This one should never be used (especially by Meteorologists)
"Once Again"
Things may happen once or things may happen again but not both because one
contradicts the other.
This faulty expression is a contraction from an Old English superfluous expression "Once
and Again" which may be correct but is no longer used. It is an Americanization of the Old English to
ignorantly replace the correct usage.
The correct usage would be:
The rain has returned once more - not - It's raining once again. Better yet to eliminate the superfluous phrase, The rain has returned.
A News Reader was heard saying, “(about a Model Rocket) there was a near miss.” This is a common faulty expression bordering on Oxy Moronic to something that actually nearly hit. A near miss means the objects actually collided. A near hit means they did not hit. This Colloquialism started long ago when poorly educated journalists commented about Ships appearing to nearly miss in harbors, which then were the largest and fastest objects in Human experience. This common faulty expression is similar to other Journalistic faults like “The money turned up missing,” and “It is raining once again.
Many News Anchors mispronounce words seemingly as a tradition, but actually as error - Since it is not possible for you to hear the words mispronounced as text in this document, I will use phonetic spelling, You will probably recognize the errors...
"We heard from many Vetrans today..." No, the word "Veterans" has three syllables.
"He crashed his ve - hi - cle..." No, the h in vehicle is soft or silent and is pronounced phonetically ve-a-cul.
"The Mercree hit 100 degrees". No! The Element Mercury is pronounced with three syllables. Only empty-headed car salesmen pronounce their Ford products with two syllables.
Meteorologist frequently use faulty expressions...(and other people on
and not on television) often use multiple prepositions in a row and often moronic combinations of them, for instance in the following example things
can be off or on not both:
The Front will move on off to the East. Not only is this wrong
it is twice faulty (three prepositions in a row). It should correctly
read: The Front moved to the East (of our city) or The Front moved Eastward.
Another Fault heard used by Meteorologist, If we back back up to see a
larger view... No! Use of the word 'back' twice in a row is superfluous and
there are four prepositions in a row.
It should be said like this, If we zoom out we shall have a larger view...
Meteorologist often say 'Let's take a look at the visible satellite image.' Is this in contradistinction to the invisible satellite image? The word
'visible' is superfluous. Let's take a look at the satellite image. Better yet, Let us examine the satellite image. Or Let's take a look at the visible-light satellite image. (99.99999999% of all light wavelengths are invisible) It may be that the
Meteorologist is errantly assuming you understand that there is another image that may
be from a Multi-Spectral sensor of light that is not visible to the human eye. In this case the
Meteorologist should say, Let us see what the satellite is showing.
Sometimes, the Meteorologist may be rushing to get his or her message accross to the viewer and say, 'The rain has started stopping in (location)'. No, the rain is stopping in (location).
News readers and Meteorologist abuse this expression too often, it is an Americanization of old Scotts gab to say 'The rain came down pretty hard.' No, There was heavy rain.
You may notice frost on your car if you left it out in the open. Things can be out and things can be in but not both. You may notice frost
on your car if you left it in the open. Perhaps, but this is still faulty. You may notice frost
on your car if left uncovered. Only inbred red necks from Kentucky say things are left out in the open, the rest of us do not.
Another faulty sentence... The storm is out in Texas... Or He was out in the street... No! The storm is in Texas. He is in the street.
That Storm moved on over to the East. Do I have to say more? Why do Meteorologist not learn fault-free expressions? The Storm moved East of us.
It may rain on through Sunday. No! There are two prepositions in a row. It may rain through Sunday.
The Front moved further South. No! Further is a matter of degree, farther is a matter of distance. The Front moved farther South. Things may only be far away, not fur away. Only dirt farmers from Eastern Arkansas say things are fur (further) away.
Never use or say, and especially, do not print these common oxy moronisms used by journalists: The money
turned up missing. Or... The body turned up missing. Or... The money was discovered missing. Things either turn up, or more properly, they appear
or become. Things may be missing, but they may not turn up missing, they
may only be missing. Things may appear, not turn up, and things may be missing,
but not at the same time, especially in the same phrase. So if the first part of the phrase were to be
corrected it would read: The money appeared to be missing. This is
still a problem so the correct usage would be: The money may be missing. Or, even simpler The money is missing. Or... It was discovered the money was missing. Only mule skinners with a third grade education from Western New Mexico say things turn up missing, the rest of us do not.
