Idiom

 

Idiom Definition

The term refers to a set expression or a phrase comprising two or more words. An interesting fact regarding the device is that the expression is not interpreted literally. The phrase is understood as to mean something quite different from what individual words of the phrase would imply. Alternatively, it can be said that the phrase is interpreted in a figurative sense. Further, idioms vary in different cultures and countries.

Idiom Examples

Example #1

“Every cloud has its silver lining but it is sometimes a little difficult to get it to the mint.”

The statement quoted above uses “silver lining” as an idiom which means some auspicious moment is lurking behind the cloud or the difficult time.

Example #2

“American idioms drive me up the hall!”

Here, the word “idioms” is used as an idiom.

Example #3

“I worked the graveyard shift with old people, which was really demoralizing, because the old people didn’t have a chance in hell of ever getting out.”

In the extract quoted above, “graveyard shift” is employed as an idiom.

Example #4

Kirk: If we play our cards right, we may be able to find out when those whales are being released.
Spock: How will playing cards help?
(Captain James T. Kirk and Spock in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, 1986)

Here, “if we play our cards right” means “if we avail our opportunities rightly”.

Example #5

“Shakespeare is credited with coining more than 2,000 words, infusing thousands more existing ones with electrifying new meanings and forging idioms that would last for centuries. ‘A fool’s paradise,’ ‘at one fell swoop,’ ‘heart’s content,’ ‘in a pickle,’ ‘send him packing,’ ‘too much of a good thing,’ ‘the game is up,’ ‘good riddance,’ ‘love is blind,’ and ‘a sorry sight,’ to name a few. (David Wolman, Righting the Mother Tongue: From Olde English to Email, the Tangled Story of English Spelling. Harper, 2010.)

This passage highlights the collection of idioms used by Shakespeare in his works and these idioms are now used in everyday writing.

Example #6

“Idioms vary in ‘transparency’: that is, whether their meaning can be derived from the literal meanings of the individual words. For example, make up [one’s] mind is rather transparent in suggesting the meaning ‘reach a decision,’ while kick the bucket is far from transparent in representing the meaning ‘die.’” (Douglas Biber et al., Longman Student Grammar of Spoken and Written English. Pearson, 2002)

The extract quoted above explains that idioms vary in their degree of transparency that is the extent to which an idiom reveals its true meaning varies.

Example #7

“Modal idioms are idiosyncratic verbal formations which consist of more than one word and which have modal meanings that are not predictable from the constituent parts (compare the non-modal idioms kick the bucket). Under this heading we include have got [to], had better/best, would rather/sooner/as soon, and be [to].”

The extract quoted above highlights the use and significance of modal idioms.

Functions of Idiom

Writers and public speakers use idioms generously. The purpose behind this vast use of idioms is to ornate their language, make it richer and spicier and help them in conveying subtle meanings to their intended audience.
Not only do idioms help in making the language beautiful, they also make things better or worse through making the expression good or bad. For example, there are several idioms that convey the death of a person in highly subtle meanings and some do the same in very offensive terms. They are also said to be exact and more correct than the literal words and sometimes a few words are enough to replace a full sentence. They help the writer make his sense clearer than it is, so that he could convey maximum meanings through minimum words and also keep the multiplicity of the meanings in the text intact.
It has also been seen that idioms not only convey subtle meanings but also convey a phenomenon that is not being conveyed through normal and everyday language and also they keep the balance in the communication. Furthermore, they provide textual coherence, so that the reader could be able to piece together a text that he has gone through and extract meanings the writer has conveyed

Proveb

What it's Proveb

Proverb 

 

Definition of Proverb

Proverb is a brief, simple and popular saying, or a phrase that gives advice and effectively embodies a commonplace truth based on practical experience or common sense. A proverb may have an allegorical message behind its odd appearance. The reason of popularity is due to its usage in spoken language as well as in the folk literature. Some authors twist and bend proverbs and create anti-proverbs to add literary effects to their works. However, in poetry, poets use proverbs strategically by employing some parts of them in poems’ titles such as Lord Kennet has written a poem, A Bird in the Bush, which is a popular proverb. Some poems contain multiple proverbs like Paul Muldoon’s poem Symposium.

