Andrew Wright is an author, illustrator, teacher trainer and story teller. He has published with Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press and Pearson. As a teacher trainer and story teller he has worked in 55 countries. Email: andrew@ili.hu,
www.andrewarticlesandstories.wordpress.com

 

It is so striking that English people use so much Figurative Language.  FL is language used to express the speaker’s feelings and opinions about the content of the words he or she is using.  How common is Figurative Language in your mother tongue?

Two examples from the Conservative Annual Conference in Manchester in 2023. (in progress as I write these notes)

‘The HS2 leg is to be scrapped.’

The continuation of the new high speed train line from Birmingham, HS2, is going to be cancelled.

‘The plan has been de-railed and hit the buffers.’

The plan to build the railway has been abandoned and come to a sudden end.

 

 

Note for language teachers

I produced these language notes for my student who is deputy CEO of a major bank and international spokesman for the bank.  His English is excellent but he is unfamiliar with the centrality of the use of Figurative Language by native speakers.  My very full notes were a gleaning from a very short conference of native speakers. If students want to be familiar with an aspect of English not so common in language learning text books then notes like these might be useful.

 

Some background to who, when, why and what

Politicians and journalists are some of the people who feel the need to get and hold the interest of other people and having done so want to persuade their listeners to feel positive about their perceptions.

Beyond the world of politics and journalism is it not the case that we can all find ourselves wishing to attract and hold attention and persuade people to have a positive attitude to what we are saying?

Indeed, more broadly is not Figurative Language linked to our need to find a path through the infinite complexity of our daily experience.  We can’t cope with infinity and must find a simple way of thinking we are coping with it.

We humans each have a narrative or narratives to explain, to simplify complexity. so that we can cope, almost like carrying a map of the place we are in or thinking about.

What is the Conservative Party’s narrative?

What is the Labour Party’s narrative?

What is Trump’s?  And Putin’s?

What is YOUR narrative about this article and subject?

Some people’s narrative are more complex than others.

We need narratives for our own understandings of our situations but we also usually feel that it is good for us if we can persuade others to share the same or compatible perceptions.

We all want to travel.  Many want to travel by road.  Isn’t it sensible that people agree which side of the road to drive on?  In Britain on the left and in Hungary where I live on the right.

There is little for most Russians and most Ukranians to agree on!   Doesn’t it simplify things if we can all agree, or, at least, manage to live together?

Figurative Language is commonly used to express the speaker’s perception and message vividly and memorably.  This purpose is, so often, relevant to our wish to persuade others to agree with us, at least, to feel respect for our position.

 

More statements

Here are some more statements from the conference related to the planned HS2 line from Birmingham to Manchester.

1 ‘Its like water polo in there, all the kicking and dragging down of other players is as important as throwing the ball.’

2 ‘Climate change and inflation are overshadowed by the scrapping of HS2.’

3 ‘Twitchings are leaked but clear decisions are held back until the players feel it is as good for them as possible to make a clear statement.’

4 ‘HS2 is dominating the news.’

5 ‘HS2 will be shelved.  You can see that between the lines.’

6 ‘The prime minister should grow up and join the adults in the room.’

7 ‘When you ask the question people just roll their eyes.’

8 ‘Pulling the plug on the North of England.  It is just another way of beating down the North not levelling up.’

9 ‘I don’t know what the PM is playing at.  He shouldn’t get away with playing fast and loose.’

10 ‘They have let the conference slip through their fingers. It’s so messy.’

11 ‘Too late.  If push comes to pull its no use.’

12 ‘Is it too late to get the conference on track again?’

13 ‘Has Sunak lost control of the conference/narrative/agenda?’

14 ‘Is he right to wield the axe?’

15 ‘The scrapping of the last section has always been on the cards.’

16 ‘It’s no way to run a country.  Another bit of a sorry story.’

17 ‘He’s lost the narrative.

18 ‘And you can see the result…so many contenders are jostling for position.’

19 ‘And the government has STILL not come clean.  The dither and delay is costing the country.’ 

20 ‘One minister was asked for a straight answer and all he could say was, ‘the spades are in the ground!’

 

A brief analysis of the Figurative Language in these uses of language in the conference

1 In most games the competition is to win.  In water polo the players are largely underwater and the temptation to grip another player with your legs or hand is tempting…in my experience, it is common. 

Currently, observers believe that several senior Tory MP’s are competing to be the next prime minister.

2  ‘overshadowed’, as a word, is more expressive than ‘dominated’.  ‘Scrapping’ is more expressive than ‘cancellation’.

