Figuresofspeech讲述.ppt

Euphemism means speaking well, i.e., to use a pleasant term to describe an unpleasant fact. A) We have such euphemistic terms for the direct way to say “die”: to decease, to join the majority, to yield up the ghost, to go to one’s last reckoning, to go the way of all flesh, to expire, to pass away, to breathe one’s last, to go west, to hence. Going to his long home; to be home and free; to go to sleep; to sleep the long sleep; to rest in peace; to go to Heaven; to join the immortals. 汉：百年之后，千秋之后；三长两短；马革裹尸；香消玉损；哲人其萎；… B) Untidy or unclean for dirty; untruthful or lying, unwise for foolish; unsafe for dangerous; impolite for rude. C) to be fond of the bottle 贪杯； D) 周先生，你一人十一划有吗？（沙陆墟《魂断梨园》）（烟“土”） E)楚女身材高大，面黑而麻，服装随便，有丘八风。（矛盾《海南杂忆》）（兵） F) 美人斑 (beauty spot) Hyperbole is another name for an exaggeration. By this figure we mean a statement exaggerated fancifully for the purpose of creating an effect. It is frequently used in fiction and poetry but not in scientific texts where precision of expression is necessary. For example: A) I have not seen you for ages. The waves were mountain-high. I beg a thousand pardons. Shed floods of tears. She is the prettiest girl in the world. B) awful, dreadful, frightful, terrific, tremendous, abysmal (深不可测), bottomless, deadly C) to hang by a hair千钧一发 D) earth-shaking惊天动地 E) Money makes the mare go有钱能使鬼推磨。 F) To be dying of laughing or thirst. To be sick or tired to death. To bore or worry sombody to death. G) Your joke will be the death of me.你讲的笑话要把我笑死了。 Understatement is the opposite of hyperbole, it achieves the effect of emphasizing a fact by deliberately understating it, impressing the listerner by what is merely implied or left unsaid than by bare statement. For example: a new year festival couplet: 二三四五，六七八九 A) He was a man of no mean wealth. (He was quite rich) B) It’s no laughing matter. (it’s a serious matter.) C) so we carried him, that was rough. (He