Homonymy, homophone and homographs

 Defintiion homonymy, homophone and homographs

homonym

A homonym is a word that is said or spelled the same way as another word but has a different meaning. "Write” and “right” is a good example of a pair of homonyms.

Homonym traces back to the Greek words homos, meaning “same,” and onuma, meaning “name.” So a homonym is sort of like two people who have the same name: called the same thing but different. A homonym can be a word that sounds the same as something else — like by (“near”) and buy (“purchase”) — or it can be spelled exactly the same way and pronounced differently — like minute (unit of time) and minute (“tiny”).

 

homophone

A homophone is a word that sounds the same as another word but has a different meaning and/or spelling. “Flower” and “flour” are homophones because they are pronounced the same but you certainly can’t bake a cake using daffodils.

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Other common homophones are write and right, meet and meat, peace and piece. You have to listen to the context to know which word someone means if they’re spoken aloud. If they say they like your jeans (genes?), they’re probably talking about your pants and not your height and eye color — but you’d have to figure it out from the situation!

 

homograph

Use the noun homograph to talk about two words that are spelled the same but have different meanings and are pronounced differently — like "sow," meaning female pig, and "sow," to plant seeds.

The word homograph merges homos, the Greek word for "same," with graph, "to write." If two words are written identically but don't share a meaning, they are homographs. Some examples are close ("to shut") and close ("nearby"); and bass ("deep") and bass ("the fish"). Homographs are confusing at first glance, but once you read them in the context of a sentence or hear them spoken aloud, you'll easily figure out which word is intended

 SUMMARY CHART

 

HOMONYM WORDS SOUND	HOMOPHONE WORDS type of homonym
same sound	same sound
same OR different spelling	different spelling
fair (county fair)   fair (reasonable)   pear (fruit)   pair (couple)   Buzzy Bee Riddle #6; boo bee, booby   Buzzy Bee Riddle #14; hum bug, humbug   Buzzy Bee Riddle #13: cell, sell	pear (fruit)   pair (couple)   Buzzy Bee Riddle #6; boo bee, booby   Buzzy Bee Riddle #14; hum bug, humbug   Buzzy Bee Riddle #13: cell, sell

HOMOGRAPH WORDS SPELLING	HETERONYM WORDS type of homograph
same OR different sound	different sound
same spelling	same spelling
lie (untruth)   lie (lie down)   tear (in the eye)   tear (rip)   Buzzy Bee Riddle #4; spelling bee, spelling bee	tear (in the eye)   tear (rip)

DETAIL CHART

	Same Sound / different meanings				Same Spelling / different meanings
	Homonyms		Homophones		Homographs	Heteronyms
			Different Spelling			Different Sound
see  (with your eye) sea  (the ocean)	see sea		see sea		n/a	n/a
to  (preposition) too  (as well) two  (2)	to too two		to too two		n/a	n/a
there their  (possessive) they're  (contraction)	there their they're		there their they're		n/a	n/a
bough  (tree limb) bow  (front of a boat) bow  (at the waist) bow  (tied with ribbon) bow  (shoots arrows)	bough bow bow	bow bow	bough bow	bough bow	bow bow bow bow	bow bow	bow bow
lead  (to guide) lead  (the metal) led  (guided)	lead led		lead led		lead lead	lead lead
lie  (untruth) lie  (lie down)	lie lie		n/a		lie lie	n/a
fair  (appearance) fair  (county fair) fair  (reasonable)	fair fair fair		n/a		fair fair fair	n/a
bass  (fish) bass  (low note)	n/a		n/a		bass bass	bass bass
tear  (in the eye) tear  (rip)	n/a		n/a		tear tear	tear tear

Polysemy

polysemy (words and meanings)

Definition

Polysemy is the association of one word with two or more distinct meanings. A polyseme is a word or phrase with multiple meanings. Adjective: polysemous or polysemic.
In contrast, a one-to-one match between a word and a meaning is called monosemy. According to William Croft, "Monosemy is probably most clearly found in specialized vocabulary dealing with technical topics" (The Handbook of Linguistics, 2003).