3 ‘Twitchings’ is more expressive than ‘suggested possible changes’.  Twitchings is that the changes are hinted at…and not straightforwardly.

4 ‘dominate’ contains a feeling of ‘deliberate dominance of others’ which can be see as undemocratic and should not happen.

5 ‘shelved’ is plainly a metaphorical image.

‘between the lines’ means a message which is hinted at but not specifically stated (not written).

6 ‘should grow up’ is a harsh attack on a prime minister.  ‘join the adults’ implies that everyone else is behaving in a mature and responsible way.

7 ‘just roll their eyes’.  The listener imagines a person rolling his or her eyes and then speculates why they might be doing so.  In this way, the listener collaborates with the speaker in interpreting what happened.  And, collaborating in this way makes the meaning theirs!

8 ‘pulling the plug’ means draining the North of England of its resources.

‘beating down’, one can see this as a physical act.

‘levelling up’ relates to being on the same level and having equal rights, equal opportunities, etc.  It is the established phrase used by successive governments  for helping the North England to achieve similar standards to those in the South of England.

9 ‘playing at’ not doing something seriously.

‘get away with’ avoiding responsibility

‘play fast and lose’,  behave irresponsibly while appearing, superficially, to follow agreed procedures.

10 ‘slip through their fingers’, means to be carelesses and not noticing clear evidence of undesirable events taking place.  

‘so messy’, a child’s untidy room might be responded to in this way.

11 ‘when push come to pull’ is used to comment on the introduction of more effort when it is too late.  (shove is often used instead of ‘pull’.) 

12 ‘on track again’   a train coming off its track cannot move.

13 ‘lost control’ refers to the failure of a someone to do their job properly leading to an undesirable result. 

14 ‘wield the axe’  to make a extreme action to stop something happening.

15 ‘scrapping’ refers to turning something into rubbish eg a machine or procedure.                                                                                                                                              

16 ‘6 sorry story’ Another example of alliteration.  Note also the similarity of the two words which like a dress and blouse ‘go together’.  The repetition of the sound at the beginning of a word is memorable and the engaging short ‘o’ dancing with the long ‘o’ is so special.  ‘sorry story’ has become a common collocation and expression for an unhappy event.

‘sorry story’ Another example of alliteration.  Note also the similarity of the two words which like a dress and blouse ‘go together’.  The repetition of the sound at the beginning of a word is memorable and the engaging short ‘o’ dancing with the long ‘o’ is so special.  ‘sorry story’ has become a common collocation and expression for an unhappy event.

17 ‘narrative’.  This word has become very popular and is used to refer to descriptions, explanations, justifications of what influencing how someone makes decisions and does things.  This could be related to a single situation of to a whole way of life.

‘What’s his narrative, then?’  An example might be:

‘Him? It’s look after number one.  Noone else will.’

‘narrative’.  This word has become very popular and is used to refer to descriptions, explanations, justifications of what influencing how someone makes decisions and does things.  This could be related to a single situation of to a whole way of life.

‘What’s his narrative, then?’  An example might be:

‘Him? It’s look after number one.  Noone else will.’

18 ‘result’ and ‘jostling’ both collocate with a competitive race.  ‘Position’ can refer to an advantageous position starting the race or refer to winning or losing.  And this is a metaphorical reference to colleague members of parliament wanting to be the next prime minister.

19 ‘come clean’ is a standard popular phrase for someone who decides to confess and then behave honourably.

‘dither and delay’ has the memorable sound of the alliterative repetition the letter ‘d’ and the play of syllables which follow. Poetry.

‘costing the country’ alliteration highlighted by omitting words, ‘causing the country to pay out extra money’.

20 ‘straight’ answer could have been ‘clear’.  Straight can be used to mean ‘honesty’.  The ex-convict is going straight now.

‘the spades are in the ground’ ‘working on it now’  The visual image of ‘spades’ is intended to convey that the minister was deceptively trying to signal that he was ‘plain speaking’ and not trying to use complicated technical terminology to hide the truth.

 

Assorted collection

Here is an assorted collection of other statements related to the conference and collected by me watching Sky News during the same days. The quotations are from politicians and from journalists.

Media language

Breaking news.

What is making the headlines.

Press pre-view

 

Floods in New York

‘life threatening storm’

‘state emergency was declared’

‘stay home’ (Am.) ‘stay at home’ (Brit.)

