought processes and our means of sharing them with others.

2.       Paronomasia

·         “’What do you say we go get some ice cream?’

‘Word.’”

·         This example of dialogue is quite literally a play on words in that the word, “word,” is used in place of a word that would mean agreement or used to affirm.

3.       Anthimeria

·         “He worded the silent classroom with sound.”

·         This one was kind of tricky to come up with an example for because it takes on so many forms (word, words, wordy, worded). But, just because now it is acceptable to use it in all these different ways doesn’t mean it always was. I’m sure this is a result of application by the masses. Instead of simply saying "he talked in the silent classroom," he added words to the silence. 

4.       Hyperbole

·         “That is literally the worst thing I have ever heard!”

·         Is it literally the worst? Only until someone tells you the next unbelievably wretched thing. Sometimes we use clearly defined words incorrectly as a means of exaggeration or making a point.

5.       Oxymoron

·         “Her words rolled easily off her tongue and beat mercilessly in the ear.”

·         “Rolled” and “beat” describe two very different forms in which words can take. By using them both in that sentence, it shows how subjective they really are. To the speaker they may roll and flow easily while for the hearer those same words feel like they are cramming into the ear and beating the ear like a drum.

Schemes about Words:

1.       Parallelism

·         “Effective word usage is a skill to be mastered and an art to be perfected.”

·         The parallel parts are “skill to be mastered” and “art to be perfected.”

2.       Anastrophe

·         “A word he spat out without having a clear understanding and purpose.”

·         This is an example simply because it goes against the expected word order. I know that even typing it I wanted to say, “He spat out a word without having a clear understanding or purpose.” I think this use of anastrophe evokes more curiosity. Why did he rush and say something? Was he nervous, mad, or put on the spot? Was the word bad or good and simply used incorrectly? We may never know.

3.       Ellipses

·         “The mother used her words carefully and the daughter did not.”

·         This insinuates that within this conversation, the mother was careful in what she said and the daughter reacted and possibly said things she did not mean. Even though it was not stated so blatantly, it can be assumed that “did not” means the daughter did the opposite.

4.       Alliteration

·         “What was the woman’s name whose words, though whispered, were wonderfully inspirational?”

·         The “w” sound is repeated throughout the question representing alliteration.