FIGURES OF SPEECH

A figure of speech is where a word or words are used to create an effect, often where they do not have
their original or literal meaning.

When a writer uses a particular device, or trick, with language in order to make it more interesting, we
call that a figure of speech. A Knowledge of some of the basic figures of speech will not only make it
easier for you to analyse and appreciate the craft of writers but also enhances your own ability to write
IGCSE papers. Moreover, it will help you in your study of literature.

1. Alliteration
Alliteration is a figure of speech in which words beginning with the same sounds are deliberately
placed close together to achieve a particular effect.

Read the short extract below and pick out and comment on two examples of alliteration.
In the little girl’s pocket, wrapped in a crunched-up piece of paper, was rotting apple, brown and
bruised.

Sample Response
‘Pale paper’ is an example of alliteration in the repletion of the letter ‘p’ as this is an abruptly
stopped sound [called a plosive] it is appropriate that it should be used in alliteration as
something rigid and crunchy is being described. The second example of alliteration is ‘brown
and bruised.’ Again, hard sounds are used, and this is appropriate as something unpleasant and
therefore harsh to the senses is being described.

2. Anadiplosis
Anadiplosis is a rhetorical device where a word or phrase at the end of a sentence or phrase is
repeated at the beginning of the next sentence or phrase.

For example: Here, we don’t accept failure. Failure is not an option.

3. Antimetabole
Antimetabole is the repetition of a clause, with reversed wording in the second clause.
Example
 We eat to live, not live to eat.
 Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country. -
J.F.Kennedy
 It is not even the beginning of the end but is perhaps, the end of the beginning -- Winston
Churchill

When the first clause is spoken, it may not be particularly noticeable. However, when the
second clause is given, the repetition is immediately noticed. This is a form of emphasis.

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 Initially the Antimetabole may seem confusing, forcing the listener to review what was said in
order to make sense of the full meaning.

Using Antimetabole can have a punchy, significant impact. It is thus very popular, particularly in
political speeches.

Antimetabole is a type of chiasmus, though with a tighter, more specific form.

It is also used as a word to describe an epanados that is also an antithesis.

Antimetabole is sometimes called antistrophe, although this word also has other meanings.
Classification: Repetition, Reversal

4. Aphorism
Aphorismus is questioning or challenging the meaning of a word.

Example
 Call yourself a man? You're acting like a boy!
 That's not a car, it's a lawn mower!
 Is that 'music' is these days? How impoverished you must be.

Words are little packets of meaning that have all kinds of connotations by which we enrich and
extend the language. For example, 'man' may also mean 'strong', 'independent', 'chivalrous',
and so on.

This gives plenty of scope in challenging the meaning of a word by challenging one of the
extended elements. Thus, for example, a man who is not 'strong' may have his manhood
challenged in an ad hominem attack that implies that failure to comply with one added meaning
is failure to comply with the basic meaning or denotation of the word. Classification:
Questioning, Meaning

5. Apostrophe

Apostrophe is breaking off from normal speech and speaking to an imaginary person or even to
an abstract quality or idea.
Example
 (to camera) He's getting angry. Now we'll have some fun!
 Heaven tell me, why does he speak thus?
 O, I do not know what to do? What should this be, do you think?

An apostrophe steps out of normal speech, allowing the speaker to express a thought or
feeling that does not fit into the normal speaking context. The apostrophe is typically a
question, an explanation or an expression of frustration.

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 In speech, apostrophe may well include a physical turning away from others in a symbolic
show of speaking to another imaginary person or concept. This allows the speaker to say
things that they may well not feel able to say to the person or persons present.

In drama, the 'aside' is a common device where the actor speaks directly to the audience,
perhaps to tell them his or her thoughts or act as a narrator in some way. In movies, the
actor will look directly into the camera.

In classic drama or poetry, an apostrophe may be signalled by prefixing it with the word 'O'.

'Apostrophe' is Greek for 'turning away'. It is also known as apostrophatio or exclamatio.

Of course an apostrophe is also a word for a grammatical symbol. Classification: Emotion,
Reference, Questioning

6. Chiasmus
Chiasmus is a reversal of words in consecutive phrases.
Example
 She gave me hope and hopefully I gave my loyalty.
 I thought you good, originally, but your originality is not that good.
 He who sheds the blood of man, by man, shall his blood be shed -- Genesis 9.6

The general pattern of chiasmus is A B, B A. This may be extended to multiple words and can
even be ABCD, DCBA. The repetition of words may be in a different sense and with alternative
individual, as well as collective, meaning.

Repetition acts as a form of emphasis, drawing attention through creation of a pattern of similar
words. The confusion caused, forces the listener to review what was said in order to make sense
of the full meaning. Its impact makes various forms of chiasmus popular with speech-makers.