 

Pakistan social and political disturbance

‘brought to a firey end’

 

UK News

Financial package’

run down High Streets

derelict Hight Streets’

‘this populist approach’

Sunak is aspiring to help out on the High Street’

‘financial peanuts to fix them’

‘It’s not just cash.  Mind-set change is what they need’

‘keeping tabs on children’

‘a worrying trend’…’silencing critics’

‘he appears, albeit, briefly’

‘development of the back story’

‘keep everyone guessing’

‘an early marker can be coughing’

‘the acrimonious competition’

‘there has been an enormous void in our life’

‘raised this issue’   ‘all options are considered by the team’

‘faced a difficult first day’

‘like to see the tax burden reduced’

‘change things for the better’

‘I am not going to shy away from that’

‘I know things are still tough’

‘we are going to stay the course’

‘keep everyone guessing’

‘tax cuts are going to loom large’

‘Is he in the best place to know about them’

‘Have they any chance of having a tilt at the next election’

‘Its all about runners and riders who might take over’

‘will he be able to make an effective pitch’

‘our support is unwavering’

‘they are looking at the larger term’

‘it’s a delicate balance’

‘the resources have been decimated’

‘it’s worth noting’

‘certainly heightened tensions’

‘shouldn’t be pictured in such a negative light’

‘the pressure was on me’

‘that’s the narrative he’s pushing’

‘no sign of either side being willing to give any ground’

‘they’ve raised the bar and helped to turn the tide of pollution’

Butterfly bounce back  …..A Sky New title

‘That is our position’

‘he’s not seeking to take control’

 

Trump trial

 

‘Trump inflated his assets’

‘it is a quasi trial between civil and criminal’

‘a fine of 250 million dollars alleged fraud’

‘it’s a witch hunt’

‘the biggest witch hunt of all time’

 

Tory conference

I want everybody in this room to unleash their determination’

‘put clear water between Conservative and Labour’

‘he want to frame the argument’

‘we have to try to grapple with this half news’

‘we need to look at the overall picture’

‘there are seven pitch points for the election’

‘we mustn’t set our bar too low’

 

Football

‘a new offer needs to be put on the table’

‘they are facing the possibility of financial oblivion’

‘if they can’t fund then clubs fall off the cliff’

‘a club is the heartbeat of the community’

Boris is insanely professional when he plays table football’.

 

Prisons

‘blowing the whistle on prisoners’

‘we get attacked on a daily basis’

‘prisoners brew their own alcohol’

‘I’m relieved at the end of my shift if I am in one piece’

‘managers take swift and robust action when there is an incident’

‘there is an inexperienced cohort of prison officers and a very experienced cohort off prisoners’

‘the prison system is fractured’

Doctors’ strike

‘doctors and nurses are leaving in their droves’

Economy

‘it takes a long time for inflation to come down or even budge’

 

Figurative language (taken from the Internet)

 

Some key ways of creating Figurative Language

Metaphor

A metaphor is a phrase describing something as something it is not in reality. It is used to compare two things symbolically. A metaphor literally describes something as something it is not. A good example of a metaphor would be ‘Love is a battlefield.’

Another example, “Her eyes were shining stars” is a metaphor that compares a person’s eyes to stars, implying the brightness of the eyes.

 

Simile

A simile is a type of figurative language that is used to compare one thing against another. Similes compare the likeness of two things and often feature the words ‘like’ or ‘as’. An example of this would be ‘her smile was as bright as the sun in the sky.’

Another example of a simile would be,  “His face was as red as a tomato,” which compares the redness of someone’s face to the color of a tomato.

 

Hyperbole

A hyperbole is a figure of speech that exaggerates the meaning of a sentence. For example, you could say ‘My granddad is as old as time.‘

Another example of hyperbole would be, “I’m so hungry, I could eat a horse.” Obviously, no one could actually eat a horse, but this statement conveys a sense of extreme hunger.

 

Idiom

An idiom is a phrase that bears no literal meaning to the situation it is describing but it implies the facts or story behind it. For example, ‘there is a silver lining in every cloud.’ This does not mean that there are silver linings inside clouds but it is referring to the fact that in a bad situation, good can always be found.

Idioms are often specific to a language, culture, or region and might not make sense when translated. Some more examples of idioms are “break a leg” (meaning “good luck”) and “barking up the wrong tree” (meaning “pursuing a mistaken or misguided course of action”).

 

Personification

Personification is a type of figurative language. It is used to give an inanimate object or item a sense of being alive. The speaker would talk to the object as if it could understand and was intelligent. This helps create a more vivid and relatable image for the reader.

For example, “The wind whispered through the trees” paints a picture of a gentle breeze by giving it the human action of whispering.