According to some estimates, more than 40% of English words have more than one meaning. The fact that so many words (or lexemes) are polysemous "shows that semantic changes often add meanings to the language without subtracting any" (M. Lynne Murphy, Lexical Meaning, 2010).

Hiperbola

Definition

Hyperbole is a figure of speech (a form of irony) in which exaggeration is used for emphasis or effect; an extravagant statement. Adjective: hyperbolic. Contrast with understatement.

In the first century, Roman rhetorician Quintilian observed that hyperbole is "commonly used even by ignorant people and peasants, which is understandable, as all people are by nature inclined to magnify or to minimize things and nobody is content to stick to what is really the case" (translated by Claudia Claridge in Hyperbole in English, 2011).

Hyperbole

I. What is Hyperbole?

Hyperbole (pronounced hahy-pur-buh-lee, not hyper-bowl) is an exaggeration which is obvious, extreme, and intentional. Hyperbole is used in order to stir up a strong emotion or response in the reader. It is important to note, though, that hyperbole should not be taken literally. Rather, it is used to emphasize a certain statement or characteristic.

For example:

That suitcase weighed a ton!

This would mean that the suitcases weighed two thousand pounds! Of course, the person does not mean that the suitcase actually weighed a ton. He is using hyperbole in order to point out the heavy weight.
The word hyperbole is derived from the Greek word hyperbolḗ meaning “over-casting.”

II. Examples of Hyperbole

Below are a few more common examples of hyperbole often used in everyday conversation.

Example 1
A girl wants to point out the embarrassment her friend will feel:

She’s going to die of embarrassment!

This does not mean that the girl will be sick or her heart will stop due to embarrassment. Instead, hyperbole is used to emphasize how embarrassing the situation is.

Example 2
A student is eagerly waiting for spring break:

 Spring break will never come.

This example, like “I haven’t seen you in a million years!” serves to emphasize a length of time. When looking forward to vacation, sometimes it seems as if time has slowed down or as if the final ring of the bell will never come. We know that this is not true, but we use hyperbole to point out how slow time seems to move.

III. The Importance of Hyperbole

Hyperbole is often used in day-to-day speech to show emotion. For example, upon seeing your friend after a long absence, you may say, “I haven’t seen you in a million years!” This is not the case in reality. But, hyperbole is used to describe how long it felt since the last time you saw your friend. It shows different emotions such as happiness or excitement. Meanwhile, a situation with carrying a heavy suitcase like in section 1, shows emotions of annoyance or even pain!

IV. Examples of Hyperbole in Literature

We often use hyperbole in everyday speech, but we also use this figure of speech in prose and poetry. For example, in love poetry, the speaker uses hyperbole to emphasize intense passion and admiration for the beloved.
Example 1
American poet W.H. Auden writes in “As I Walked Out One Evening,”

I’ll love you, dear, I’ll love you
Till China and Africa meet,
And the river jumps over the mountain
And the salmon sing in the street.

When will China and Africa meet? How can a river jump over a mountain? And when will salmon be intelligent enough to sing or evolved enough to walk the streets? Of course, none of these are literal projections for our future. W.H. Auden is using hyperbole to emphasize how long his love will last for his beloved.

Example 2
Joseph Conrad emphasizes the passing of time in the novel “Heart of Darkness”:

I had to wait in the station for ten days– an eternity.

Ten days is, by no definition, an eternity, but it felt like one. To describe ten days as an eternity– forever– is to use hyperbole.