Chiasmus includes Antimetabole and anadiplosis, although the reverse is not true. Chiasmus is
also known as Epanodos. Classification: Repetition, Reversal, Grammar.

7. Climax
Climax is the arrangement of words in increasing order of effect.

Example
 We'll collect pennies in tens, hundreds and millions! Power starts small, becomes
significant then becomes unstoppable.
 We'll fight them in the country, in every town and every street. We shall not surrender!
 Love creates happiness, happiness creates joy, joy creates enlightenment.

'Climax' in this usage creates the word in its common usage, building up to a climax. A well-built
climax increases expectation and so tension with each item in the list.

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 As words are added to the sequence, a pattern is set up, first of a similar theme and then of
increasing importance and impact.

Climax may be used with other devices such as the triple or anadiplosis. The opposite of climax
is anti-climax, where tension is release in a disappointing way. Climax is the Greek for 'ladder'.
Classification: Amplification

8. Contrast
‘Contrast’ is a common enough word which we all know and use although maybe you have not
stopped to think about its use in language. In using contract as a figure of speech a writer is
placing in close proximity ideas which contrast with each other or seem almost opposites of
each other, in order to achieve a particular effect. Another word for contrast is antithesis.

Read the following extract below and pick out and comment on the use of contrast.
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of
foolishness… it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair…

Sample response
The ideas of ‘best’ and ‘worst’ are contrasted as are the ideas of ‘wisdom’ and ‘foolishness’.
There is a double contrast in the third item between ‘spring’ and ‘winter’ and ‘hope’ and
‘despair’. The writer is being contradictory and rather mysterious as if the period being
described is problematic, a mixture of different attitudes and events. The effect is to engage
attention and make the reader want to read on.

9. Ellipsis
Ellipsis is omission of words from a sentence or phrase without losing the essential meaning.

Example
 John, that way; Jane, there. (vs. 'John go that way; Jane stay there.').
 Good meeting. (vs. 'It was a good meeting)
 When ready. (vs. 'You can start when you are ready')
There is a lot of redundancy in language and it can be surprising how much can be left out
without losing much meaning, particularly when there are contextual clues as to the real
meaning.
Sluicing ellipsis is the removal of the end of a sentence, typically when it would mean repeating
previous words, such as She ran, but I don't know why, which should more correctly She ran, but
I don't know why she ran.

Verb-phrase ellipsis is the removal of a verb and associated words, such as I like it. You too?,
which should be I like it. Do you like it too?

Noun-phrase ellipsis is removing nouns and associated words, such as I have six dogs, whilst
Mike has two. (Mike has two dogs, of course).

Absolute ellipsis is where a significant amount of information is omitted, such as Caesar's last
words 'Et tu, Brute'.

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 Relative ellipsis is where a missing word is supplied by the context, for example I'm the small
supplier. He's the big, or where there is a reference back to a previous item using words like 'it'
or 'he'.

An ellipsis that omits all verbs from a sentence is called scesis onamaton. For example: Me
Tarzan, you Jane. Ellipsis can be deliberately nudged into ambiguity to cause confusion and
hence attention or distraction. Ellipsis comes from the Greek meaning 'to leave'. Classification:
Omission.

10. Epistrophe
Epistrophe is where a set of lines, phrases, clauses, or sentences end with same word or words.

Example
 Looking good, feeling good.
 The time is now, the need is now, we must act, now!

Repetition creates a pattern and hence the comfort of familiarity. It also causes attention to the
repeated words, which may be used to hammer home a point.

Words at the end of a phrase or line may also benefit from the recency effect, where more
recent items are more likely to be remembered.

Epistrophe is often combined in a triple, with a point being repeated three times.

This powerful final emphasis makes it popular with speech-writers, who may use it towards the
end of the presentation to build up and the end on the key point.

Epistrophe is sometimes called antistrophe, although this word also has other meanings. It is
also calledepiphora. Classification: Repetition

11. Epizeuxis
Epizeuxis is the repetition of a word with increasing vehemence.

Example
 No! No!! NO!!! NO!!!!
 Oh, my son, my son, what will you do, my son??
 I am lost, lost, lost unto the darkening seas.

Repetition is a form of emphasis, which coupled with added emotion in the voice makes
epizeuxis a very powerful, though simple form of expressing something very vehemently.
Classification: Amplification, Repetition

12. Euphemism
Sometimes when a writer wants to play down some difficulty, problem or unpleasantness, a
figure of speech called euphemism can be used. Euphemism seeks to put a pleasant spin on
something basically unpleasant.

Read the short extract below and pick out and comment on an example of euphemism.