When a recent 12,000 page document was published, the Pentagon, National
News, Media, and Press was quoted as saying the document was "...filled
with gaps and omissions." Since it is not possible to fill anything
with gaps and omissions which are things that are left out or consciously not
included, the official statement should have read something like - The
document did not include admissions which constitute gaps and omissions.
Recently, a local Politician was heard to say 'Your Rights are suspended.' This is a defect in logic often exhibited by Politicians (and Citizens) who seemingly operate in an Intellectual Vacum. If it is a "Right" it can not be suspended any more than Gravity can be suspended. This is abuse of the concept "Rights" as in "Inalienable Rights." The proper concept is Privilege. Only Privileges can be suspended. The proper useage would be: Your privileges are suspended. Our ancestoral Leaders misused the word "Civil Rights" when they actually meant "Privileges" as in 'The "Right" to bear Arms' and the "Right" to Freedom of Speech. You can test this by wearing a firearm into a Government Building. Your Rights (Privileges) will be suspended with extreme prejudice.
Filled with holes or gaps or omissions (excluded admissions -constitute
gaps and omissions.)
Found Nothing, (nothing found)
Positively no Talking or Smoking or Standing (Absolutely No...) Official Signs posted in Louisiana Governement Buildings use this faulty expression, go figure.
Non-stop flight (Express Flight)
Static Crash (Static Test Crash)
EXTRA, INAPPROPRIATE, INADEQUATE, INCOMPLETE, ERRANT, AND SUPERFLUOUS COMBINATIONS OF WORDS IN PHRASES
Many people's speech is riddled with faulty superfluous expressions. It is a constant source of humor and frustration for me to hear people in public over populate their speech with many superfluous expressions and in the same sentence leave out what should be added to their errant expressions to make their speech intelligible.
Meteorologists are many times heard, but should rarely be imitated. What is the American Meteorologists Association doing letting these cretins loose on the Public? "Let's go further out, you can see the rain down south." Further is a matter of degree, farther out is proper. When standing in front of a computer-generated RADAR map, the Meteorologist programs the computer to "Zoom Out" to afford a larger area of view. Too bad the Meteorologist does not use the language of the Software, "Zoom Out." When zooming out to afford a wider view, one might say "Let us zoom farther out, to afford a better view of the rain in our South." This is still a problem. "Let us zoom out to see the rain southward." Notice "Southward" has no "s" on the end. Words ending in "ward" do not have a dangling "s" on the end.
Words that end in 'ward' do not end in 's' - backward, forward, upward,
downward, inward, outward, the extra 's' is a leftover expression from Old
English which died 1200 years ago. Only haggle toothed trailer trash says "backwards."
Do not say 'I am curious anyways . . .' There is no 's' on the
end of anyway. This is a common Southernization.
Only cooked chickens are done (stick in a fork) not people. He is finished
- not - he is done. It is finished, not - it is done. This is
how it is accomplished (not done).
Only steel is hard, efforts are difficult. He had a difficult (not hard)
time learning.
Do not be a 'Got Lot' person. Do you say 'We got lots a great
stuff ferya.'? First the word 'got' does not belong in a sentence
used as it is here, Say 'We have' not 'We got'. It is a common
error not to use have and say got. Lazy mouth red necks even drop the contraction We've and say 'We got.' Second the word 'lot' means a piece
or a section. Say 'We have much for you.' or 'We have many things
for you.' Do not say 'You got the report?', say 'Do you have
the report?' Do not be a Got Lot person.
That famous 'Radio Shack' motto - You got Questions, We got Answers
- was obviously created by a hide tanner with a second grade education,
raised in south Fort Worth. To stress the point of correctness, the Motto
should read - 'If you have questions, we have the answers.'
In a recent TV commercial of a spray-on Oven Cleaner, the participants are clearly heard saying the word “burnt.” Where this word is in Webster's dictionary, it is obsolete like the word “whilst.” It is not incorrect usage to use the word “burnt” it is, however, a faulty expression for the word “burned.” Only dead British transcendentalist and ignorant redneck dirt farmers still use the word “burnt,” that includes ‘burnt on,” “burnt in,” and “burnt through” etc. Correct use of the expression for the word “burnt” is the word “burned.”
