248.
Euphemism:- Euphemism consists in the description of a disagreeable thing by an
agreeable
name.
Examples:-
1. He has
fallen asleep (i.e., he is dead).
2.
You are telling me a fairy tale (i.e., a lie).
249.
Antithesis:- In antithesis a striking opposition or contrast of words or
sentiments is
made in
the same sentence. It is employed to secure emphasis.
Examples:-
1. Man
proposes, God disposes.
2. Not
that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more.
3. Better
fifty years of Europe than a cycle of Cathay.
4. Give
every man thy ear, but few thy voice.
5. Speech
is silver, but silence is golden.
6. To err
is human, to forgive divine.
7. Many
are called, but few are chosen.
8. He had
his jest, and they had his estate.
9. The
Puritans hated bear-baiting, not because it gave pain to the bear, but because
it
gave
pleasure to the spectators.
10. A
man's nature runs either to herbs or weeds; therefore, let him season ably
water the
one
and destroy the other.
250.
Oxymoron:- Oxymoron is a special form of Antithesis, whereby two contradictory
qualities
are predicted at once of the same thing.
Examples:-
1. His
honour rooted in dishonour stood.
And faith
unfaithful kept him falsely true.
2. So
innocent arch, so cunningly simple.
3.
She accepted it as the kind cruelty of the surgeon's knife.
251. Epigram:-
An Epigram is a brief pointed saying frequently introducing antithetical
ideas
which excite surprise and arrest attention.
Examples:-
1. The
child is father of the man.
2. A man
can't be too careful in the choice of his enemies.
3. Fools
rush in where angels fear to tread.
4. In the
midst of life we are in death.
5. Art
lies in concealing art,
6. He
makes no friend, who never made a foe.
7. Know
then thyself, presume not God to scan;
The proper
study of mankind is man,
8. The
fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool,
9. Lie
heavy on him, earth, for he (Vanbrugh, the Architect)
Laid many
a heavy load on thee.
10. Here
lies our Sovereign Lord the King.
Whose word
no man relies on,
Who never
said a foolish thing
And
never did a wise one.
252.
Irony:- Irony is a mode of speech in which the real meaning is exactly the
opposite
of that
which is literally conveyed.
Examples:-
1. No
doubt but ye are the people, and wisdom shall die with you.
2. The
atrocious crime of being a young man, which the honourable gentle man has, with
such
spirit and decency, charged upon me. I shall neither attempt to palliate nor
deny.
3. Here
under leave of Brutus and the rest
(For
Brutus is an honourable man:
So are
they all, all honourable men)
Come I to
speak in Caesar's funeral.
He was my
friend, faithful and just to me;
But Brutus
says he was ambitious,
And
Brutus is an honourable man.
253. Pun:-
A Pun consists in the use of a word in such a way that it is capable of more
than one
application, the object being to produce a ludicrous effect.
Examples:-
1. Is life
worth living?-It depends upon the liver.
2.
An ambassador is an honest man who lies abroad for the good of his country.
254.
Metonymy:- In Metonymy (literally, a change of name) an object is designated by
the
name of something which is generally associated with it.
Some
familiar examples:-
The Bench,
for the judges.
The House,
for the members of Lok Sabha.
The
laurel, for success.
Red-coats,
for British soldiers.
Bluejackets,
for sailors.
The
Crown, for the king.
Since
there are many kinds of association between objects, there are several
varieties of
Metonymy.
Thus a
Metonymy may result from the use of:-
(i)The
sign for the person or thing symbolized; as,
You must
address the chair (i.e., the chairman).
From
the cradle to the grave (i.e., from infancy to death).
(ii)The
container for the thing contained; as,
The whole
city went out to see the victorious general.
The kettle
boils.
Forthwith
he drank the fatal cup.
He keeps a
good cellar.
He was
playing to the gallery.
He
has undoubtedly the best stable in the country.
(iii) The
instrument for the agent; as,
The
pen is mightier than the sword.
(iv) The
author for his works; as,
We are
reading Milton.
Do
you learn Euclid at your school ?
(v) The
name of a feeling or passion for its object;
He turn'd
his charger as he spake
Upon the
river shore,
He gave
the bridle-reins a shake,
Said
'Adieu for evermore,
My love !
And
adieu for evermore.'
255.
Synecdoche:- In Synecdoche a part is used to designate the whole or the whole
to
designate
a part.
(i) A part
used to designate the whole; as,
Give us
this day our daily bread (i.e., food),
All hands
(i.e., crew) to the pumps.
Uneasy
lies the head that wears a crown.
A fleet of
fifty sail (i.e., ships) left the harbour.
All the
best brains in Europe could not solve the problem.
He
has many mouths to feed.
(ii) The
whole used to designate a part; as,
England
(i.e., the English cricket eleven) won the first test match against Australia.
256.
Transferred Epithet:- In this figure an epithet is transferred from its proper
word to
another
that is closely associated with it in the sentence.
Examples:-
1. He
passed a sleepless night.
2. The
ploughman homeward plods his weary way.
3.
A lackey presented an obsequious cup of coffee.
257.
Litotes:- In Litotes an affirmative is conveyed by negation of the opposite,
the effect
being to
suggest a strong expression by means of a weaker. It is the opposite of
Hyperbole.
Examples:-
1. I am a
citizen of no mean (= a very celebrated) city.
2. The man
is no fool (= very clever).
3. I am
not a little (= greatly) surprised.
258.
Interrogation:- Interrogation is the asking of a question not for the sake of
getting an
answer,
but to put a point more effectively.
This
figure of speech is also known as Rhetorical Question because a question is
asked
merely
for the sake of rhetorical effect.
Examples:-
1. Am I my
brother's keeper?
2. Do men
gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
3. Shall I
wasting in despair.
Die
because a woman's fair?
4. Who is
here so vile that will not love his country?
5.
Breathes there the man with soul so dead
Who never
to himself hath said.
6. Can
storied urn or animated bust
Back
to its mansion call the fleeting breath?
259.
Exclamation:- In this figure the exclamatory form is used to draw greater
attention
to a point
than a mere bald statement of it could do.
Examples:-
1. What a
piece of work is man !
2. How
sweet the moonlight sleeps upon this bank !
3.
O what a fall was there, my countrymen !
260.
Climax:- Climax (Gk. Klimax = a ladder) is the arrangement of a series of ideas
in
the order
of increasing importance.
Examples:-
1. Simple,
erect, severe, austere, sublime.
2. What a
piece of work is man ! How noble in reason, how infinite in faculties ! In
action,
how like an angel ! In apprehension, how like a god!
261.
Anticlimax:- Anticlimax is the opposite of Climax-a sudden descent from higher
to
lower. It
is chiefly used for the purpose of satire or ridicule.
Examples:-
1. Here
thou, great Anna ! whom three realms obey,
Dost
sometimes counsel take-and sometimes tea.
2. And
thou, Dalhousie, the great god of war,
Lieutenant-Colonel
to the Earl of Mar.