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 Everyone knew Claire was a stranger to the truth, and therefore it came as no surprise when she
denied ever having seen the strawberry cakes. She wasn’t even embarrassed about the red
stains all over her chin.

Sample response
It is obvious that Claire has eaten the strawberry cakes, but she lies about it. Instead of using the
word ‘liar’ the writer softens the ideas by using a euphemism and calling her ‘a stranger to the
truth.

13. Hyperbole or exaggeration

When using hyperbole, a writer draws attention to a particular idea by saying something which
cannot possibly be true. Thus the writer is stepping beyond the meaning to achieve a desired
effect. This intended effect might be to amuse, shock, puzzle, challenge or impress.

Read the short extract below and pick out and comment on two example of hyperbole.
I left the house in a hurry, having overslept by ten minutes. Today of all days, I had an important
meeting with my boss who was likely to murder me when he discovered I had not met my sales
targets for the month. As luck would have it this was the very morning that millions of cars were
my stretch of the motorway.

Sample response
It is an exaggeration, or hyperbole, to say that her boss would ‘murder’ her; such behavior
would obviously be intolerable and out of all proportion with not meeting sales targets. The
second example of hyperbole is ‘millions’; clearly that is an impossibly high number of cars to be
found on a stretch of road. The writer’s purpose is to amuse or to impress on the reader the
extent of the writer’s hostility towards her boss or her boss to her. The sense of frustration is
the panic to make up lost time is created by the use of ‘millions, as if it seemed to the writer
that she would never make it through the traffic.

14. Idiom
Although idiom is not a figure of speech as such, it is helpful for your understanding of language
terms if you understand what idiom is. Idiom is the use of a word or expression which is
particular to a language (in this case English) and which would not make sense if it were
translated literally into another language. Usually idiom has an informal tone.

Read the following short extract below and pick out and comment on the use of idiom.
‘I am over the moon to have Miss Christie as my English teacher,’ Emily said.

Sample response
Emily is expressing her happiness about her teacher. The moon does not have any literal place in
what she says. Emily is using an informal, and rather overused, idiomatic expression which is
peculiar to English.

15. Irony
When a writer uses irony there is a discrepancy between what is literally said and what is really
meant, or a contrast between what the reader expects and what is actually given. When a
discrepancy occurs between an expected outcome and a real outcome we have irony. Irony can
also be a sarcastic way of speaking or writing in which criticism is disguised as praise.

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 Read the short extract below and pick out and comment on its irony.
The boss threw my report across the room at me. ‘I can see you spent hours on that piece of
work,’ she snarled.

Sample Response
It is clear from the boss’s actions and tone of voice that she does not think that the employee
spent very long on the work at all and that it is in fact a poor effort. The boss uses the expression
‘spent hours’ ironically to be indirectly critical of the employee.

16. Litotes
If you want to affirm something as true in an understated, quiet way, you can do this by taking
the opposite of what you want to say and then turning it back into a positive by negating it.

Example
 Oh well, that is not an unimportant thing.
 That's not bad.

Litotes is a fancy name for a common twist of the language where a person expresses an
affirmative by negating its contrary. In effect, this is a double negative.

When twists, such as this, are put into language, it often acts as a form of apologetic, expressing
a certain amount of embarrassment at having to say this thing.

Twists also make the listener think harder to work out what is really being said. This can be
deliberate use of confusion or seeking to sustain attention.
The use of litotes can also give away the speaker's bias, as saying 'not bad' implies that you are
thinking more about bad than good.

A synonym is meiosis (which is also used to describe cell-division, in which it is also spelled
meioses). Classification: Distortion. Reversal

17. Meiosis
Meiosis is an understatement, making less of something that it actually it.

Example
 What they called a 'riot' was really high spirits, just people having fun.
 Don't worry, I'm fine. It's only a scratch.

Making something smaller reduces chance of people being distracted by it or focusing on it. If
you want others to pay attention to something then you may well want them not be distracted.
Meosis is also common in polite society, where it is considered rude to draw attention to one's
own problems, which may hence be downplayed. In a curious reversal, by downplaying
something that others know is significant, you actually draw attention to it.

There are words that diminish, such as 'just', 'only', 'simply' and so on. Inserting these as
modifiers makes what is said less important. Spotting them is a useful method for identifying
meiosis.

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 Meiosis is the opposite of Auxesis. 'Meiosis' comes from the Greek word meaning 'to make
smaller'. Classification: Reduction, Reversal

18. Metaphors
In a metaphor the writer goes a step further than in a simile. Instead of basing the comparison
on the fact that two things are like each other, the writer actually says that the first is the
second, because of some similarity between them.

In the following short extract, the writer describes the significance of rice to those who cultivate
it. Identify and comment on the metaphor.