Do not forget to exclude yourself when speaking about being the best. 'No
one does it for less.' This mean that you do it for less than yourself?
Say 'No one else does it for less.'
We will begin the boarding process. The words 'the process' are extra
words and therefore superfluous. We will begin boarding.
Passengers may begin to pre-board. NO! You either board the plane or
not. Passengers may begin to board.
Passengers may de-train. If you are getting out of your car do you de-car?
No! Passengers may disembark.
Passengers may get on the Plane. NO! Passengers can only get in the
Plane, it is too windy riding on the Plane.
This will be a non-stop flight. NO! The flight must eventually stop,
hopefully safely on a runway at an airport. This will be an express flight.
Remain seated until the Plane comes to a complete Stop. Is this apposed
to an incomplete Stop? NO! You either are stopped or not. You may leave
your seat only after the Plane stops moving.
Positively No Smoking. OR Positively No Talking OR Positively No Standing. This is a common mistake made in the Southern US. I have actually seen this
faulty expression used on signs in Louisiana State Government Buildings.
It is an error in usage of the word Positively. It should say 'Absolutely
No Smoking' or better yet 'No Smoking.'
I am trying to quit. NO! You either quit or not. You may Stop and Start,
but Quit is final just like death, Quitting is as final as Death.
The man is attempting to jump off the bridge. NO! The phrase 'attempting
to' is errant and superfluous. You either jump or you don't, attempting
is not real. The man is daring to jump. I have actually heard a Police
dispatcher say this to Officers responding to someone attempting suicide.
In order to accomplish this... NO! 'In order' is superfluous,
you just accomplish. To accomplish this...
So as to accomplish this... NO! 'So as' is superfluous, you merely
accomplish. To accomplish this...
This program was Pre-Recorded. This Program was previously Recorded. NO! The program was recorded. This is
why you record something. Does pre-recorded mean you recorded it before
you recorded it? NO! This program was recorded. The program you are now viewing (hearing) is recorded.
Once and for all. NO! This is an incomplete phrase. Once and for
all time.
It is like you've never seen. NO! This is an incomplete phrase. If you
never see something that means never in the past, never in the present and
never in the future. Never is never. It is like you've never seen before.
53. Positively no ...
53. Filled with holes
52. Found nothing
51. Recorded live
50. Near miss
49. Started Stopping
48. Procrastinate Now
47. Once again
46. Discovered missing
45. Found missing
44. Act naturally
43. Resident alien
42. Advanced BASIC
41. Genuine imitation
40. Airline Food
39. Good grief
38. Same difference
37. Almost exactly
36. Government organization
35. Sanitary landfill
34. Alone together
33. Legally drunk
32. Silent scream
31. Living dead
30. Small crowd
29. Business ethics
28. Soft rock
27. Butt Head
26. Military Intelligence
25. Software documentation
24. New classic
23. Sweet sorrow
22. Childproof (Marine Proof)
21. "Now, then ..."
20. Synthetic natural gas
19. Passive aggression
18. Taped live
17. Clearly misunderstood
16. Peace force
15. Extinct Life
14. Temporary tax increase
13. Computer jock
12. Plastic glasses
11. Terribly pleased
10. Computer security
9. Political science
8. Tight slacks
7. Definite maybe
6. Pretty ugly
5. Twelve-ounce pound cake
4. Diet ice cream
3. Working vacation
2. Exact estimate
1. Microsoft Works
Reasons the English Language Is difficult to Learn:
1) The bandage was wound around the wound.
2) The farm was used to produce produce.
3) The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.
4) We must polish the Polish furniture.
5) He could lead if he would get the lead out.
6) The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.
7) Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present
the present.
8) A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.
9) When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.
10) I did not object to the object.
11) The insurance was invalid for the invalid.
12) There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.
13) They were too close to the door to close it.
14) The buck does funny things when the does are present.
15) A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.
16) To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.
17) The wind was too strong to wind the sail.
18) After a number of injections my jaw got number.
19) Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.
20) I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.
21) How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?
