What is the meaning of "figures of speech"?
1 Answer
A "figure of speech" is a word or phrase that is used in a non-literal sense to add emphasis to an expression.
Explanation:
A "figure of speech" is a word or phrase that is used in a non-literal sense to add emphasis to an expression.
For instance, I could say:
Bob's vision isn't very good - which may be true but doesn't carry weight, beyond saying his vision isn't good. Compare that to:
Bob is as blind as a bat - Is Bob literally as blind as a bat? And are bats really blind? No to both - but the idea here is we've used a figure of speech to highlight Bob's vision is bad.
As another example, we could say:
Bob is in a bad mood - again, a valid comment but rather dry.
Bob is crabby - crabby being the figure of speech - is Bob really being like a crab? No - we're using the idea that crabs are always in a bad mood and Bob is acting like a crab in that way.
And let's do one more:
Bob is a good person
vs
Bob is an angel