Rice is nourished by water, earth and wind and transforms into gold.

Sample Response
‘Transforms into gold’ is a metaphor. Rice is a plant and becomes a food, and people do not eat
gold. However, people value gold so the metaphor suggests that rice is valuable because
without food we die.

19. Metonymy
Metonymy is the use of one item's name to represent another item. In particular the
representing item usually has a close association with the represented item.

Example
 Henry invaded France. (Henry represents Britain)
 The pen is mightier than the sword. (Pen represents words. Sword represents military
power).
 I'll just Google it. (Using Google instead of search).

Metonymy is quite close to metaphor, but with a more specific use. Metonymy uses names,
whilst metaphor can indicate any representation.

Metonymy substitutes the contained for the container, the effect for the cause. The connection
may sometimes be rather distance, as inmetalepsis. Metonymy can be used in a number of
associations, for example:
 Cause represents effect
 Container represents the contained
 A greater thing represents a smaller thing
 An author represents the book
 The sign represents the signified

A common use of metonymy is in synecdoche, where a part represents the whole, for example
the monarch being described as 'the crown'. Metonymy comes from the Greek 'metonymia'
meaning 'a change of name'. Classification: Substitution

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 20. Onomatopoeia
Onomatopoeia is a figure of speech in which the sound of a word suggests its meaning.

Read the short extract below and pick out and comment on two examples of onomatopoeia.
There was a loud clatter as dustbins were blown over in the alleyway. Somewhere in the
distance, a dog was howling.

Sample Response
‘Clatter’ is an example of onomatopoeia. It seems to copy the loud and strident sounds of the
metal hitting the ground. The sound made by the dog ‘howling’ is also onomatopoeia. It has two
syllables and a long ow sound; these add to the effect that the noise made by the dog is
prolonged.

21. Oxymoron
Oxymoron is another figure of speech which deals with contradictions. In using oxymoron, the
writer places two ideas that seem to be directly opposed to one another in close proximity,
which, on closer inspection, make sense.

Read the short extract which follows and pick out and comment on an example of oxymoron.
…the star turn in the schoolroom was a massive sandy-haired Highland Major whose subject was
‘the spirit of the bayonet.’ (a weapon). He spoke with homicidal eloquence, keeping his talk alive
with genial and well-judged jokes.

Sample response
‘Homicidal eloquence’ is an example of oxymoron in that it is an apparent contradiction. The
lecturer is clearly comfortable with the idea of killing people in war and possibly derives a
certain satisfaction from it; therefore it is appropriate to describe him as ‘homicidal.’ Because he
knows his subject well enough to be lecturing on it, he is also ‘eloquent’. It seems contradictory
to link killing with being articulate as one ordered human beings. This expression is an apparent
contradiction only; on closer inspection we can see that the lecturer enjoys both killing and
talking about it; his love of killing makes him want to pass on his enthusiasm to others.

22. Personification
In personification a thing or object which is not human is given a human characteristic because
of some similarity between the thing and a person. It is easy to remember because
personification contains the word ‘person’ inside it.

The following short extract is a continuation of the extract about rice. Identify and comment on
the example of personification in the extract.

Rice demands the sweat of man. In return, the earth gives birth to a grain that is valuable and
precious for human life.

Sample Response
‘The earth gives birth’ is an example of personification as giving birth is a human (or animal)
activity, and the earth cannot give birth. The writer wants to stress the life-giving qualities of the
cultivated earth and the rice it produces.

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 23. Pleonasm
Pleonasm is the use of unnecessary words.

Example
 Your future prediction is null and void.
 The sound of the music is loud.
 It's a puppy-dog, not a kitten-cat!

The use of pleonastic words and phrases is very variable. Sometimes they become accepted
jargon. Pleonasm may also indicate the use of tired, old and clichéd words and general sloppy
language. Proponents of Plain English and concise writing are often strong opponents of
pleonasm.

The simplest test of a pleonasm is when you can eliminate words without changing the meaning
of the sentence.

Pleonasm may also lead to repetition of the same thing through different words. Syntactic
pleonasm occurs where grammar makes some words optional, such as 'I heard (that) you have
been promoted.' Semantic pleonasm is stylistic redundancy, and is often based on convention,
such as 'up north' and 'free gift'. They can also be unique to dialects, such as 'tuna fish' in US
English and 'by there' in Welsh. 'Pleon' is Greek for 'more than'. Classification: Repetition.

24. Polyptoton
Polyptoton is the repetition of the same word with the same meaning, but in a different way,
varying such as case, mood, tense, person, degree, number and gender.

Example
 I love, loved, will always love you.
 She hated him, despised him, utterly detested him.
 Fight the good fight.
 Love is an irresistible desire to be irresistibly desired.