Never do the following. 1. Verbs HAS to agree with their subjects. 2. Prepositions are not words to end sentences with. 3. And don't start a sentence with a conjunction. 4. It is wrong to ever split an infinitive. 5. Avoid cliches like the plague. (They're old hat) 6. Also, always avoid annoying alliteration. 7. Be more or less specific. 8. Parenthetical remarks (however relevant) are (usually) unnecessary. 9. Also too, never, ever use repetitive redundancies. 10. No sentence fragments. 11. Contractions aren't necessary and shouldn't be used. 12. Foreign words and phrases are not apropos. 13. Do not be redundant; do not use more words than necessary; it's highly superfluous. 14. One should NEVER generalize. 15. Comparisons are as bad as cliches. 16. Don't use no double negatives. 17. Eschew ampersands & abbreviations, etc. 18. One-word sentences? Eliminate. 19. Analogies in writing are like feathers on a snake. 20. The passive voice is to be ignored. 21. Eliminate commas, that are, not necessary. Parenthetical words however should be enclosed in commas. 22. Never use a big word when a diminutive one would suffice. 23. Kill all exclamation points!!! 24. Use words correctly, irregardless of how others use them. 25. Understatement is always the absolute best way to put forth earth shaking ideas. 26. Use the apostrophe in it's proper place and omit it when its not needed. 27. Eliminate quotations. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "I hate quotations. Tell me what you know." 28. If you've heard it once, you've heard it a thousand times: Resist hyperbole; not one writer in a million can use it correctly. 29. Puns are for children, not groan readers. 30. Go around the barn at high noon to avoid colloquialisms. 31. Even IF a mixed metaphor sings, it should be derailed. 32. Who needs rhetorical questions? 33. Exaggeration is a billion times worse than understatement. And finally... 34. Proofread carefully to see if you out any words
Rhetoric
A rhetorical question is a figure of speech in the form of a question posed for rhetorical effect rather than to receive an answer. Rhetorical questions encourage the listener to reflect on what the implied answer to the question must be. When a speaker declaims, "How much longer must our people endure this injustice?" or "Do you really think I want to have a Star Trek themed wedding?", or "How many times do I have to tell you to stop walking into the house with mud on your shoes?"; no formal answer is expected. Rather, it is a device used by the speaker to assert or deny something. Some language experts consider rhetorical questions to be in fact, grammatical errors when used formally.
As many other expressions these questions may vary in significance from one language to another or even from one version of a language to another due to the peculiar idioms of the language or dialect. For example commonly used rhetorical questions of American slang may be sometimes confusing to people who may be fluent in English but unfamiliar with the localized meaning and who may attempt to answer the rhetorical question in an argument. Likewise, an American English speaker may be confused if asked "Are you coming the raw prawn?" which in Australian English has the same meaning as the rhetorical question: "Are you pulling my leg?", which might confuse someone unfamiliar with phrase. Both of these are rhetorical questions that are actually a form of epiplexis (a specific kind of rhetorical question) used to mean "Are you kidding me?" Another recently common English based Rhetorical question is the Instant Messaging abbreviation "lol?". Note the question mark which lets the IM recipient intemperate the "lol" as rhetorical This phrase often appears in Instant Messaging conversations in order to display blatant confusion with hints of sarcastic humor.
A Glossary of Rhetorical Terms with Examples
Alliteration: repetition of the same sound beginning several words in sequence.
*Let us go forth to lead the land we love. J. F. Kennedy, Inaugural
*Viri validis cum viribus luctant. Ennius
*Veni, vidi, vici. Julius Caesar
Anacoluthon: lack of grammatical sequence; a change in the grammatical construction within the same sentence.
*Agreements entered into when one state of facts exists -- are they to be maintained regardless of changing conditions? J. Diefenbaker
Anadiplosis: ("doubling back") the rhetorical repetition of one or several words; specifically, repetition of a word that ends one clause at the beginning of the next.
*Men in great place are thrice servants: servants of the sovereign or state; servants of fame; and servants of business. Francis Bacon
*Senatus haec intellegit, consul videt; hic tamen vivit. Vivit? Immo vero etiam in senatum venit. Cicero, In Catilinam
*Aeschines 3.133
Anaphora: the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses or lines.
*We shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills. We shall never surrender. Churchill.
