Simile

A simile is a figure of speech that makes a comparison, showing similarities between two different things. Unlike a metaphor, a simile draws resemblance with the help of the words “like” or “as”. Therefore, it is a direct comparison. We can find simile examples in our daily speech. We often hear comments like “John is as slow as a snail.” Snails are notorious for their slow pace and here the slowness of John is compared to that of a snail. The use of “as” in the example helps to draw the resemblance. Some more examples of common similes are given below.

Common Examples of Simile

• Our soldiers are as brave as lions.
• Her cheeks are red like a rose.
• He is as funny as a monkey.
• The water well was as dry as a bone.
• He is as cunning as a fox.

http://literarydevices.net/simile/

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synonym, antonym, and hyponym

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well readers, Everyone has used metaphors in some form or other, whether they realized it or not. You might have described someone as having a heart of stone or ice, or you might have claimed to have a broken heart after a bad breakup or losing a loved one. You might have even said you had cabin fever after staying inside all winter doing nothing much but staying warm. However, there are some metaphors that are used that aren’t as well known, or you might have heard a metaphor used in a way that didn’t seem to make sense to you. The definition of a metaphor is "a figure of speech containing an implied comparison, in which a word or phrase ordinarily and primarily used of one thing is applied to another. For example, "the curtain of night" or "all the world's a stage."All these expressions have one thing in common: a situation is compared to a real thing, although the situation is not actually that particular thing.

Purpose of Metaphors

Expressions are used to give effect to a statement. Metaphors are meant to create an impact in the minds of readers. The aim of this literary tool is to convey a thought more forcefully than a plain statement would.They are exaggerated expressions no doubt, but they are exaggerated because they are supposed to paint a vivid picture, or become a profound statement or saying.

Metaphors can be classified in a range of different ways, based on various criteria, from complexity to level of usage.

• Absolute metaphor: Separated subject and vehicle.
• Active metaphor: New and not established.
• Complex metaphor: Multi-layered.
• Compound metaphor: With many parts.
• Dead metaphor: Normal language, no longer recognized as metaphor.
• Dormant metaphor: Weak connection between vehicle and subject.
• Dying metaphor: Unfashionable
• Extended metaphor: One subject, many sub-elements.
• Implicit metaphor: Incomplete description.
• Mixed metaphor: Mismatched combination of metaphors.
• Pataphor: Extreme form of metaphor.
• Root metaphor: Unrealized basic driver.
• Simple metaphor: Single meaning and linkage.
• Submerged metaphor: Use a part as a metaphor for something else.
• Synechdochic metaphor: Use a part as metaphor for the whole.
  

References http://examples.yourdictionary.com/metaphorexamples.html#mp9l5boPxHPuIsSS.99

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Ambiguity

Well readers, for this time I wanna explain to you about ambiguity. We often hear daily about that. But, we just knew definition ambiguity in general. May be useful…

Definition of Ambiguity

A word, phrase, or sentence is ambiguous if it has more than one meaning.. However, phrases and sentences can be ambiguous even if none of their constituents is. The notion of ambiguity has philosophical applications. For example, identifying an ambiguity can aid in solving a philosophical problem. Although people are sometimes said to be ambiguous in how they use language, ambiguity is, strictly speaking, a property of linguistic expressions. A word, phrase, or sentence is ambiguous if it has more than one meaning. Obviously this definition does not say what meanings are or what it is for an expression to have one (or more than one). For a particular language, this information is provided by a grammar, which systematically pairs forms with meanings, ambiguous forms with more than one meaning (see MEANING and SEMANTICS).

There are two types of ambiguity:

1)      Lexical ambiguity is by far the more common. The multiple meaning of the utterance depends on the meaning of the single word. For example, the sentence “ I saw him at the Bank” could mean he was cashing a check at the money Bank, or fishing at the river Bank, or even giving some blood at the blood Bank.

2)      Structural ambiguity occurs when a phrase or sentence has more than one underlying structure. These ambiguities are said to be structural because each such phrase can be represented in two structurally different ways, for example,” Annie bumped into a man with an umbrella”. These sentence can explanation two ideas:

a)      Annie had an umbrella and she bumped into a man

b)      Annie bumped into a man when he happened to be carrying an umbrella.

Reference: http://online.sfsu.edu/kbach/ambguity.html

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