The terms metonymy and synecdoche refer to two similar figures of speech that are often used as literary media. (They`re easy to confuse, so feel free to read this as many times as you like.) What is the difference between synecdoche and metonymy? Synecdoche (and thus metonymy) is different from metaphor,[10] although in the past it was considered a subtype of metaphor that wanted metaphor as a kind of conceptual substitution (as Quintilian does in Institutio oratoria Book VIII). In Lanham`s Handlist of Rhetorical Terms,[11] all three terms have somewhat restrictive definitions consistent with their Greek etymologies: these sample phrases are automatically selected from various online information sources to reflect the current use of the word “synecdochus”. The views expressed in the examples do not represent the views of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us your feedback. A classic example of synecdoche is the use of the term hands to mean “worker” (as in “all hands on deck”), or the name sails to mean “ships”. The synecdoche is also sometimes used in the names of sports teams, such as the White Sox, Blue Jackets. In the figure we call Synekdoche, a part of the whole becomes a name for the whole or vice versa, as in “sixty head of cattle” or “fifty sails”. Is “lend me your ears” an example of metonymy or synecdoche ? Examples of common use in English are suits for businessmen, wheels for cars, and boots for soldiers. The use of government buildings to designate their occupants is metonymy and sometimes synecdochus.
“The Pentagon” for the U.S. Department of Defense can be considered synecdoche because the building can be considered part of the bureaucracy. [7] Similarly, the use of “number 10” for “the Prime Minister`s Office” (of the United Kingdom) is a synecdote. Examples of synecdoche include: the word hand in “sacrifice your hand in marriage”; feeding mouths in “hungry mouths”; and wheels tied to a car. Synecdoche is also popular in advertising. Since synecdoche uses a part to represent a whole, its use forces the public to make associations and “fill in the gaps” by thinking about the product. [15] In addition, the attention of an audience with advertising is often mentioned by advertisers with the syneddoche “getting eyeballs”. [16] Synecdoche is common in spoken English, especially with respect to sports.
City names are used as abbreviations for their sports teams to describe events and their results, such as “Denver won the game on Monday,” while accuracy would require a city sports team to win the game. [16] Should I be ashamed to admit that I have used the word synecdoche in many conversations, including some about the film itself? Bill would have found a way to include the word “synecdochus” somewhere in that last sentence. The two main types of synecdoche are the microcosm and the macrocosm. A microcosm uses a part of something to refer to the whole. [13] An example of this is saying “I need a hand” on a project, but I need the whole person. [14] A macrocosm is the opposite, using the name of the entire structure of something to refer to a small part. [13] An example of this is to say “the world” when referring to a particular country or part of the planet. [14] The figure of speech is divided into image (what the speaker uses to designate something) and subject (what is referred to). Kenneth Burke (1945), an American literary theorist, explained that in rhetoric, the four master tropes or figures of language are metaphor, metonymy, synecdoche and irony. You can check it out: A synecdoche is a sentence in which one part represents the whole And he says that this rule applies in two ways: either to the expression called synecdoche or to legitimate numbers.
Why, regardless of location and culture, do people insist on this bizarre synecdochus, which, in the case of the dear leader Kim Jong-il and his divine father, can even become almost literal – all other North Koreans are actually little more than their physical extensions? Nevertheless, historical priority does not seem to me to be a sufficient reason to explain why the word fascism has become a synecdoche – that is, a word that could be used for various totalitarian movements. After learning synecdoche in a literature class, I was so proud of my elitism to understand it. Now Kaufman has ruined everything. Sonnets and other forms of love poetry often use synecdotes to characterize the lover in terms of individual body parts rather than a coherent whole. This practice is particularly common in Petrarch`s sonnet, where the idealized lover is often described part by part, from head to toe. [ref. needed] Like many terms used in rhetoric, synecdoche and metonymy come from Greek. Syn- in synekdoche means “with, with” (similar to synonym) and ekdochē means “meaning, interpretation”. Metonymy, on the other hand, combines the Greek meta (“under, with, after”, the same root found in the metaphor) with ōnymon, meaning “name” or “word”. “Synecdoche.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/synecdoche.