*Nihil agis, nihil moliris, nihil cogitas, quod non ego non modo audiam, sed etiam videam planeque sentiam. Cicero, In Catilinam
*Lysias, Against Eratosthenes 21
*Demosthenes, On the Crown 48
Anastrophe: transposition of normal word order; most often found in Latin in the case of prepositions and the words they control. Anastrophe is a form of hyperbaton.
*The helmsman steered; the ship moved on; yet never a breeze up blew. Coleridge, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
*Isdem in oppidis, Cicero
*Demosthenes, On the Crown 13
Antistrophe: repetition of the same word or phrase at the end of successive clauses.
*In 1931, ten years ago, Japan invaded Manchukuo -- without warning. In 1935, Italy invaded Ethiopia -- without warning. In 1938, Hitler occupied Austria -- without warning. In 1939, Hitler invaded Czechoslovakia -- without warning. Later in 1939, Hitler invaded Poland -- without warning. And now Japan has attacked Malaya and Thailand -- and the United States --without warning. Franklin D. Roosevelt
*Aeschines, Against Ctesiphon 198
Antithesis: opposition, or contrast of ideas or words in a balanced or parallel construction.
*Extremism in defense of liberty is no vice, moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue. Barry Goldwater
*Brutus: Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more. Shakespeare, Julius Caesar
*The vases of the classical period are but the reflection of classical beauty; the vases of the archaic period are beauty itself." Sir John Beazley
*Demosthenes, Olynthiac 2.26
Aporia: expression of doubt (often feigned) by which a speaker appears uncertain as to what he should think, say, or do.
*Then the steward said within himself, 'What shall I do?' Luke 16
*Demosthenes, On the Crown 129
Aposiopesis: a form of ellipse by which a speaker comes to an abrupt halt, seemingly overcome by passion (fear, excitement, etc.) or modesty.
*Demosthenes, On the Crown 3
Apostrophe: a sudden turn from the general audience to address a specific group or person or personified abstraction absent or present.
*For Brutus, as you know, was Caesar's angel.
Judge, O you gods, how dearly Caesar loved him. Shakespeare, Julius Caesar
Archaism: use of an older or obsolete form.
*Pipit sate upright in her chair
Some distance from where I was sitting; T. S. Eliot, "A Cooking Egg"
Assonance: repetition of the same sound in words close to each other.
*Thy kingdom come, thy will be done.
*O fortunatam natam me consule Romam! Cicero, de consulatu
Asyndeton: lack of conjunctions between coordinate phrases, clauses, or words.
*We shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardships, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty. J. F. Kennedy, Inaugural
*But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. Lincoln, Gettysburg Address
*Demosthenes, On the Crown 200
Brachylogy: a general term for abbreviated or condensed expression, of which asyndeton and zeugma are types. Ellipse is often used synonymously. The suppressed word or phrase can usually be supplied easily from the surrounding context.
*Aeolus haec contra: Vergil, Aeneid
*Non Cinnae, non Sullae longa dominatio. Tacitus, Annales I.1
Cacophony: harsh joining of sounds.
*We want no parlay with you and your grisly gang who work your wicked will. W. Churchill
*O Tite tute Tati tibi tanta tyranne tulisti! Ennius
Catachresis: a harsh metaphor involving the use of a word beyond its strict sphere.
*I listen vainly, but with thirsty ear. MacArthur, Farewell Address
*Cynthia prima suis miserum me cepit ocellis. Propertius I.1.1
Chiasmus: two corresponding pairs arranged not in parallels (a-b-a-b) but in inverted order (a-b-b-a); from shape of the Greek letter chi (X).
*Those gallant men will remain often in my thoughts and in my prayers always. MacArthur
*Renown'd for conquest, and in council skill'd. Addison et pacis ornamenta et subsidia belli. Cicero, Pro lege Manilia
*Plato, Republic 494e
Climax: arrangement of words, phrases, or clauses in an order of ascending power. Often the last emphatic word in one phrase or clause is repeated as the first emphatic word of the next.
*One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield. Tennyson, Ulysses
*Nonne hunc in vincula duci, non ad mortem rapi, non summo supplicio mactari imperabis? Cicero, In Catilinam
*Facinus est vincere civem Romanum; scelus verberare; prope parricidium necare: quid dicam in crucem tollere? verbo satis digno tam nefaria res appellari nullo modo potest. Cicero, In Verrem
*Demosthenes, On the Crown 179
Euphemism: substitution of an agreeable or at least non-offensive expression for one whose plainer meaning might be harsh or unpleasant.
