A speaker’s (or author’s) word choice.
An expression in the usage of a language that is peculiar to itself either grammatically, or in having a meaning that cannot be derived from the conjoined meanings of its elements.
A figure of speech that compares two distinct things by using words such as like or as.
A figure of speech that associates two distinct things; the representation of one thing by another.
The repetition of sounds in a sequence of words. Alliteration generally refers to repeated consonant sounds.
The repetition of identical or similar vowel sounds.
A play on words that capitalizes on a similarity of spelling and/or pronunciation between words that have different meanings. A pun may also employ one word that has multiple meanings.
An indirect reference to a person, event, statement, or theme found in literature, the other arts, history, myths, religion, or popular culture.
A figure of speech that uses deliberate exaggeration to achieve an effect, whether serious, comic, or ironic.
A contradiction or incongruity between appearance or expectation and reality.
The creation or use of words that, however we explain it, sound like what they mean or, perhaps more accurately, seem to signify meaning through sound effects.
A figure of speech that bestows human characteristics upon anything nonhuman, from an abstract idea to a physical force to an inanimate object to a living organism.
A term used to refer to the actual language that a writer uses to convey a visual picture or, to create or represent any sensory experience.
The serious and relatively sustained use of symbols to represent other things or ideas.