Figures of Speech ( E. W. Bullinger )

Figures of speech are plainly defined as saying one thing in terms of something else. What does that mean? Well, it's simple, actually. Whenever you say something, but you don't mean it literally, you are using a figure of speech. Let's say you are about to head out to the store and your mother says, 'Ya better take a jacket; it's raining cats and dogs out there.'

Does your mom literally mean animals are falling from the sky? Of course not. Her meaning is that it is raining hard outside. So why doesn't she just say, 'Take a jacket. It's raining!' Because figures of speech are meant to clarify and describe in more detail. Rain itself has many different forms. It could be drizzling, sprinkling, misting or even downpouring. Your mother used a figure of speech to clarify that the rain is hard and would probably soak anyone caught in it. Figures of speech are very useful in giving a more detailed and accurate description.

(Study.com, July 2018 <https://study.com/academy/lesson/figure-of-speech-definition-types-examples.html>)

Figure of speech, any intentional deviation from literal statement or common usage that emphasizes, clarifies, or embellishes both written and spoken language. Forming an integral part of language, figures of speech are found in primitive oral literatures, as well as in polished poetry and prose and in everyday speech. Greeting-card rhymes, advertising slogans, newspaper headlines, the captions of cartoons, and the mottoes of families and institutions often use figures of speech, generally for humorous, mnemonic, or eye-catching purposes. The argots of sports, jazz, business, politics, or any specialized groups abound in figurative language.

Most figures in everyday speech are formed by extending the vocabulary of what is already familiar and better known to what is less well known. Thus metaphors (implied resemblances) derived from human physiology are commonly extended to nature or inanimate objects as in the expressions “the mouth of a river,” “the snout of a glacier,” “the bowels of the earth,” or “the eye of a needle.” Conversely, resemblances to natural phenomena are frequently applied to other areas, as in the expressions “a wave of enthusiasm,” “a ripple of excitement,” or “a storm of abuse.” Use of simile (a comparison, usually indicated by “like” or “as”) is exemplified in “We were packed in the room like sardines.” Personification (speaking of an abstract quality or inanimate object as if it were a person) is exemplified in “Money talks”; metonymy (using the name of one thing for another closely related to it), in “How would the Pentagon react?”; synecdoche (use of a part to imply the whole), in expressions such as “brass” for high-ranking military officers or “hard hats” for construction workers.

(britannica.com, July 2018 <https://www.britannica.com/art/figure-of-speech>)