"Hi everybody and welcome to Vocabulary TV.
In this video lesson, we shall try to understand
ten of the most important Figures of Speech
in English. Since these figures of speech
form the very foundation of good writing and
conversational skills, a basic understanding
of these is extremely crucial for any English
learner. Also, questions based on these Figures
of speech regularly appear in various exams
such as the Board Exams, SAT, CAT etc.
There are two more lessons previously published
on our channel, which cover Figures of Speech
such as Simile, Metaphor etc… 22 of them
so after you complete this lesson, do watch
those lessons as well for a comprehensive
coverage of this area.
"
"The very first Figure of Speech and one of
the most commonly used ones is Allusion. . Allusion
is an expression designed to call something
to mind without mentioning it explicitly;
it’s an indirect or passing reference.
For instance, when I say: Gandhian principles
are as relevant today, as they were yesterday,
I am making an allusion to Mahatma Gandhi
and all that he stood for suddenly springs
up in the reader’s or listener’s mind
even though I did not explicitly mention it.
It’s clear from the sentence that principles
such as non-violence, cleanliness, truthfulness
etc. that are timeless are being talked about.
Or when I say that my mathematics professor
at college has Einstein’s brains. Now, Albert
Einstein was a very famous physicist of the
last century, and almost everyone knows him
to be one of the brainiest persons that existed
on this planet, so when I make a reference
to him in this sentence, I am able to immediately
connect and convey my message to the reader
or listener.
So, we see that allusion is a figure of speech
that quickly stimulates different ideas and
associations using only a couple of words.
There is only one condition for an allusion
like this to work as you intended, and that
condition is: You have to play upon a reference
that is common knowledge and more importantly
‘is known’ to your audience.
"
"There could be thousands of examples for
Allusions: Some of them derive from famous
persons, some others from mythological or
classic stories…
For example, take the word ‘Nike’ – the
Brand ‘Nike’ is an Allusion to the winged
goddess of Victory, who can run and fly at
great speeds. So when the famous sports goods
company Nike named itself so, the message
it probably wanted to convey was that if you
use our shoes, you would be able to run at
great speeds.
Another mythological allusion that I can take
as an example is that of Pandora’s box.
Pandora was the first mortal female endowed
with various kinds of gifts by Gods and sent
to earth to punish the humans. Now, one of
the gifts was a box that she was forbidden
to open, but one day curiosity got the better
of her and she opened it– unleashing various
evil spirits and diseases upon mankind. Therefore,
the expression ‘Pandora’s box’ stands
for something that is a precursor to several
bad happenings.
Knowing this background story of Pandora’s
box , if someone come across the following
sentence : By signing the advertising contract,
she has opened up a Pandora’s box; he or
she will easily understand the allusion. The
sentence means that there will be several
problems that she would have to face because
of the contract.
"
"An allusion paints a beautiful picture in
the reader’s or listener’s mind when he
or she is aware of the context behind it…
Some allusions are based on fairy tales and
famous works of art.
Take, for example, the following: Her parents
had fixed a deadline – she must return home
by the Cinderella hour. The allusion is to
the fairy tale of Cinderella and her 12’o’clock
deadline.
Or if you say that: She has a mysterious smile
like that of Monalisa, you are making an allusion
(albeit a direct one) to the famous painting
by Leonardo Da Vinci.
Some sayings from literary works are also
quite well known and hence relatable, for
instance take this one: What’s in a name?
A rose by any other name would smell as
sweet…
It’s an often-quoted line from Shakespeare's
play Romeo and Juliet – again an allusion.
"
"Next, we are going to discuss Anagrams. What
is an Anagram?
An anagram is a word, phrase, or name formed
by rearranging the letters of another. Let’s
take some common words and phrases as examples.
Such as the word ‘thing’ - the same 5
letters of the word thing can be rearranged
into another word- night.
Take the word secure. The letters can be rearranged
into another word – rescue.
Take the phrase ‘the eyes’ and its letters
can be rearranged into the expression ‘they
see’. Which is quite interesting and easy
to remember, because the second phrase underlines
the purpose of the object in the first place.
So, an anagram is a type of word play in
which the letters of a word or phrase are
rearranged to create new words and phrases.
Now, Anagrams are generally made for fun,
but sometimes they're used as pseudonyms or
codes.
"
"Here are some other interesting anagrams.
For the first three, it’s fun to see how
one phrase defines the other.
