Expressive means of language

stylistics
phonetics
vocabulary
syntax
text

metaphor
A transference of meaning based on resemblance,
in other words, on a covert comparison
simple
complex
trite
Man cannot live
by bread alone
The average New Yorker
is caught in a machine.
He whirls along,
he is dizzy, he is helpless.
If he resists, the machine
will crush him to pieces.
A flight of
imagination

simile
A comparison with the object which is well known
“as” / “like”
Beautiful as a rose; as dead as a doornail;
Drink like a fish;
She climbed with the quickness of a cat;
John skates as well as Kate does

metonymy
A transference of meaning based on contiguity
of notions. The name of one object is used
instead of another, closely connected with it
The name of a part not a whole
(synecdoche)
Washington and London agreed
on many issues
The name of a container
not the contents
The whole town was out
in the streets

metonymy
A transference of meaning based on contiguity
of notions.
A characteristic feature of an object
but not the object
Instrument instead of action
The massacre of the innocents
All they that take the sword,
shall perish with the sword

zeugma
Plays on two different meanings of the word.
(a pun)
A leopard changes his spots, as often as he goes from one spot to another.
The importance of being Earnest. (=serious. name ‘Ernest’ sounds the same) O.Wilde

oxymoron
Combines in one phrase two words (noun+adj)
whose meanings are opposite
and incompatible
Sweet sorrow
A low skyscraper
Awfully beautiful
Best enemy

hyperbole
Intensification of meaning. Extreme exaggeration
of the quality of the object
A thousand pardons
I’ve told you a million times
The man-mountain

litotes
Based on use of negative constructions
in the positive meaning, so that the quality is
underestimated
Not bad (=very good)
It was no easy task (=very difficult)

epithet
A word or phrase containing an expressive
characteristic of the object, based on some
metaphor
A man of iron
O dreamy, gloomy, friendly trees! (Trench)
A silvery laugh
Just a ghost of a smile
A little man with a Say-nothing-to-me expression on his face
An iron spoon

periphrasis
A longer phrase is used instead of shorter
An addition to the little party now made its appearance
(=another person came in)
A pensive warbler of the ruddy breast
(=a bullfinch)
A disturber of the piano keys
(=a pianist)

antonomasia
The use of a proper name instead of a
common name and vice versa.
We may use the description instead of
a person’s name
Miss Today (W.Thackery)
Mister Know-all (S. Maugham)
Mr. Murdstone (Ch.Dickens)
He is the Napoleon of crime
I have a Rembrandt at home

euphemisms
The use of a different, more gentle
or favourable name for an object
to avoid unpleasant associations.
To expire, to be no more, to join the majority (=to die)
The Prince of darkness (=the Devil)
China is a country where you often get different accounts of the same thing (=many lies are told)

allegory
The names of objects or characters of a story are used in a
figurative sense, representing some more general things,
good or bad qualities. (in fables, parables, proverbs)
All is not gold that glitters
There is no rose without a thorn
Make the hay while the sun shines

personification
A subtype of allegory.
Human qualities are ascribed to inanimate objects, animals …
‘No sleep till morn, when Youth and Pleasure meet
To chase the glowing Hours with flying feet’ (Byron)
Twinkle, twinkle, little star!
How I wonder where you are! …

allusion
Indirect reference to some historical or literary fact (personage)
expressed in the text.
He felt as Balaam must have felt when his ass broke into speech.

irony
Based on the simultaneous realisation of two opposite meanings:
‘direct’ meaning of words and their contextual meaning.
How delightful – to find yourself in a foreign country without a penny in your pocket!
Aren’t you a hero – running away from a mouse!
I do not consult physicians, for I hope to die without their help.