Repetition emphasises, though simple repetition can be a little boring and obvious. Polyptoton
adds interest and perhaps some concealment by repeating something in different forms.
Classification: Repetition

25. Pun
A pun is a play on a word or words. This means using a word which might have two or more
meanings in order to make a joke or to be ambiguous.

Read the short extract below and pick out and comment on the pun.
‘We cannot continue like this,’ exclaimed the department manager. ‘We really need some
change.’

Sample Response
The pun is contained in the word ‘change’. The manager means that reform or alteration is
required, presumably to the way in which the business is run. Jennifer’s mistake – or possibly

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 her joke – is to think, or pretend to think, that the manager wants some money – just a few
coins.

26. Rhetorical question

When asking a rhetorical question a writer is either asking a question to which the answer is so
obvious that the question is unnecessary or asking a question to which there is no real answer.
The intended effect of a rhetorical question is to reshape a statement in order to give it
emphasis.

Read the following short extract and pick out and comment on a rhetorical question.
She looked anxiously at the clock yet again. How many times had she told her daughter Emma
that she should be home by ten o’clock? Sighing, she looked at the clock once again.

Sample response
The writer does not expect an answer to the question. The mother’s anxiety is presented in the
form of a question in order to emphasise that she had repeatedly told her daughter to be home
by ten o’clock.

27. Repetition
In this figure of speech a word or expression is repeated for effect rather than for meaning in
order to emphasise a point or to build up interest or tension, or simply to make the sentence
sound poetic or attractive.

Read the short extract below and pick out and comment on the use of repetition.
Standing in the middle of her study, Rachel thought of what she still had to do: Maths
homework, Accounts homework, French homework. And that English essay – the hardest
homework of all. Her heart sank.

Sample response
The word ‘homework’ is repeated. It is used four times to give the effect that the amount of
homework Rachel has to do is weighing heavily on her. All she can think about is homework
when she stands in her study, so that the reader is not surprised that ‘Her heart sank.’ The
repetition is used for effect rather than for meaning.

28. Simile
In a simile the writer says that two things are like each other because of at least one similarity
between them. Similes always have the word like or as in them.

In the following short extract, an old woman, Armande, has just had a birthday party in her
house near the river. Identify and comment on the two similes in the extract.
I could hear Armande’s voice above the rest: her laughter was like that of an overtired child.
Sprinkled across the water’s edge, the lanterns and candles looked like Christmas lights.

Sample Response
‘Her laughter was like that of an overtired child’ is a simile. Armande is an old lady, not a child,
and the simile suggests that Armande has had such a wonderful time that she felt like a little girl
again. The second simile is ‘the lanterns and candles looked like Christmas lights’. This is

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 effective because it suggests how bright and sparkling the lanterns were, and it adds to the party
atmosphere as Christmas is a time of celebration.

29. Spoonerism
Spoonerism is the exchange of letters or sounds between two words, often with comic effect.

Example
 Search every crook and nanny! ('Search every nook and cranny')
 Bum on caby, fight my liar. (v'Come on baby, light my fire').
 Gets low, folks. ('Let's go, folks').

A common form of Spoonerism is the transposition of initial letters, although other letters and
even sounds may be exchanged. Spoonerism can just be a speech error and is named after the
Reverend William Archibald Spooner (1844–1930), Warden of New College, Oxford, who often
made this slip. It is also used plays where characters also have this affliction but make amusing
Spoonerisms. Classification: Rearrangement.

30. Synecdoche
This is the use of an associated item to represent something. Thus:
 A part of something may stand for the whole.
 A single item may represent a whole group.
 A concept may represent a connected concept.
Example
 Let me see thy righteous spirit!
 We're out here, looking for the big cats.
 For dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
By representing one thing as another thing, the listener has to pause and think hard about the
association, especially when it is tenuous and conceptual, as synecdoche may be. Synecdoche is
a broader term than metonymy, which deals in nouns and more direct connection. Synecdoche
deals in ideas as well.

Thus, for example, metonymy may used 'head' or even 'crown' to represent 'king'. Synecdoche
could use 'country' or 'spirit'.

My lord, oh spirit of the nation!

Classification: Meaning, Substitution

31. Tautology
Tautology is the unnecessary repetition of meaning within a sentence.

Example
 I can't believe I'm seeing it with my own eyes.
 It's a new and innovative idea.
 If you don't get any better, then you'll never improve.
 This arboretum, this collection of trees, is very beautiful.

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 Tautology can be repetition of a single word or of phrases or sentences. The main point in it is
that meaning is reproduced. Tautology is often used in error, including when people are trying
to use 'clever' language which they do not really understand. Another place it appears in formal
language where the writer is being overly explicit.

