Figures of Speech

Hey, guys! Welcome to this video over figures of speech.

I’m sure you’ve heard thousands of figures of speech throughout the duration of your life, but maybe you’ve just never realized what exactly they were.

A figure of speech is literally anything that you would say that is not meant literally. This can take place in the form of a hyperbole, alliteration, simile, metaphor, whatever!

Let’s look at some examples.

Hyperbole

First, let’s look at these figures of speech that take place in the form of hyperbole.

I could eat a horse.

I’ve told you a million times.

It’s taking forever.

Metaphor

Look at these examples of figures of speech in the form of a metaphor.

The world is her canvas

He is an early bird

Heart of gold

Argue with a brick wall

Understatements

There are even figures of speech that are just understatements. For example, if someone were to have a pretty gruesome injury, and they respond with “oh, it’s just a scratch,” or, a perhaps more popular version of this, “’tis but a flesh wound.” Or, like when someone is actually referring to a temperature that is below freezing, and they say, “it’s a bit chilly.”

Like I said, figures of speech are everywhere. Maybe, with some of the examples I gave, you thought, ‘I say that all the time, and didn’t realize it was a figure of speech.’ Well, now you know. Again, a figure of speech is anything said that is not intended to be taken literally and is only used to evoke a specific rhetorical effect. The customary definition of “figurative” has always intentionally been contrasted with the “proper” definition of a phrase or word. In Greek “trope” is the word for figure of speech, and trope means “twist or turn.” So, hopefully, that gives you a more thorough understanding of what a figure of speech is.

I hope that this video on figures of speech has been helpful. See you guys next time!