V. Examples of Hyperbole in Pop Culture

Example 1
One place in which you’ll see exaggeration and hyperbole is in commercials and advertisements. For example, see this slogan from Altoids:

Mints so strong they come in a metal box.

This description of Altoids peppermints implies that the mints are so strong that they must be contained in a metal box rather than paper or plastic packaging. Of course this isn’t literally true, but this hyperbole serves to emphasize how strong this breath mint is. This description is funny in its exaggeration but may also serve to attract those looking for a stronger mint.

Example 2
For another set of hyperboles, take a glance at Apple iPhone advertising:

The new iPhone is ‘bigger than bigger.’

We know this isn’t possible. Advertisers are using hyperbole to emphasize that the new iPhone is really, really big!
On the new iPad:

Let them choreograph a recital. Explore the North Pole. Organize a food drive. And take their entire songbook caroling.

Most likely, the average iPad user does not have such great ideas for what to do with the device. The use of hyperbole though, links inspiring, charitable, and artistic ideas with the product in the buyer’s mind. Good advertisers use good hyperbole. The truth doesn’t matter in advertising. It is the big idea, fun, and excitement that comes from hyperbole that attracts paying customers.
Hyperbole is in our daily conversation, advertisements, movies, TV shows, and music. It is a figure of speech that colors our world in a way that is much more exciting than what is literally true.

Example 3
In “Blank Space,” Taylor Swift claims:

Boys only want love if it’s torture.

Swift is not claiming that men actually want torture in romantic relationships. She is using hyperbole to claim that men prefer relationships that are difficult and dramatic.
Like the romantic poets that came before him, Sam Smith uses hyperbole to emphasize the strength and depth of his love in “Latch”:

How do you do it? You got me losing every breath. What did you give me to make my heart bleed out my chest?

What love could possibly cause Smith to lose his breath and to begin bleeding from his chest? A love that has been hyperbolized. Here, Smith uses the hyperbole to explain that he has been taken over with strong, passionate love.

VII. Hyperbole: The Power of Exaggeration

In closing, hyperbole is a figure of speech which uses exaggeration to emphasize a certain characteristic. Hyperbole can be used to stir up emotion or a response in the reader, whether it is happiness, inspiration, romance, sadness, or laughter.

Metonymy

Definition of Metonymy

Metonymy is a figure of speech in which something is called by a new name that is related in meaning to the original thing or concept. For example, it’s common practice to refer to celebrity life and culture in the United States as “Hollywood,” as in “Hollywood is obsessed with this new diet.” The meaning of this statement is not that the place itself has any obsession, of course, but instead refers to the celebrities and wannabe celebrities who reside there.

Common Examples of Metonymy

As noted above, “Hollywood” can act as a metonym for celebrity culture. There are many other place names that act metonymically in the same way, such as “Wall Street” for the financial sector and “Washington” for the United States government. However, there are many more words in common usage that are metonyms. Here are more examples of metonymy:

• The big house—Refers to prison
• The pen—Can refer to prison or to the act of writing
• Stuffed shirts—People in positions of authority, especially in a business setting
• The crown—a royal person
• The Yankees/The Red Sox/The Cowboys, etc.—any team name is regularly used as a metonym for the players on the team. This is a less obvious metonym because often the team name is a group of people (the Cowboys, for instance), yet of course the football players who make up the Dallas Cowboys are not, in fact, cowboys.
• The New York Times/Morgan Stanley/Wells Fargo, etc.—any organization or company name is often used to stand in for the people who work there, such as “The New York Times stated that…” or “Wells Fargo has decided….”

Difference Between Metonymy and Synecdoche

Metonymy and synecdoche are very similar figures of speech, and some consider synecdoche to be a specific type of metonymy. Synecdoche occurs when the name of a part is used to refer to the whole, such as in “There are hungry mouths to feed.” The mouths stand in for the hungry people. The definition of metonymy is more expansive, including concepts that are merely associated in meaning and not necessarily parts of the original thing or concept.