It can happen deliberately where the speaker is trying to make sure the other person
understands and so is using different words in case the listener does not understand the initial
(and usually more complex or jargon-based) word. Tautology can happen where abbreviations
include words which are repeated, such as 'The BPS System', where 'BPS' means Business
Processing System'. It can also occur across languages, for example 'chai tea', where 'chai' is
Hindi for 'tea'. Tautology comes from the Greek word meaning 'redundant'. Classification:
Repetition, Excess

32. Zeugma
Zeugma is the joining of two or more parts of a sentence with a common word, usually a verb.

Example
 She wore a pink hat and a beatific smile.
 In the morning, happy she was, and in the evening and dark night too.
 Time makes older adults wiser and younger adults less wise.
 Walking up and down.

Zeugma uses ellipsis in omission of the second verb or noun. Thus rather than saying 'walking up
and down' you should really say 'walking up and walking down.' Zeugma is thus a convenient
abbreviation of language and appears often and unconsciously in speech as we are economical
with words. It may also be used deliberately for conciseness or other effect.

Zeugma also uses parallelism in that there are multiple clauses in which the joining word
applies. The way things are linked together can be used to comic effect, such as ' He held a high
rank and an old notepad.'

Verb zeugma
There are three types of verb zeugma, depending on whether the verb is at the start, middle or
end of the sentence:

 Prozeugma, also called praeiunctio or injunctum, is where an early verb governs later
clauses, such as 'Fear makes us cautious, resentful and sometimes dangerous.'
 Mesozeugma, also called conjuntum, is where a verb in the middle governs parallel
clauses either side of it, such as 'Nothing would cause him fear, not threat nor danger.'
 Hypozeugma is where a late verb governs earlier clauses, such as 'What makes a person
think carefully, and what makes them cautious, is fear.'
 Synezeugmon, also called adjunctum, is where the verb is joined to more than two
clauses, such as 'I saw there the laughter, the great gaiety, the very picture of joy, the
epitome of happiness.'

Verb zeugma is the most commonly described form and is often assumed to the only meaning of
'zeugma'.

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 Noun zeugma
Noun zeugma, or Diazeugma is where a noun governs two or more verbs. There are two types of
diazeugma:

 Diazeugma Disjunction is where the subject is at the start of the sentence, with
subsequent verb clauses, such as 'My family is happy, well-fed and kind to each other.'
 Diazeugma Conjunction is where the subject is in the middle of the sentence, such as
'Afraid and unhappy, the boy stood alone in the world.'

Other variants of zeugma include the opposite, of hypozeuxis, and syllepsis, where clauses are
not parallel, neither in meaning nor in grammar. Zeugma comes from the Greek word for 'yoke',
implying the joining of words.
Classification: Omission

'Figures of speech' is often used generically, and the big list here includes not only figures
of speech but also a wider range of rhetorical and linguistic devices.

1. Abusio: See Catachresis

2. Acoloutha: Reciprocal substitution of words.
3. Accismus: Feigned refusal of that which is desired.
4. Accumulatio: Drawing points into a powerful climax.
5. Acutezza: The use of wit or wordplay.
6. Acyron: Using a word opposite to what is meant.
7. Adianoeta: Expression that has second, subtle meaning.
8. Adjunction: Putting the verb at the beginning.
9. Adynaton: Exaggerated declaration of impossibility.
10. Asteismos: Polite expression of emotion.
11. Aetiologia: A statement with a supporting cause.
12. Affirmatio: Speaking as if one's point is disputed.
13. Aganactesis: Indignant exclamation.
14. Allegory: Narrative using sustained metaphor.
15. Alleotheta: Substituting one thing for another.
16. Allusion: Indirect reference.
17. Alliteration: Repetition of same initial sound.
18. Ambage: See Periphrasis.
19. Amphibology: Ambiguity in grammar.
20. Amphilogy: Circumlocution to avoid harm to oneself.
21. Ampliatio: Using a name where it is not defined.
22. Amplificatio: General enhancement of an argument.
23. Anabasis: Stepwise increase in emphasis.
24. Anacephalaeosis: Summary of known facts.
25. Anacoenosis: Asking opinion of audience to gain agreement.
26. Anacoloutha: Non-reciprocal word substitution.
27. Anacoluthon: Ending a sentence different to expectation.
28. Anacrusis: Unstressed syllables at the start.
29. Anadiplosis: Repeating last word at start of next sentence.

