14 2003, p. 316 explains
that “through metaphor, the abstract and confusing can be made more concrete and meaningful.
” Glucksberg and
Keysar 1990 state that “metaphors are comprehensible because interlocutors share knowledge about categorical structures and
memberships” as cited in Colston, 2015, p. 106. Lakoff and Johnson 2003, p. 5 mention that the importance of metaphor is to understand the meaning of one
thing which is expressed by another thing. The metaphor is used “to compare
similarities, to provoke thought, to clarify, and add interest” Jay, 2003, p. 347. The following is the example of metaphor mentioned by Lakoff and Johnson
2003. The mind is a machine p. 28.
There is a comparison between the mind and a machine. The mind an abstract which is further represented by the machine that is more concrete. The
machine gives addressees understanding that the mind is “having an on-off state, a level of efficiency, a productive capacity, an internal mechanism, a source of
energy, and an operating condition ” Lakoff Johnson, 2003, p. 28.
2. Simile
Jay 2003 mentions that simile is an explicit comparison using like or as...as p. 315.
Preminger 1976 supports that “simile is a comparison of one thing with another, explicitly announced by the word „like‟ or „as‟” as cited in
Bethlehem, 1996, p. 210. Then, Abrams 1981 confirms that “in a simile a comparison between two distinctly di
fferent things is indicated by the word „like‟ PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
15 or „as‟” ibid. The connectives like and as are the markers of simile. There are a
few examples of simile found in the lyrics. The sentence the box is as big as an elephant is an example of simile.
There is a comparison between a box and an elephant which both of them are big. Then, it means that the box is very big and heavy.
3. Hyperbole
Kreuz and Roberts 1993, p. 338 state that hyperbole means deliberating exaggeration as cited in Jay, 2003. Furthermore, Jay 2003 explains that
hyperbole “refers to exaggeration; it aims to make an emotional statement.” He adds that the hyperbole is not truthful. “It depends on the words used and how
much they depart from the truth” Jay, 2003, p. 339. Colston 2015, p. 111 confirms that the hyperbole is a difference between desires or expectations and
reality. Robert and Kreuz 1994, p. 160 state “that the major reasons for using
hyperbole are to be humorous, to emphasize something, or to be clearer. ” The
following is the example of hyperbole. That new car costs bazillion dollars.
The cost is used to emphasize the quality of the car. Bazillion is an indeterminate number, so that there is no car that costs bazillion dollars. The
sentence means that the car is very cool, luxurious, and expensive or even it is the best and the most expensive one so that it costs bazillion dollars.
16
4. Meiosis
Meiosis is the opposite of hyperbole. Jay 2003, p. 338 mentions “that
meiosis refers to understatement. ” He further explains that it is “meant to
minimize the importance or impact of something” p. 339. As the same as the hyperbole, “the simile depends on the words used and how much they depart from
the truth” Jay, 2003, p. 339. When someone is full since he has eaten a big piece of cake, but he tells his
friend that he is full since he has eaten a little cake has meiosis meaning. He minimizes the fact that he ate a big piece Jay, 2003, p. 339.
5. Idiomatic Expressions
Jay 2003, p. 340 cites from Fromkin and Rodman 1998 that “idioms are
conventionalized expressions that have figurative meanings that cannot be derived from the literal meaning of the phrase.
” He says that “common idioms become conventionalized or frozen in usage and they resist changes in syntac
tic structure” p. 340. Furthermore, Cutler
says that “the longer an idiom has been used, the greater the number of transformation it will resist” as cited in Jay, 2003, p. 340.
Generally, each idiomatic expression has its own meaning which cannot be replaced one another. People understand the meanings of the idiomatic
expressions by learning and using them time by time Colston, 2015, p. 114. In this case, the researcher looked for the meaning of the idiomatic expressions by
consulting online idiomatic dictionary. Thus, the researcher does not rely on the personal interpretation, but the meanings that are known since the meaning of the