*When the final news came, there would be a ring at the front door -- a wife in this situation finds herself staring at the front door as if she no longer owns it or controls it--and outside the door would be a man... come to inform her that unfortunately something has happened out there, and her husband's body now lies incinerated in the swamps or the pines or the palmetto grass, "burned beyond recognition," which anyone who had been around an air base very long (fortunately Jane had not) realized was quite an artful euphemism to describe a human body that now looked like an enormous fowl that has burned up in a stove, burned a blackish brown all over, greasy and blistered, fried, in a word, with not only the entire face and all the hair and the ears burned off, not to mention all the clothing, but also the hands and feet, with what remains of the arms and legs bent at the knees and elbows and burned into absolutely rigid angles, burned a greasy blackish brown like the bursting body itself, so that this husband, father, officer, gentleman, this ornamentum of some mother's eye, His Majesty the Baby of just twenty-odd years back, has been reduced to a charred hulk with wings and shanks sticking out of it. Tom Wolfe, The Right Stuff
Hendiadys: use of two words connected by a conjunction, instead of subordinating one to the other, to express a single complex idea.
*It sure is nice and cool today! (for "pleasantly cool")
*I love the Lord, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications. Psalms 116
*Perfecti oratoris moderatione et sapientia. Cicero, De oratore
Hypallage: ("exchanging") transferred epithet; grammatical agreement of a word with another word which it does not logically qualify. More common in poetry.
*Exegi monumentum aere perennius
regalique situ pyramidum altius, Horace, Odes III.30
Hyperbaton: separation of words which belong together, often to emphasize the first of the separated words or to create a certain image.
*Speluncam Dido dux et Troianus eandem Vergil, Aeneid 4.124, 165
Hyperbole: exaggeration for emphasis or for rhetorical effect.
*My vegetable love should grow
Vaster than empires, and more slow;
An hundred years should got to praise
Thine eyes and on thine forehead gaze;
Two hundred to adore each breast,
But thirty thousand to the rest. Andrew Marvell, "To His Coy Mistress"
*Da mi basia mille, deinde centum,
Dein mille altera, dein secunda centum,
Deinde usque altera mille, deinde centum. Catullus, to his.
Hysteron Proteron ("later-earlier"): inversion of the natural sequence of events, often meant to stress the event which, though later in time, is considered the more important.
*"I like the island Manhattan. Smoke on your pipe and put that in." -- from the song "America," West Side Story lyric by Stephen Sondheim (submitted per litteram by guest rhetorician Anthony Scelba)
*Put on your shoes and socks!
*Hannibal in Africam redire atque Italia decedere coactus est. Cicero, In Catilinam
Irony: expression of something which is contrary to the intended meaning; the words say one thing but mean another.
*Yet Brutus says he was ambitious;
And Brutus is an honourable man. Shakespeare, Julius Caesar
Litotes: understatement, for intensification, by denying the contrary of the thing being affirmed. (Sometimes used synonymously with meiosis.)
*A few unannounced quizzes are not inconceivable.
*War is not healthy for children and other living things.
*One nuclear bomb can ruin your whole day. (meiosis)
Metaphor: implied comparison achieved through a figurative use of words; the word is used not in its literal sense, but in one analogous to it.
*Life's but a walking shadow; a poor player,
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage. Shakespeare, Macbeth
*. . . while he learned the language (that meager and fragile thread . . . by which the little surface corners and edges of men's secret and solitary lives may be joined for an instant now and then before sinking back into the darkness. . . ) Faulkner, Absalom, Absalom!
*From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the continent. W. Churchill
Metonymy: substitution of one word for another which it suggests.
*He is a man of the cloth.
*The pen is mightier than the sword.
*By the sweat of thy brow thou shalt eat thy bread.
Onomatopoeia: use of words to imitate natural sounds; accommodation of sound to sense.
*At tuba terribili sonitu taratantara dixit. Ennius
Oxymoron: apparent paradox achieved by the juxtaposition of words which seem to contradict one another.
*Festina lente.
*I must be cruel only to be kind. Shakespeare, Hamlet
Paradox: an assertion seemingly opposed to common sense, but that may yet have some truth in it.
