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. 

Figurative Language about Sandwiches

Tropes:

1. Metaphor
• "The cutting of a sandwich is the whipped cream on a cup of hot cocoa."
• I actually used an extended version of this metaphor in my original blog post about sandwiches. I said that a cut sandwich is better than a normal sandwich in the same way that whipped cream makes a cup of hot chocolate better. Obviously the action of cutting a sandwich is not the same as a physical dollop of whipped cream.
2. Paranomasia
• "Wouldn't you love to meet and squeeze the perfectly cut meat and cheese?"
• "Meet and squeeze" sounds a lot like "meat and cheese" but they do not mean the same thing since "meat and cheese" is referring to a sandwich while "meet and squeeze" is referring to a reaction you might have when being introduced to someone you really admire.
3. Anthimeria
• "I sandwiched the peanut butter and jelly together between two slices of bread."
• This is actually a kind of common anthimeria. People often use the noun "sandwich" as a verb to mean putting things together between two similar objects. The word use creates a type of imagery for the reader.
4. Hyperbole
• "Whether or not you cut your sandwich in half will determine the fate of the entire universe!"
• Obviously the way you eat your sandwich will not alter an significant events for the entire universe, but the exaggeration makes the decision seem much more consequential than it actually is.
5. Oxymoron
• "To make the sandwich experience whole, half it."
• "Whole" and "half" are opposites, but it seems paradoxical because it almost makes sense in this context.

Schemes

1. Parallelism
• "To make a proper sandwich you have to spread the peanut butter, apply the jelly, and cut the sandwich."
• The list of tasks exhibits parallelism in the form of [verb] the [noun], and allows the list to flow better than it would otherwise.
2. Anastrophe
• "Delicious is a sandwich when properly made."
• Usually this would be said "A properly made sandwich is delicious" but this phrasing draws emphasis on the last part of the sentence; or that the sandwich must be properly made to be delicious.
3. Ellipsis
• "A sandwich that is cut is simply better than one that is not."
• It is implied that the word "cut" follows the word "not" because of the way the sentence is framed so the word "cut" can be omitted as an ellipsis.
4. Alliteration
• "Some students still seem squeamish to start slicing their sandwiches."
• Since almost every word starts with the letter S, this sentence is an example of an alliteration.

I am a little sick of writing about sandwiches at this point; but hopefully you aren't too sick of reading about them to comment with your opinions on my figures of speech!