The first one- SLOT MACHINES can be rearranged
into the funny phrase ‘CASH LOST IN ME’
which is mostly the case when you go to a
casino and use a slot machine.
Another unique anagram is the phrase ‘A
gentleman’ the letters of which can be re-arranged
into the phrase ‘elegant man’. Did you
note: the meaning stays the same: a gentleman
is, in fact, an elegant man!
Similarly, an anagram for a ‘Decimal point’
is: ‘I AM A DOT IN PLACE’ Again an expression
that tells you what a Decimal point is!
And last one: The phrase ‘Election results’
can be re-arranged into ’Lies—let’s
recount’
This smart anagram hints that election results
are often lies.
"
"As I discussed, anagrams are useful in making
pseudonyms or coded messages. And, there are
many instances in literature where this figure
of speech has been used to make an impact.
One of my favourite authors – Dan Brown
– is a master of Anagrams. In his novel
The Da Vinci Code, the museum curator Jacques
Saunière is murdered. He had written a series
of clues in blood before dying. These clues
were anagrams related to da Vinci, and Dan
Brown uses these to construct a gripping plot.
Some of these anagrams were:
O, Draconian devil! FOR Leonardo da Vinci
Oh, lame saint! FOR The Mona Lisa
So dark the con of Man FOR Madonna of the
Rocks.
Even in other works of Literature such as
the Harry Potter series, anagrams have been
used. The author JK Rowling named the two
identities of her villain using an Anagram.
The childhood name - Tom Marvolo Riddle can
be re-arranged to the expression ‘I am Lord
Voldemort’ which is his alias.
"
"Our third Figure of Speech is Oxymoron.
This figure of speech is one of the most interesting
ones. How do you remember what’s an Oxymoron.
Well the word ‘Oxy moron’ is self-defining.
It’s a compound word made up of two elements:
Oxus meaning sharp, and Moron meaning stupid.
Now, sharp and stupid are contradictory – aren’t
they? So, an oxymoron is A figure of speech
that juxtaposes elements that appear to be
contradictory like sharp and stupid….
Let’s take some other examples to understand
this concept in detail.
This glass is fully empty. The phrase ‘fully
empty’ is an oxymoron because the words
full and empty are clearly opposites.
Is it possible to have living dead among us?
The phrase ‘living dead’, brings to our
mind a creature called Zombie, which is often
there in thriller movies – the phrase itself
is an oxymoron because the words living and
dead are clearly contradictory.
So oxymoron is a figure of speech in which
we use contradictory words together and you
would be right in guessing that the word oxymoron
itself is an oxymoron.
"
"Now, some common oxymorons that definitely
deserve a mention…
Open Secret asin: her life was an open secret.
Clearly Confused asin :He was clearly confused…
Found missing asin: those children were found
missing after school.
Original copy asin: She obtained an original
copy of that branded purse from the flea market.
Act naturally asin: A seasoned actor acts
naturally.
Deafening silence asin: There was a deafening
silence in that room.
My take on oxymorons is that they are seriously
funny.
"
"Another very very important Figure of Speech
in English is Euphemism.
The word derives from the prefix eu meaning
‘well’ AND phēmē meaning ‘speaking’.
So, euphemism essentially refers to those
cases when one tries to use good words while
speaking, instead of offensive or embarrassing
ones.
If you look up its meaning in Oxford Dictionary,
it goes like: a mild or indirect word or expression
substituted for one considered to be too harsh
or blunt when referring to something unpleasant
or embarrassing.
A simple example would be saying that : His
uncle is in a Correctional Facility. (instead
of saying that he is serving a sentence in
a Prison or Jail).
Another example is this female thinking over
her termination letter – as you can see
she has a Pink slip in her hand - My boss
said she was sorry that she had to ‘Let
me go’. I just realized that means I am
fired – I have lost my job!
In a corporate environment, an employer might
tell one of his unwanted employees that “we
have to let you go” which is a milder term
for the expression “we are firing you; clean-your-desk-and-be-gone-the-next-morning”
which would obviously sound very blunt and
insensitive; though both expressions mean
that the guy has lost his job.