 

Onomatopoeia

Onomatopoeia is a form of figurative language in which words that are used to describe a sound actually resemble the sound they are referring to. These words can create sensory images and enhance the reader’s experience. Examples of onomatopoeia include “buzz” (to imitate the sound of a bee) and “bang” (to imitate the sound of a loud noise or explosion).

 

Oxymoron

An oxymoron is a term that features two words that appear to contradict each other but make sense of the situation overall. This rhetorical device is often used for humor or to make a point. Examples include “jumbo shrimp,” “civil war,” and “deafening silence.”

 

Symbolism

Symbolism is another form of figurative language that is used to express an abstract idea using an item or words. For example, a red rose can symbolize love, while a black cat can symbolize bad luck or evil. Symbolism is often used to add depth and meaning to a story, poem, or other literary work.

 

Alliteration

Alliteration is a type of figurative speech in which the repetition of letters or sounds is used within one sentence. Examples include “Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers” and “She sells seashells by the seashore.”

 

Puns

Puns are a form of figurative language that creates a play on words. They add an extra meaning to a subject and are often seen as a form of joke or to be humorous. Examples include “Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana” and “A horse is a very stable animal.”

 

Irony

A form of figurative speech is irony. This is when a statement made is directly contradictory to reality. It is also used to convey a style of sarcasm. There are several types of irony, including verbal irony, situational irony, and dramatic irony.

Verbal irony occurs when a speaker says something but means the opposite. For example, if it’s raining outside and someone says, “What a lovely day!” that would be verbal irony.

Situational irony occurs when there is a discrepancy between what is expected to happen and what actually happens. For example, if a fire station burns down, that would be situational irony.

Dramatic irony occurs when the audience knows something that the characters do not. For example, if a character in a play is about to make a bad decision, and the audience knows it’s a bad decision but the character doesn’t, that would be dramatic irony.

 

Synecdoche

A synecdoche is a figure of speech where a part of something represents the whole or the whole represents a part. It is used to emphasize specific aspects of an object or idea. For example, “wheels” may be used to represent a car, or “all hands on deck” implies that the whole crew is needed.

 

Metonymy

Metonymy is a figure of speech where an attribute or component of something is used to represent the whole thing. This is often used for symbolic or poetic purposes. Examples include referring to the government as “the White House” or the film industry as “Hollywood.”

 

Allusion

Allusion refers to a figure of speech where the author makes a reference to another work, event, person, or idea, without directly mentioning it. This can help create deeper meaning and connections for the reader. Examples include referencing Shakespeare’s Hamlet with “To be or not to be” or referring to a historical event like the Titanic when describing a disaster.

 

Assonance

Assonance is a figure of speech that involves the repetition of vowel sounds in nearby words. This can help create a musical effect within the text. Examples include “The rain in Spain stays mainly on the plain” and “The early bird catches the worm.”

 

Litotes

Litotes is a figure of speech that uses understatement or negative expressions to emphasize a point or create a positive effect. This rhetorical device often employs double negatives or contrasting statements. Examples include “It’s not the worst idea in the world” or “I’m not unhappy with the results.”

 

Paradox

A paradox is a figure of speech that presents a seemingly contradictory statement that, when considered more closely, may reveal a deeper truth. Examples include “Less is more” and “The only constant is change.”

 

Anaphora

Anaphora is a figure of speech that uses the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of consecutive sentences, clauses, or lines. This repetition can help create emphasis and establish a rhythm in the text. Examples include Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech and Charles Dickens’ opening lines in A Tale of Two Cities, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”

When the above things are used in spoken English they can add an extra flair to a conversation that may otherwise have a less dramatic meaning. The speaker is able to more easily convey the depth, urgency, or importance of a matter by using one of these rhetorical devices. It is extremely common for native speakers to use these figures of speech without thinking about it and so they are often heard in conversation.

When used in written text such as fiction, poetry, song, or script literary devices such as onomatopoeia or alliteration can add a new layer and make a text more interesting to read. It can also be used to further describe the emotions of characters or situations within a literary piece which enables the reader to create a clearer picture in their mind of what the author is referring to.

 

Mixing formal and informal language

I have noticed in my collecting of figurative language in currant use that sentences are often formally well constructed and the words used can be literal and formerly correct and then this can be contrasted by a dramatically different colloquial word or phrase.

I think some of the examples I have given above are examples of this.

 

Pedagogical implications [D1]

• Why important
• How to observe language
• How to teach
• How to develop an attitude of tolerance that language changes /esp teachers/

 

Please check the Pilgrims f2f courses at Pilgrims website.

Please check the Pilgrims online courses at Pilgrims website.