figure of speech

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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 .

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"figure of speech." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. 18 Dec. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

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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.

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TOM McARTHUR. "FIGURE OF SPEECH." Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language. 1998. Encyclopedia.com. 18 Dec. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

TOM McARTHUR. "FIGURE OF SPEECH." Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language. 1998. Encyclopedia.com. (December 18, 2009). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O29-FIGUREOFSPEECH.html

TOM McARTHUR. "FIGURE OF SPEECH." Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language. 1998. Retrieved December 18, 2009 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O29-FIGUREOFSPEECH.html

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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
	Speech Applications Spending will Shift Towards Call Routing Applications. Business Wire; 11/1/2006

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