"
"We use such expressions in English language
everyday. Like for instance, instead of saying
that someone has died, we might use the phrase:
he “passed away”. Instead of saying that
someone is handicapped or disabled, we might
use the term “physically challenged” or
even “differently abled” to refer to such
a person. Similarly, when you inform someone
that you have to use the restroom so you be
excused for a few minutes, the expression
is a euphemism that you have to go pee in
the toilet which is of-course a very blunt
thing to say. In daily conversations, when
you ask someone as to what his or her current
occupation is, you might get the response:
“Oh! I am between jobs now-a-days,” which
is nothing but a euphemism or less embarrassing
expression for “I am unemployed” and to
make one’s profession sound good one might
use and prefer the designation a “sanitary
engineer”, instead of being called a “garbage
collector”. At last, let’s suppose two
women are talking to each other and one of
them remarks: “you seem to have gained a
few extra pounds lately; or even “you look
quite full-figured.” I think it’s a very
kind thing to say but what it actually means
is that the other female has become quite
fat or even obese.
As you would have guessed by now, euphemisms
are so popular as these expressions sound
polite and help us avoid speaking something
that may be very harsh or unpleasant to hear.
To summarize, euphemisms make what you speak
sound good.
"
"Where Euphemism is a mild and positive expression
used to replace an unpleasant or negative
one, dysphemism is just the opposite. A Dysphemism
is a derogatory or unpleasant term used instead
of a pleasant or neutral one. Dysphemisms
are generally used to shock or offend.
For instance: People often call postal mail
by the name of ‘Snail mail’ because it’s
so very slow like a snail, especially if you
compare it with the speed of an email.
Similarly, there is this term ‘egghead’
which is used to refer to an intellectual
– a person who is highly academic or studious.
The term was originally used to refer to bald
persons but not in today’s English. It’s
a disparaging term – a dysphemism for ‘an
intellectual’
"
"There are many more such ‘Dysphemisms’
in use, many of them are often called slang
words.
Some common Examples are:
the word ‘Nutcase’ which is a Dysphemism
for:
Someone with a mental illness
The word ‘Loser’ which is a Dysphemism
for:
A person who hasn't made lots of money or
had a professional career
The word ‘Looney Bin’ : A dysphemism for
Mental Hospital.
The word ‘pig’: A Dysphemism for:
Policemen
The word ‘Bullshit’: which is a Dysphemism
for Lies.
And of the easiest examples of Dysphemism
to remember are animal names - WHEN APPLIED
TO PEOPLE. In daily lingo, we often see people
calling others names such as Bitch, snake,
coot, old bat, pig, chicken, and, skunk which
are derogatory words – dysphemisms.
"
"We are halfway through, and the next figure
of speech we are going to discuss is Epithet.
To put it simply: An epithet is a descriptive
term used to characterize a person or thing
that is mentioned. For instance: When I append
the phrase ‘the run machine’ to Virat
Kohli - the captain of the Indian Cricket
team - the term aptly describes his batting
skills. It’s an epithet.
Though sometimes, an epithet may even be a
disparaging or abusive word or phrase. In
which case, the word ‘epithet’ is used
in a negative meaning, and without mentioning
any such disparaging words or titles, lets
see a few instances where the word ‘epithet’
can be used in such a fashion…
The group of angry youngsters hurled epithets
at each other. It means those youngsters called
each other bad names.
Another one: Joining the ‘Me Too’ Campaign,
the actress called the famous director ‘a
sexual predator’ – an epithet resonated
by many in this field.
"
"Back to the positive meaning of ‘Epithet’
– some easy examples to remember would be
that of superheroes and comic characters.
In movies, comics etc. there are descriptive
phrases - or we can say epithets- attached
to their names. To name a few:
Superman is known by the Epithet ‘Man of
Steel’.
Batman is known by the Epithet ‘The Dark
Knight’.
And there is this family of undercover superheroes
known by the epithet – the Incredibles because
they have incredible superpowers.
"
"Next Figure of Speech is ‘Ellipsis’.
Literally, the word means ‘to leave out’.
And the term ‘ellipsis’ indeed refers
to the omission of a word or words. It refers
to constructions in which words are left out
of a sentence but the sentence can still be
understood. According to Oxford Dictionary,
the definition for Ellipsis is….
Let’s take some examples to illustrate this
concept.
The first one is: You can help with the housework;
your brother can too.
As you can note, we dropped the words [help
with the housework] inside the brackets, and
the sentence is still meaningful.
Another example: “I went to the exhibition
on Monday, and she- the next day. Again, I
dropped the words inside the brackets [went
to the exhibition] and the sentence can still
be understood.
And there is this smart quote from Plato,
which is a cool example of ellipsis. It goes
like this:
“Wise men talk because they have something
to say; fools, because they have to say something.”