*What a pity that youth must be wasted on the young. George Bernard Shaw
Paraprosdokian: surprise or unexpected ending of a phrase or series.
*He was at his best when the going was good. Alistair Cooke on the Duke of Windsor
*There but for the grace of God -- goes God. Churchill
*Laudandus, ornandus, tollendus. Cicero on Octavian
Paronomasia: use of similar sounding words; often etymological word-play.
*...culled cash, or cold cash, and then it turned into a gold cache. E.L. Doctorow, Billy Bathgate
*Thou art Peter (Greek petros), and upon this rock (Greek petra) I shall build my church. Matthew 16
*The dying Mercutio: Ask for me tomorrow and you shall find me a grave man. Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet
*Hic est sepulcrum haud pulchrum feminae pulchrae.
Personification: attribution of personality to an impersonal thing.
*England expects every man to do his duty. Lord Nelson
*Nunc te patria, quae communis est parens omnium nostrum, odit ac metuit et iam diu nihil te iudicat nisi de parricidio suo cogitare. Cicero, In Catilinam
Pleonasm: use of superfluous or redundant words, often enriching the thought.
*No one, rich or poor, will be excepted.
*Ears pierced while you wait!
*I have seen no stranger sight since I was born.
Polysyndeton: the repetition of conjunctions in a series of coordinate words, phrases, or clauses.
*I said, "Who killed him?" and he said, "I don't know who killed him but he's dead all right," and it was dark and there was water standing in the street and no lights and windows broke and boats all up in the town and trees blown down and everything all blown and I got a skiff and went out and found my boat where I had her inside Mango Bay and she was all right only she was full of water. Hemingway, After the Storm
*omnia Mercurio similis, vocemque coloremque
et crinis flavos et membra decora iuventae Vergil, Aeneid 4.558-9
*Horae quidem cedunt et dies et menses et anni, nec praeteritum tempus umquam revertitur, nec quid sequatur sciri potest. Cicero, De senectute
Praeteritio (=paraleipsis): pretended omission for rhetorical effect.
*That part of our history detailing the military achievements which gave us our several possessions ... is a theme too familiar to my listeners for me to dilate on, and I shall therefore pass it by. Thucydides, "Funeral Oration"
*Let us make no judgment on the events of Chappaquiddick, since the facts are not yet all in. A political opponent of Senator Edward Kennedy
Prolepsis: the anticipation, in adjectives or nouns, of the result of the action of a verb; also, the positioning of a relative clause before its antecedent.
*Vixi et quem dederat cursum fortuna peregi, Vergil, Aeneid 4.653
*Consider the lilies of the field how they grow.
Simile: an explicit comparison between two things using 'like' or 'as'.
*My love is as a fever, longing still
For that which longer nurseth the disease, Shakespeare, Sonnet CXLVII
*Reason is to faith as the eye to the telescope. D. Hume [?]
*Let us go then, you and I,
While the evening is spread out against the sky,
Like a patient etherized upon a table... T.S. Eliot, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock
Syllepsis: use of a word with two others, with each of which it is understood differently.
*We must all hang together or assuredly we will all hang separately. Benjamin Franklin
Synchysis: interlocked word order.
*aurea purpuream subnectit fibula vestem Vergil, Aeneid 4.139
Synecdoche: understanding one thing with another; the use of a part for the whole, or the whole for the part. (A form of metonymy.)
*Give us this day our daily bread. Matthew 6
*I should have been a pair of ragged claws
Scuttling across the floors of silent seas.
T. S. Eliot, "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"
*The U.S. won three gold medals. (Instead of, The members of the U.S. boxing team won three gold medals.)
Synesis (=constructio ad sensum): the agreement of words according to logic, and not by the grammatical form; a kind of anacoluthon.
*For the wages of sin is death. Romans 6
*Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them. Acts 6
Tautology: repetition of an idea in a different word, phrase, or sentence.
*With malice toward none, with charity for all. Lincoln, Second Inaugural
Zeugma: two different words linked to a verb or an adjective which is strictly appropriate to only one of them.
*Nor Mars his sword, nor war's quick fire shall burn
The living record of your memory.
*Longa tibi exsilia et vastum maris aequor arandum. Vergil, Aeneid