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 30. Analogy: A is like B. Using one thing to describe another.
31. Anamnesis: Emotional recall.
32. Anangeon: Justification based on necessity.
33. Anaphora: Repeating initial words.
34. Anapodoton: Omitting clause for deliberate effect.
35. Anastrophe: Changing normal word order.
36. Anesis: Adding a conclusion that reduces what was said.
37. Antanaclasis: Repeating same word, with meaning change.
38. Antanagoge: Being positive about something negative.
39. Anthimeria: Substituting one part of speech for another.
40. Antimetabole: repeating clause, reversing word order.
41. Anthypophora: Asking then answering your own questions.
42. Antiphrasis: Using words in contrary sense for irony.
43. Antiptosis: Two logical, but contradicting, arguments.
44. Antirhesis: Rejecting bad argument.
45. Antisthecon: Replacing one word element.
46. Antistrophe: Repeating the final word in successive phrases.
47. Antithesis: Contrasting with opposite.
48. Antonomasia: Naming a person with other than their given name.
49. Apcope: Omitting letters from the end of a word.
50. Aphaeresis: Omitting letters from the start of a word.
51. Aphorismus: Questioning the meaning of a word.
52. Apophasis: Talking about something without mentioning it.
53. Aporia: Feigned doubt.
54. Aposiopesis: Not completing a sentence.
55. Apostrophe: An 'aside', to others.
56. Apposition: Layered meaning.
57. Archaism: Using out-of-date language.
58. Assonance: Repeating the same vowel sound.
59. Asterismos: Adding a word to emphasize following words.
60. Asyndeton: Omitting conjunctions.
61. Aureation: The use of fancy words.
62. Autoclesis: introducing an item by refusing to discuss it.
63. Auxesis: Enhancement of importance.
64. Bdelygmia: Expression of contempt or hatred.
65. Bomphiologia: Bombastic, bragging speech.
66. Brachyology: Condensed expression.
67. Brevitas: Concise expression.
68. Cacemphaton: Deliberately ill-sounding expression.
69. Cacophony: Harsh combination of words.
70. Catabasis: Steadily decreasing emphasis.
71. Catachresis: Using words incorrectly.
72. Cataphora: Using a word to refer to a word used later.
73. Categoria: Directly exposing another's faults.
74. Chiasmus: Two phrases, with reversal in second.
75. Cledonism: Circumlocution to avoid saying unlucky words.
76. Climax: Words ordered in ascending power.
77. Consonance: Repeating consonant sounds.

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 78. Correctio: Correction to revise meaning.
79. Crasis: Contraction of two vowels into a longer sound.
80. Diacope: Repeating word after one or two other words.
81. Diallage: Multiple arguments to establish a single point.
82. Distinctio: Describing something by saying what it is not.
83. Dysphemism: Substituting a mild word with a stronger one.
84. Dysrhythmia: Breaking of a rhythmic pattern.
85. Dystmesis: Inserting one word into the middle of another.
86. Ecphonesis: Short exclamation.
87. Ellipsis: omission of words that would make a sentence explicit.
88. Enallage: Substituting one item for another.
89. Enjambment: Breaking a phrase at an odd point.
90. Enumeratio: Breaking down and detailing a subject.
91. Epanalepsis: Repeating the same phrase at start and end.
92. Epanados: Repeating words in the reverse order.
93. Epanorthosis: In-sentence correction.
94. Epenthesis: Adding letters to the middle of a word.
95. Epistrophe: Repetition of the same final word or phrase.
96. Epitrope: Conceding in order to gain.
97. Epizeuxis: Repetition of a word with vehemence.
98. Erotema: Rhetorical question.
99. Ethopoeia: Putting oneself in the position of another.
100. Euche: Expressing emotion through prayer.
101. Euphemism: Substituting offensive words with gentle ones.
102. Eusystolism: Use of initials to avoid speaking harsh words.
103. Exemplum: Using examples (real or fictitious).
104. Exergasia: Restating a point in different words.
105. Extraposition: Putting a subject at a later position than normal.
106. Fictio: Attributing of human traits to creatures.
107. Glossolalia: Fabricated, meaningless speech.
108. Hendiadys: Two words, connected by conjunction.
109. Heterosis: Changing the form of the verb.
110. Homoioteleuton: similar endings in adjacent or parallel words.
111. Homophone: Different words that sound the same.
112. Hypallage: Reversing syntactical relationship.
113. Hyperbaton: Separating words that belong together.
114. Hyperbole: Deliberate over-exaggeration.
115. Hypocatastasis: Implied comparison.
116. Hypocorism: Use of pet names, diminutives, baby talk.
117. Hypophora: see Anthypophora.
118. Hypotaxis: Subordination of clauses to show relationships.
119. Hypozeuxis: Every clause having its own subject and verb.
120. Hysteron proteron: Reversing temporal sequence to put key things first.
121. Illeism: Referring to oneself in the third person.
122. Inclusio: Bracketing a passage with the same words.
123. Innuendo: Oblique allusion.
124. Irony: Saying something by using its opposite.
125. Isocolon: Phrases with multiple similarities.

