![]() ![]() Remember that, in all the examples above, the thing mentioned is part of (or the whole of) the thing being discussed: wheels for cars, hands for sailors America for the United States, Downing Street for the Prime Minister’s office etc. Or we might hear a gangster in an action film exhorting his adversaries to ‘Eat lead!’ Lead referring to bullets from guns, of course, not pencils! For example, we can refer to credit cards by saying ‘plastic’, as that is the material they are made from. Sometimes, we refer to a material that is used to make a particular object (or group of objects). Similarly, when we read a report about ‘the police’ making inquiries into a murder, we are actually referring to a few officers involved with the case – not the entire British police force. If a newspaper refers to the United States in a story about the Olympics, chances are they are referring to the United States Olympic Team – not the country (the USA) and all of its inhabitants! This device is often used in newspapers, particularly in sports reporting. Not everyone was involved in the decisions and the announcements. ![]() It would be the work of one person – or maybe a few people. Take the following sentences: ‘The White House today announced plans to scrap Obamacare…’ ‘Buckingham Palace has ordered its guards to be more vigilant following last week’s security scare…’ Obviously, it would be ridiculous to believe that every single person in the White House or Buckingham Palace was involved in those announcements. Macrocosmic synecdoche does the opposite and is often used in politics. The examples above display use of microcosmic synecdoche. ‘All crew on deck’ would also suffice – but it doesn’t have the same hearty, weather-beaten ring to it. One more? If we were on a ship on a rough sea, it would be common to hear the captain cry: ‘All hands on deck!’ What he (or she) really means is that all _sailors_ are to report to the deck to help out – not just their hands! ‘Hands’, in this context, means sailors. Using the word ‘mouths’ is more original than simply saying ‘customers’, however it’s also more evocative, conjuring as it does the bizarre image of that singular body part, waiting to be served. Clearly, when we say ‘mouths’ we are referring to the _people_ those mouths belong to, i.e. Of course the image of a mouth sitting at a table with nothing else attached to it – no body, head, face, etc. We might say that ‘a busy restaurant has many mouths to feed’. You should easily be able to infer the correct meaning from context.) This use of ‘wheels’ to mean ‘car’ is an example of microcosmic synecdoche.Īnother example: using the word ‘mouths’ instead of people. (It is generally understood that he means the car as a whole unless, of course, he is actually referring to that specific part of the car… but don’t worry. ‘Nice wheels, my friend!’ The speaker is actually complimenting the car as a whole, but choosing to mention only a _part_ of the car. An example: we can refer to a car as ‘wheels’, e.g. Taking ‘microcosmic synecdoche’ first, i.e. Synecdoche is meant to be understood figuratively, not literally. The former is called ‘microcosmic synecdoche’ whereas the latter is called ‘macrocosmic synecdoche’. Synecdoche is the use of part of a thing to represent its whole or, conversely, using a whole to represent a constituent part. Yet we are presented with examples of both of these intriguing literary devices on a regular basis. ![]() ‘Synecdoche’ and ‘metonymy’ are not words that one often hears.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |