figure of speech

Home > ... > Literature and the Arts > Language, Linguistics, and Literary Terms > Literature: General > ...

Essential reading Compare
side-by-side Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition

figure of speech

figure of speech intentional departure from straight-forward, literal use of language for the purpose of clarity, emphasis, or freshness of expression. See separate articles on antithesis ; apostrophe ; conceit ; hyperbole ; irony ; litotes ; metaphor ; metonymy ; paradox ; personification ; simile ; and synecdoche .

Create a link to this page

Copy and paste this link tag into your Web page or blog:

<a href="http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/.aspx#1E1-figuresp" title="Facts and information about figure of speech">figure of speech</a>

Give this article a thumbs-up on StumbleUpon

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

MLA
Chicago
APA

"figure of speech." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. 8 Nov. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"figure of speech." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. (November 8, 2009). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-figuresp.html

"figure of speech." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Retrieved November 08, 2009 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-figuresp.html

Learn more about citation styles

FIGURE OF SPEECH

Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language | 1998 | | Â© Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language 1998, originally published by Oxford University Press 1998. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

FIGURE OF SPEECH, also figure. In RHETORIC, a device that achieves a special effect by using words in distinctive ways, such as ALLITERATION, in which the same sound, especially an initial consonant, is repeated, as with /f/ in life's fitful fever, and HYPERBOLE, in which one engages, usually deliberately, in unrealistic exaggeration, as in the informal phrase tons of money (‘a great deal of money’). Here, a word usually associated with weights and measures has been moved out of context to refer to money, with which it is not normally associated. See FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE.

Create a link to this page

Copy and paste this link tag into your Web page or blog:

<a href="http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/.aspx#1O29-FIGUREOFSPEECH" title="Facts and information about figure of speech">figure of speech</a>

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

MLA
Chicago
APA

TOM McARTHUR. "FIGURE OF SPEECH." Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language. 1998. Encyclopedia.com. 8 Nov. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

TOM McARTHUR. "FIGURE OF SPEECH." Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language. 1998. Encyclopedia.com. (November 8, 2009). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O29-FIGUREOFSPEECH.html

TOM McARTHUR. "FIGURE OF SPEECH." Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language. 1998. Retrieved November 08, 2009 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O29-FIGUREOFSPEECH.html

Learn more about citation styles

Free newspaper and magazine articles

	Falke Pisano: Figures of Speech.(name of exhibition) Magazine article from: Art Monthly; 6/1/2009
	Figures of Speech or Figures of Thought?(Brief article)(Book review) Magazine article from: The Bookwatch; 11/1/2007
	Principled figure unveiled.(General News)(A statue of the outspoken senator is dedicated at the remodeled free speech plaza outside the courthouse) Newspaper article from: The Register-Guard (Eugene, OR); 3/16/2005

Facts and information from other sites

Related articles from newspapers, magazines, and more

	Figure Of Speech has a 3-0 record over fellow Cambridge stayer Jovial Jock lately but trainer Ross McCarroll has no confidence he can make it four ... Newspaper article from: New Zealand Herald (Auckland, New Zealand); 8/3/2007; 700+ words ; Figure Of Speech has a 3-0 record over fellow Cambridge...expect significant improvement. I believe Figure Of Speech's best footing is the better...only fourth at Ruakaka last start where Figure Of Speech finished second to Cape Kinaveral...
	Figure of Speech. Magazine article from: What Magazine; 9/1/1999; ; 620 words ; Speech has always been a unique figure within the hip hop world. From the...recent genre-bending solo projects, Speech has stuck to his own path. When Arrested...just doing their own thing. Because Speech never conforms to rap prototypes...
	What did he mean?: A figure of speech, some say of McNabb?s ?black-on-black crime? remark. Others say it fans flames. Newspaper article from: Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia, PA); 2/3/2006; ; 700+ words ; ...intentionally loaded? Or just a figure of speech? From the streets of Philadelphia...on-black crime." "It's a figure of speech," agreed University...Donovan has the option of using that figure of speech." McNabb's father...
	DUKAKIS MISUSED IRS FIGURES IN SPEECHES Newspaper article from: The Boston Globe; 11/20/1987; ; 700+ words ; ...a statistic he cited in speeches throughout 1986 and as recently...and accurate" to use the figures, which pointed to a 13 percent...treasury. In his current speeches, Dukakis routinely misstates the meaning of another figure. When explaining the 81 percent...knows he is explaining the ...
	Leading Article: Yes, he was a real figure of speech Newspaper article from: The Independent - London; 2/4/1996; 486 words ; ...has greeted the news that a speech by Neil Kinnock is to be used...Brussels". And it is a fine speech, the one selected, featuring...music. Nor is it as good a speech as the one hoarsely delivered...Edward Heath and Lord Howe figure in The Penguin Book of Twentieth Century Speeches.
	Figure of speech.(LIFE - ARTS ETC.)(TAKING NAMES) Newspaper article from: The Washington Times; 2/8/2005; 700+ words ; Byline: Scott Galupo, THE WASHINGTON TIMES Figure of speech Comedian Rowan Atkinson is urging the British government...performers who make religious jokes or satirize religious figures. Explaining his view, Mr. Atkinson said: "I understand...
	Romney: It was a figure of speech.(Front) Newspaper article from: The Virginian Pilot; 12/22/2007; 600 words ; ...civil rights marches he could not have seen. It's a figure of speech, Romney said Thursday after media inquiries into the...presidential contender's statement during his recent religion speech that he watched his father, the late Gov. George Romney...
	Aside from figure of speech, what is this thing called love? Newspaper article from: The Topeka Capital-Journal; 6/17/2001; ; 700+ words ; ...breath to the power of 10, 100, 1,000! But then comes the ticklish question: Once you get past the pretty figures of speech, what is this thing called love, anyway? For months, a booklet has been drowning in the litter of my desktop...
	'O Canada' warning 'a figure of speech'.(News) Newspaper article from: The Toronto Star (Toronto, Ontario); 7/17/2009; 608 words ; ...told principal Erik Millett someone should beat some sense into him. He told the judge the expression was just "a figure of speech." But Millett told the court in Sussex that Howland said if a secretary wasn't there, he would drag him to the...
	The war on terror is not a figure of speech. It is real Newspaper article from: The Independent - London; 9/1/2008; ; 652 words ; ...country. And the same is true for our ongoing military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. The war on terror is not a figure of speech. On two fields of battle, it is a shooting war. The only way to win is by going on the offensive - and that's...