Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Word of the Week

METONYMY- a figure of speech in which a noun (person, place or thing), is referred to by something closely associated with it.

Example: We requested from the crown support for our petition.

  • The crown is used to represent the monarch.

5 comments:

  1. Would "lend me a hand" be an example,
    "a hand" representing assistance?

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  2. What about "the suits on WallStreet walked off with most of our savings"
    suits representing politicans...

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  4. Lizeth, no I do not think that would be a proper example. I think it is supposed to rep. a person, place, or tangible thing. I may be wrong though.

    Does this work:
    Capitol Hill only serves to benefit itself, and not the people.

    CH. representing congress.

    I know that for our state government, the governor is on the 7th floor of the main govn't building, so they refer to her a lot as the "7th floot". That would work right

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  5. Victoria and Jose are correct! Lizeth, "lend me a hand" sometimes literally means, "give me your hand! I need you to use it to help me!" It is a common figure of speech but wouldn't be considered a metonymy.

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