From the examples above, we can infer that
Ellipsis helps us avoid redundancy. In fact
there is a lot of redundancy in language and
it’s often surprising to note how much can
be left out without losing much meaning, particularly
when there are contextual clues as to the
real meaning.
There is an alternate definition of ellipsis
as well which is important in Literature.
The word commonly refers to the use of three
dots, which can be place at the beginning,
in the middle, or at the end of a sentence
or clause. These three dots can stand in for
whole sections of text that are omitted that
do not change the overall meaning.
Now-a-days, this use of three dots is very
popular in Social media, as exemplified in
the following sentence: This is two girls
talking to each other and one of them enquires-
He proposed you! And…?
"
"In contrast to Ellipsis, our next figure
of speech – which is Tautology, refers to
repetition or redundancy of words or ideas.
The word ‘Tautology’ literally means ‘same
speak’ and is defined as: The saying of
the same thing twice over in different words.
Though it’s one of the figures of speech,
in modern Grammar it’s generally considered
to be a fault of style.
Some easy to understand examples are the sentences:
It’s a free gift. Now, since gifts are always
free, we do not need to use the word ‘free’
to describe the gift.
The manager returned back today morning. The
word return itself means ‘to come back’
so the use of word ‘back’ with return
is superfluous.
This project requires some forward planning.
Isn’t ‘planning’ always done ‘looking
forward’ ? The use of the word ‘forward’
with planning is totally unnecessary.
And last one is: You should carry your basic
essentials for the tour. Since the word ‘essential’
itself means a thing that is absolutely basic
and necessary; the use of the word ‘basic’
with essentials is tautological.
"
"Our 9th Figure of Speech for this lesson
is Parody . Parody (which is also known as
“spoof”) is imitating someone or something
in order to make fun of them.
On TV, we often see a stand-up comedian on
laughter shows copying the style of a popular
actor or politician – that’s an example
of parody for you. The objective of such a
mockery is to make people laugh and to entertain
them.
According to Oxford Dictionary, parody is
an imitation of the style of a particular
writer, artist, or genre with deliberate exaggeration
for comic effect.
Now, spoofs are not necessarily made only
on renowned people.
In Hollywood, there are several movies that
fall into this category of Parody or spoof
on famous movies – one example that I can
recall is the film ‘Scary Movie’ which
is a parody/spoof of the horror genre.
"
"And while the only intent behind parody is
to entertain people and to make them laugh;
our last Figure of Speech- Satire is slightly
different from parody, in the sense that the
intent behind it is not only to make people
laugh but also to make them ‘think’ about
some important issue. In Satire, one tries
to convey some important message or make a
point.
Oxford Dictionary defines Satire as: the use
of humour, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule
to expose and criticize people's stupidity
or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary
politics and other topical issues.
Journalists, cartoonists etc. often use ‘Satire’
to expose the conditions/ corruption etc.
in society through pictorial depictions.
For instance, the cartoon you can see on your
screen is a satire on how the poor are even
more impoverished due to Govt. policies. The
well clothed, obese man here is a personification
of the Government while the poor man feeding
him is almost naked and looks so weak and
emaciated.
Quite often, there is an element of exaggeration
in such cartoon strips which use satire.
"
"Here is another illustration, which is a
satire on the rampant corruption in society.
This one shows how Govt. allocates funds for
the use of General Public but there is leakage
at every rung of the ladder, so what the poor
gets is a negligible portion of the original
amount. As you can see, initially there was
a tank, from which water was drawn into a
big container, onto a small bucket, then a
mug, and what gets poured into the General
Public’s mouth is water from a dropper.

"
"There are many famous comic strips such as
Dilbert or Calvin & Hobbes which use this
Figure of Speech very effectively.
While Dilbert is a satire on workplace politics
and practices,
Calvin and Hobbes strips contain satire on
life and society in general – we see issues
in many areas such as consumerism, the effect
of media on kids, modern family and lifestyles,
environmentalism etc. getting highlighted
in these strips.
"
"That brings us to the end of this video.
Don’t forget to watch Part-1 and Part-2
of this lesson on Figures of Speech in which
we have already covered 22 of the most common
ones.
Also, if you liked this lesson please click
like and subscribe our channel. There is a
lot of other stuff related to English Vocabulary
on our channel which, I am sure, will keep
you interested. And, Thank you for your interest.
"