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 126. Kenning: Replacing noun with circumlocutory mythologising.
127. Kolakeia: Flattery to distract from unwanted elements.
128. Litotes: Denying the contrary of what it being affirmed.
129. Malapropism: replacing a word with one that sounds similar.
130. Meiosis: Understatement for emphasis or effect.
131. Merism: Combining words for meaning beyond normal combination.
132. Merismos: Complete description or reference.
133. Metalepsis: Referencing something through a weakly associated item.
134. Metaphor: A is B. Using one thing to describe another.
135. Metaplasmus: Deliberate misspelling.
136. Metathesis: Rearranging letters in a word.
137. Metonymy: Using one item to represent another.
138. Narratio: Presenting essential facts.
139. Nosism: Referring to oneself in the plural.*ILLEISM*
140. Oeonismos: Expressing emotion through wishing or hoping.
141. Optatio: Exclaiming a wish.
142. Oxymoron: Adjacent words that seem to contradict one another.
143. Parachesis: Repeating the same sound in successive words.
144. Paradeigma: Listing examples to create generalization.
145. Paradiastole: Portraying a vice as a virtue.
146. Paradox: Seeming contradiction.
147. Paraeneticon: Expressing emotion through exhortation.
148. Paralipsis: Emphasis by obvious omission.
149. Parallelism: Repeated patterns in a sentence.
150. Paraprosdokian: Surprising ending.
151. Parataxis: Successive independent clauses.
152. Paregmenon: Repetition of words of the same root.
153. Parenthesis: Nesting sentences.
154. Parisology: Deliberate use of ambiguous words.
155. Parison: Matching patterns across structures.
156. Parisosis: Same number of syllables in a clause.
157. Paroemion: Excessive alliteration.
158. Paromoiosis. Similar sounds across two clauses.
159. Paronomasia: Using similarly sounding words.
160. Parrhesia: Boldness of speech.
161. Periphrasis: Roundabout wording.
162. Perissologia: Excessive use of words.
163. Personification: Giving an object human characteristics.
164. Pleonasm: Using unnecessary words.
165. Ploce: Repetition of a word whilst varying specificity.
166. Polyptoton: Repetition of a word in different forms.
167. Polysyndeton: Repeating conjunctions.
168. Polyptoton: Repetition in different forms.
169. Praecisio: Not speaking to get over the message.
170. Praegnans constructio: See Brachyology.
171. Praeteritio: Mentioning something that is against the rules.
172. Procatalepsis: Answering objections in advance.
173. Prolepsis: Anticipation of action.

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 174. Proparalepsis: Adding letters to the end of a word.
175. Prosthesis: Prefixing letters to the beginning of a word.
176. Proverb: An encapsulated and unquestioned wisdom.
177. Psittacism: parrot-like repetition.
178. Pun: A play on words.
179. Repetitio: Repeating a single word.
180. Rhyme: Repeating sounds at end of words.
181. Scesis onamaton: Omitting the only verb.
182. Sententia: Quoting wisdom to create truth.
183. Simile: Explicit comparison between two things.
184. Spoonerism: Interchange of initial letters of two words.
185. Subreption: Phrasing words to misrepresent and concealing facts.
186. Syllepsis: See Zeugma.
187. Symploce: Simultaneous use of anaphora and epistrophe.
188. Synaloepha: Omitting one vowel to combine two words.
189. Synchysis: Confused arrangement of words.
190. Syncope: Shortening word by omitting middle segment.
191. Syndeton: Use of conjunctions.
192. Synecdoche: Understanding one thing with another.
193. Synesis: Unifying things.
194. Synizesis: Successively sounded vowels.
195. Synonymia: Repeating synonyms for amplification.
196. Tapinosis: Downplaying and reducing something.
197. Tautology: Repeating meaning, unnecessarily.
198. Tmesis: Inserting a word in the middle of another.
199. Transumptio: See Metalepsis.
200. Tricolon: Three components, increasing power.
201. Zeugma: Two words linked to another, only one appropriately.

A final word about figure of speech

We have looked at definitions and examples of basic figures of speech. However, it is important to
remember that not all interesting writing falls into the category of figures of speech. You will come
across a lot of words and expressions which are worthy of comment without their necessarily being able
to be ‘labelled’ as particular figures of speech. But a sound knowledge of figures of speech provides a
good starting point for discussion about language.

The key to appreciation figures of speech and to scoring high marks in examination questions is to do
more than merely identify the figure of speech. You should be careful to see its effectiveness, the key is:
identify and use, effectively.

Making the Way for Your Marvellous Hallmark of Accomplishment - Srishailam

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