Figurative Speech

Figurative speech is a common way of   thinking in   today's world. As human being we like to make comparison of things to help further our understanding. These comparison could be as simple as, I’m so hungry that I can eat a horse. This example tell the listener that they are hungry, but the listener knows that they are not going to go home and eat a horse. They used the horse,being a large animal, as figurative to help explain how hungry they where. Figurative speech is a very important part of how we as humans think and process the information at hand.
The misuse of figurative language can make it difficult for people to think clearly. This is why ten types of figurative language will be explained to help us understand the differences between figurative language and literal language. Theses terms are Idiom, analogy,metaphor, simile, cliche, amphiboly, “flame word”, hyperbole, euphemism, and colloquialism. The first term, idiom is an expression whose meaning is not predictable from the usual meaning of its constituent element. (dictionary.reference.com/browse/idiom) Because a idiom uses words in different ways then what they where intended for a person who is new to or unfamiliar with the English language might get confused easily. Some good examples of a idiom is “I'm feeling under the weather today”, and “those are a dime a dozen”. When looking at these examples we can see the words that are being used that are not normally used in these instances like feeling under the weather. If we took this saying seriously it wouldn't make any since. The second term on the list is analogy. A analogy is a similarity between like features of two things, which a comparison may be made.(dictionary.reference.com/browse/analogy) Because a analogy is a comparison between two thing, like for example a human brain and a computer, it is easy to get confused. If a comparison is made and used ,the person who made the comparison needs to make sure it is known by all to help avoid...