Figurative Language versus Literal Language

Figurative Language versus Literal Language

Meaning and Function of Each Term

1. Idioms

An Idiomatic expression is a phrase the meaning of which is difficult to guess, considering the meaning of individual words, of which it is composed. Search idioms in phrasebook. Idioms exist in all languages ??and vary from country to country, region to region, culture to culture, among other variations of time and space. Below is a list of expressions from Portugal and their possible significance.

Thus, it is not enough to know the meaning of the words that form the phrase, one must look at the whole group of words that is the expression to understand its meaning. The Idioms bring different connotations, which in most cases are related to their origins. Importantly, the idioms were not designed to be traps for foreign speakers, on the contrary, they make the Spoken English (Spoken Inglês) more natural.

This is the case of an idiom used to describe a phrase or an idea that is used so often that they become mundane and predictable to the point of losing the meaning and cause a negative reaction in the person listening / reading / seeing that cliche (Kirby & Goodpaster, 2007). It is very common to see clichés in movies such as: the hero always manages to win his beloved or antagonists are always punished for their misdeeds.

2. Analogy

Analogy is a similarity established between two or more distinct entities. An analogy can be made, for example between head and body between master and welded. Head (brain) and captain are two similar entities. Have a similar function, in this case, command, giving orders. Similarly, body and soldiers perform the same function is to obey orders.

Analogy (from Greek analogia - correspondence, similarity, proportionality) of n-process of formal and / or semantic unit of language assimilation to one another, or the transfer of the relations existing in the same pair (series) units, a couple of others (series).

3. Metaphor

Metaphor is a figure of speech in which there is the use of a word or phrase in a sense that is not very common in a relationship of similarity between two terms. Metaphor is a term that in Latin, "meta" means "something" and "Phora" means "meaningless." This word was brought Greek Metaphora which means "change" and "transposition".

Metaphor is a comparison of words in a term which replaces another. It is a short comparison in which the ...