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A figure of speech or rhetorical figure is a word or phrase that intentionally deviates from ordinary language use to produce a rhetorical effect. Figures of speech are traditionally classified into schemes, which vary the ordinary sequence of words, and tropes, where words carry a meaning other than what they ordinarily signify. An example of a scheme is a polysyndeton: the repetition of a conjunction before every element in a list, whereas the conjunction typically would appear only before the last element, as in "Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!"—emphasizing the danger and number of animals more than the prosaic wording with only the second "and". An example of a trope is the metaphor, describing one thing as something it clearly is not, as a way to illustrate by comparison, as in "All the world's a stage." Four rhetorical operations Classical rhetoricians classified figures of speech into four categories or quadripita ratio: addition (adiectio), also called repetition/expansion/superabundance omission (detractio), also called subtraction/abridgement/lack transposition (transmutatio), also called transferring permutation (immutatio), also called switching/interchange/substitution/transmutation These categories are often still used. The earliest known text listing them, though not explicitly as a system, is the Rhetorica ad Herennium, of unknown authorship, where they are called πλεονασμός (pleonasmos—addition), ἔνδεια (endeia—omission), μετάθεσις (metathesis—transposition) and ἐναλλαγή (enallage—permutation). Quintillian then mentioned them in Institutio Oratoria. Philo of Alexandria also listed them as addition (πρόσθεσις—prosthesis), subtraction (ἀφαίρεσις—afairesis), transposition (μετάθεσις—metathesis), and transmutation (ἀλλοίωσις—alloiosis). Examples Figures of speech come in many varieties. The aim is to use the language inventively to accentuate the effect of what is being said. A few examples follow: "Round and round the rugged rocks the ragged rascal ran" is an example of alliteration, where the consonant r is used repeatedly. "Sister Suzy‘s sewing socks for soldiers" is a particular form of alliteration called sibilance, repeating an s sound. Both are commonly used in poetry. "She would run up the stairs and then a new set of curtains" is a variety of zeugma called a syllepsis. Run up can refer either to a quick ascent or to manufacture. The effect is enhanced by the momentary suggestion, through a pun, that she might be climbing the curtains. The ellipsis or omission of the second use of the verb makes the reader think harder about what is being said. "Painful pride" is an oxymoron, where two contradictory ideas are placed in the same sentence. "An Einstein" is an example of synecdoche, as it uses a particular name to represent a class of people: geniuses. "I had butterflies in my stomach" is a metaphor, referring to a nervous feeling as if there were flying insects in one's stomach. To say "it was like having some butterflies in my stomach" is a simile, because it uses the word like, which a metaphor does not. To say "It was like having a butterfly farm in my stomach", "It felt like a butterfly farm in my stomach", or "I was so nervous that I had a butterfly farm in my stomach" could be a hyperbole, because it is exaggerated. "That filthy place was really dirty" is an example of tautology, as there are the two words ('filthy' and 'dirty') having almost the same meaning and are repeated so as to make the text more emphatic. Types Scholars of classical Western rhetoric have divided figures of speech into two main categories: schemes and tropes. Schemes (from the Greek schēma, 'form or shape') are figures of speech that change the ordinary or expected pattern of words. For example, the phrase, "John, my best friend" uses the scheme known as apposition. Tropes (from Greek trepein, 'to turn') change the general meaning of words. An example of a trope is irony, which is the use of words to convey the opposite of their usual meaning ("For Brutus is an honorable man; / So are they all, all honorable men"). During the Renaissance, scholars meticulously enumerated and classified figures of speech. Henry Peacham, for example, in his The Garden of Eloquence (1577), enumerated 184 different figures of speech. Professor Robert DiYanni, in his book Literature: Reading Fiction, Poetry, Drama and the Essay wrote: "Rhetoricians have catalogued more than 250 different figures of speech, expressions or ways of using words in a nonliteral sense." For simplicity, this article divides the figures between schemes and tropes, but does not further sub-classify them (e.g., "Figures of Disorder"). Within each category, words are listed alphabetically. Most entries link to a page that provides greater detail and relevant examples, but a short definition is placed here for convenience. Some of those listed may be considered rhetorical devices, which are similar in many ways. Schemes Schemes are words or phrases whose syntax, sequence, or pattern occurs in a manner that varies from an ordinary usage. Accumulatio: accumulating arguments in a concise forceful manner. Alliteration: the occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words. Example: "She sells sea shells by the sea shore". Anadiplosis: repetition of a word at the end of a clause and then at the beginning of its succeeding clause. Anaphora: the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses. Anastrophe: changing the object, subject and verb order in a clause. Anti-climax: an abrupt descent (either deliberate or unintended) on the part of a speaker or writer from the strong conclusion that appeared imminent. Example: "People, pets, batteries, ... all are dead." Anthimeria: transformation of a word of a certain word class to another word class. Antimetabole: a sentence consisting of the repetition of words in successive clauses, but in reverse order. Antithesis: juxtaposition of opposing or contrasting ideas. Aphorismus: statement that calls into question the definition of a word. Aposiopesis: breaking off or pausing speech for dramatic or emotional effect. Assonance: repetition of vowel sounds: "Smooth move!" or "Please leave!" or "That's the fact Jack!" Asyndeton: omission of conjunctions between related clauses. Chiasmus: two or more clauses related to each other through a reversal of structures in order to make a larger point. Climax: arrangement of words in an ascending order. Consonance: repetition of consonant sounds, most commonly within a short passage of verse. Correlative verse: matching items in two sequences. Diacope: repetition of a word or phrase with one or two intervening words. Elision: omission of one or more letters in speech, making it colloquial. Enallage: wording ignoring grammatical rules or conventions. Epanalepsis: ending sentences with their beginning. Epiphrase Epistrophe (also known as antistrophe): repetition of the .... Discover the Kevin Wilson Jennifer Wauson popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Kevin Wilson Jennifer Wauson books.