• Her feelings were all ‘bottled up’. It means that they were kept
under control.
• At the end of the year, the fabric gives the ‘fruits’ of labor to all
the employees. The ‘fruit’ refers to the profit, reward, or result of hard work.
• Looking at his man have dinner with another girl, she becomes
‘green with envy’. It means that she is so jealous.
2.4.2 Kinds of Figurative Expressions
There are more than 10 kinds of figurative expressions but the types that are going to be explained are metaphor, personification, hyperbole, metonymy,
synecdoche, simile, and irony.
2.4.2.1 Metaphor
Metaphor is a figure of speech in which a name or quality is attributed to something to which it is not literally applicable. New Webster’s Dictionary and
Thesaurus:628. According to Tracey 1980:64, “metaphor is the use of words to indicate
something different from the literal meanings”. The word metaphor was derived from Greek word; metaphora meaning
‘transfer, carry over’. It is a derivation from meta meaning ‘over, across’ and pherein meaning ‘to carry’. From those definitions above, the writer come to the
conclusion that metaphor the use of words as comparison between two unlike objects by substitute or identified one for another with omitted using ‘like’ or ‘as’.
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Let us see some examples of metaphor to explain the definition above: The boy weighed a ton.
This sentence does not mean that the boy has the weight 1 ton. It is impossible for a boy, or even for human being has a weight upper to 1000
kilograms. The sentence means that the boy is so fat. It’s so heavy to pick him up. They are withered yellow flowers
The metaphorical meaning of phrase withered yellow flowers is an analogy to its literal meaning ‘flowers that can not grow well because they are almost
dead’. So, the metaphorical meaning of this sentence is that they can not develop their career or life because it is so difficult.
2.4.2.2 Personification
As Shaw 1972:283 said, “Personification is a figure of speech in whish abstraction, animals, ideas, and inanimate objects are having human form,
character, traits or sensibilities.” It means that personification is the treating of an abstract quality of thing as if it had human qualities. It is a representation of a
thing or abstraction in the format of person. For example, “The leaves danced when the wind blew”. Literally, the
sentence means that the leaves move up and doing human activities. Figuratively, the sentence means that the leaves sway when the wind blew.
Another example of personification, “The dish runs away with the spoon”. Here, the dish and the spoon as the inanimate object are depicted as human.
Literally, it implies that the dish and the spoon are run away or doing human
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activity. Figuratively, the sentence is an idiom means that the supper or eating activity runs well and all the menus are eaten.
2.4.2.3 Hyperbole
