The most popular pages at About.com Grammar & Composition concern the figures of speech--described by Henry Peacham in 1577 as words "made new by Art, and removed from the common custom" (The Garden of Eloquence). Many of these structures and strategies can be found in our collection of Figures, Tropes, and Other Rhetorical Terms, and several of the most common (or commonly misunderstood) are allotted special treatment. Here are a few entries that we've recently added or revised.
- What Is Invective?
Welcome to the Department of Verbal Abuse, you "snotty-faced heap of parrot droppings" (to quote John Cleese). Invective is language that denounces or casts blame on somebody or something--and it's not for the weak hearted. The language of invective is often venomous (an especially virulent strain is called bdelygmia) and sometimes witty. . . . Read more - What Is a Maxim?
Maxim, proverb, gnome, aphorism, apothegm, sententia--all mean essentially the same thing: a short, easily remembered expression of a basic principle, general truth, or rule of conduct. Think of a maxim as a little nugget of wisdom--or of apparent wisdom. In the words of Robert Benchley, "It is often difficult to tell whether a maxim means something, or something means maxim." . . . Read more - What Are Metaphors?
These figurative comparisons aren't merely the candy sprinkles on the doughnut of language, the sweet stuff of songs and poems--Love is a jewel or a rose or a journey. In fact all of us speak and write and think in metaphors every day. They can't be avoided: metaphors are built right into our language. . . . Read more - What Are Mixed Metaphors?
As Rush Limbaugh once said, "I knew enough to realize that the alligators were in the swamp and that it was time to circle the wagons." As defined in our glossary, a mixed metaphor is a succession of incongruous or ludicrous comparisons. When two or more metaphors (or clichés) are jumbled together, often illogically, we say that these comparisons are "mixed." . . . Read more - What Is Personification?
Think of personification as the friendly figure of speech. Like a Pixar film, personification animates the non-human world. . . . Read more - What Is a Rhetorical Question?
Grandma Simpson and Lisa are singing Bob Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind" ("How many roads must a man walk down/Before you call him a man?"). Overhearing them, Homer shouts out, "Eight!"Lisa: That was a rhetorical question!
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Homer: Oh. Then, seven!
Lisa: Do you even know what rhetorical means?
Homer: Do I know what rhetorical means?"
(The Simpsons, "When Grandma Simpson Returns")
To learn more about figurative language, visit these pages:
- Top 20 Figures of Speech
- Figures, Tropes, and Other Rhetorical Terms
- Tool Kit for Rhetorical Analysis
Image: Homer Simpson TM and © FOX and its related entities
Comments
I came across your blog/forum while looking for something which was strictly related to grammar and its correct usage. Even the URL of this forum happens to be grammar.about.com would also do little to dispel the initial impression that it’s a place where strictly grammar related issues are discussed.
Hence, the admission that until now, where now basically means since starting following this blog and not the appearance of this particular post, I had most probably not even come across this particular term, that is Rhetoric, should not be too disturbing, or mind boggling for that matter. Hence, completely in accordance with the title of this post, if you would like to, then a description of this term for people who neither happen to be the followers of the subject nor happen to be vastly interested in it would be appreciated; a kind of introduction, lets say for people who have shown up at a University open day but either do not know why they are there or are hoping to make up their minds by the end of this particular day.
Try this, Irfan: What Is Rhetoric?
By the way, the name of this website is About.com Grammar & Composition (not Grammar & Usage).
All the best–
Richard