FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE VERSUS LITERAL LANGUAGE
STRAYER UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR CARLA THOMPSON
PHI 210
WEEK 3
ASSIGNMENT TWO
10/25/2012

DEFINE THE MEANING AND FUNCTION OF EACH TERM
Idiom is a set expression of two or more words that means something other than the literal meanings of its individual words. The meaning of idiom conveys is non-compositional. It implies that you cannot understand the meaning of the whole phrase putting the meaning of each word together. If you look at the individual words, it may not even make sense grammatically. Idiomatic expressions are integral units. It literally means that idioms possess indivisible completeness, so all the components are bound within one idiom ( [ (Nordquist, 2012) ]. Analogy in rhetoric is reasoning or explaining from parallel cases. Analogy, in biology functions as superficial resemblance of structures that have different origins. It is interesting to note the extensive use of analogy in the scientific works of Margaret Cavendish and Anne Conway, two contemporary women philosophers of the seventeenth century, who did not personally know each other as vitalists, they both perceived such infinite echoes in the world ( [ (Nordquist, 2012) ].
Metaphor is a figure of speech in which an implied comparison is made between two unlike things that actually have something in common. A metaphor expresses the unfamiliar in terms of the familiar. “Metaphor the energy charge that leaps between images revealing their connections” (Rubin Morgan, Anatomy of Freedom, 1982).
Simile is a figure of speech in which two fundamentally unlike things are explicitly compared, usually in a phrase introduced by like or as. “The simile sets two ideas side by side” (F.L. Lucas, style, Macmillan, 1955). Simile, in which a comparison is made directly between two objects, belongs to an earlier stage of literary expression ( [ (Nordquist, 2012) ].
Cliché is a trite expression, often a figure of speech whose effectiveness has been worn out through overuse and excessive familiarity (Richard Nordquist, 2012). Cliché are what start stereotypes. For instance: “time heals all wounds”. We all know that it takes time for wound to heal. That has been said some May times that it’s lost a lot of it validity ( [ (Nordquist, 2012) ]
Amphiboly is a fallacy that relies on an ambiguous word or grammatical structure to confuse or mislead an audience. “Amphiboly is the term attached to fallacies or deceptions that result from faulty or careless sentence structures. In fact, what they purchased was a recording featuring Pete Best, who had been a member of the Beatles early in their career” (S. Morris Engel, The Study of Philosophy, Rowman & Littlefield, 2002).
Flame word as a word that means to insult someone electronically, or otherwise, and also to insult a person you are arguing with over the internet in hopes of reviving your argument. The flamer may be quite articulate and intelligent as they question the upbringing of the flame ( [ (Nordquist, 2012) ].
Hyperbole is a figure of speech in which exaggeration is used for emphasis or effect, an extravagant statement. Hyperbole is the polished mirror into which the black imagination gazes with every other rhyme, laughing as it sees itself refracted and distorted in a phantasmagoria kaleidoscope ( [ (Nordquist, 2012) ] .
Euphemism is an agreeable word or expression substituted for one that is potentially offensive, often having to do with bodily functions, sex, or death. A euphemism is basically an inoffensive, mild word or phrase substituted for a blunt, harsh word.
Colloquialism is an informal expression that is more often used in casual conversation than in formal speech or writing ( [ (Nordquist, 2012) ].
PROVIDE AN EXAMPLE FOR EACH TERM Examples of idioms are “Every cloud has its silver lining but it is sometimes a little difficult to get it to the mint” (Don Marquis). “Fads are the kiss of death. When the fad goes away, you go with it” (Conway Twitty). “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” (Kate Millett).
Examples of analogies are “I am to dancing what Roseanne is to singing and Donald Duck to motivational speeches. I am as graceful as a refrigerator falling down a flight of stairs”. (Leonard Pitts, “Curse of Rhythm Impairment” Miami Herald, Sep. 28, 2009). “If you want my final opinion on the mystery of life and all that, I can give it to you in a nutshell. The universe is like a safe to which there is a combination. But the combination is locked up in the safe” (Peter De Vries, Let Me Count the Ways, Little Brown, 1965).
Example of metaphors is “between the lower east side tenements the sky is a snotty handkerchief” (Marge piercy, “the butt of winter”)”. “The streets were a furnace, the sunan executioner” (Cynthia Ozick, “Rosa”). “I can mingle with the stars and throw a party on Mars; lama prisoner locked up behind Xanax bars” (Lil Wayne, “I feel like dying”).
Example of simile are “good coffee is like friendship: rich and warm and strong” (slogan of Pan-American coffee Bureau). “You know life; life is rather like opening a tin of sardines. We’re all looking for the key” (Alan Bennett, Beyond the Fringe, 1960).
Example of cliché is “people say I’m taking it one day at a time. You know what? So is everybody. That’s how time works” (Comedian Hannibal Buress, 2011). What goes around comes around.
Example of amphiboly is “the 2003 election reform law demanded that politicians acknowledge in their own voices their responsibility for advertisements they run on public airwaves” (Steve Friess, New York Times, and Sep. 30, 2008).
Examples of flame words are stupid, ugly, liar, cheater, welfare, AIDS, as well as vulgar terms and racial slurs (p.104, Gary R. Kirby & Jeffery R. GoodPaster, 2007).
Example of hyperbole is I was helpless. I did not know what in the world to do. I was quaking from head to foot, and could have hung my hat on my eyes, they stuck out so far (Mark Twain, “Old times on the Mississippi”).
Example of euphemism is rest room for toilet, lady of the evening for prostitute. Example of colloquialism is dumped, numpties, informal, more related and more casual.
DESCRIBE THE APPROPRIATE CIRCUMSTANCES FOR USING THE EXAMPLE FOR EACH TERM AND WHEN IT MIGHT LEAD TO MISUNDERSTANDING
“People use idioms to make their language richer and more colorful and to convey subtle shades of meaning or intention. Idioms are used often to replace a literal word or expression, and many times the idiom better describes the full nuance of meaning. Idioms and idiomatic expressions can be more precise than the literal words, often using fewer words but saying more” (Gail Brenner, Webster’s New World American idioms Handbook, Webster’s New World, 2003). Not only is analogy a device used to explain or illustrate abstract considerations often dealing with motion and causation, but it also seems to be the very structure of their mind. Indeed, many passages in their treatises devoted to natural philosophy betray the workings of an analogical mind, a forma mentis revealing an analogical way of thinking. “Metaphor is a device for seeing something in terms of something else. It brings out the thisness of or the thatness of this” (Kenneth Burke, A Grammar of Motives, 1945). Simile is the deliberate elaboration of a correspondence, often pursued for its own sake (Herbert Read, English prose style, Beacon, 1955). Instead of cliché being comforting it can be perceived as irritating to hear. The carelessness with amphiboly maybe intentional, as in the case of the title of the record album Best of the Beatles, which misled many people into buying it, thinking they were getting a record featuring the best songs of the Beatles. A flame word is a form of a tirade usually directed at one specific individual but can be directed at a group as well. The language of hyperbole amplifies reality by carrying us beyond the boundaries to rational thought ( [ (Nordquist, 2012) ].

REFERENCES

Bibliography
Goodpaster, G. R. (2007). Thinking. In G. R. GoodPaster, Thinking (p. 104). Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education Inc.
Nordquist, R. (2012, October 26). About . Retrieved from About website: http://www.about.com