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Significance of Metonymy in Literature

Scholars have long been interested in metonymy as a literary and rhetorical device. Ancient Greek and Latin scholars discussed the way in which metonymy changed words and meanings by providing new referents and connections between concepts. Authors have used metonymy for millennia for many different reasons. One primary reason is simply to address something in a more poetic and unique way. Authors can also add more complexity and meaning to ordinary words by using metonymy, thereby drawing the reader’s attention to what otherwise would not be noticed. Sometimes metonymy is also helpful to make statements more concise.

Examples of Metonymy in Literature

Example #1

Their ocean-keel boarding,
they drove through the deep, and Daneland left.
A sea-cloth was set, a sail with ropes,
firm to the mast; the flood-timbers moaned;
nor did wind over billows that wave-swimmer blow
across from her course.

(Beowulf—Tr. John Crowther)
In the Old English epic poem Beowulf there are many examples of metonymy. In this particular excerpt, the author uses the terms “ocean-keel” and “wave-swimmer” to refer to the entire ship. The author goes on to describe other parts of the ship very poetically, calling the sail the “sea-cloth” at first and referring to the boards of the ship “as flood-timbers.” This was a very popular technique in Old English works, and the use of metonymy here draws the reader’s attention to the different ways to understand the form and function of the ship and its parts. Thus metonymy creates new connections in this example.

Example #2

MARCELLUS: Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.

(Hamlet by William Shakespeare)
Shakespeare used metonymy in many of his plays and poems. This line from Hamlet is often repeated. We are made to understand that “the state of Denmark” stands in for the whole royal system and government. The rottenness is not widespread over the entire country, but instead is limited to the dealings of those in power. In this case, the character Claudius has come to power in a suspicious way, and those surrounding him feel unease at the new order.

Example #3

The party preserved a dignified homogeneity, and assumed to itself the function of representing the staid nobility of the countryside—East Egg condescending to West Egg, and carefully on guard against its spectroscopic gayety.

(The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald)
This metonymy example from F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is similar to the Shakespeare example in that it uses a place name to stand in for the people in that place. The difference in social standing between the narrator Nick Carraway and Jay Gatsby’s friends is a central theme in the novel. Nick lives in West Egg, while Jay and his friends live in the much fancier East Egg. In fact, to the outside observer there is not much different between the two places, but the inhabitants of East Egg find it very important to establish the distinctions between them. In the above sentence, “East Egg” refers to the posh citizens of the place, while “West Egg” refers to the more middle-class citizens there.

Example #4

He tried to remember in what year he had first heard mention of Big Brother. He thought it must have been at some time in the sixties, but it was impossible to be certain. In the Party histories, of course, Big Brother figured as the leader and guardian of the Revolution since its very earliest days. His exploits had been gradually pushed backwards in time until already they extended into the fabulous world of the forties and the thirties, when the capitalists in their strange cylindrical hats still rode through the streets of London in great gleaming motor-cars or horse carriages with glass sides. There was no knowing how much of this legend was true and how much invented. Winston could not even remember at what date the Party itself had come into existence.

(1984 by George Orwell)
The “Party” in George Orwell’s novel 1984 stands in for the highest officials of this new government. By using the metonymy to refer to the individuals, Orwell further separates the governing class from any sense of humanity; no one in the society seems to know the name of any actual ruling member. Even “Big Brother,” who seems to start out as an individual, comes to represent the ubiquitous surveillance of the government and not an actual man. The term “Big Brother” has entered the English lexicon as a metonym for government that interferes too much in private life.

collocation

collocation (words)

Definition

A collocation is a familiar grouping of words, especially words that habitually appear together and thereby convey meaning by association.
Collocational range refers to the set of items that typically accompany a word. The size of a collocational range is partially determined by a word's level of specificity and number of meanings.

The term collocation (from the Latin for "place together") was first used in its linguistic sense by British linguist John Rupert Firth (1890-1960), who famously observed, "You shall know a word by