1) Simile:（明喻）It is a figure of speech which makes a comparison between two unlike elements having at least one quality or characteristic (特性)in common. To make the comparison, words like as, as...as, as if and like are used to transfer the quality we associate with one to the other.For example,1. As cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country.2. O my love’s like a red, red rose3. Maggie’s hand is as limp as a fish, and probably as cold, despite the sweat.4. I am the way my daughter would want me to be: a hundred pounds lighter, my skin like an uncooked barley pancake.2) Metaphor:（暗喻）It is like a simile, also makes a comparison between two unlike elements, but unlikea simile, this comparison is implied rather than stated. For example,1. All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely player.2. Imperialism is paper tiger.3. The hallway was zebra-striped with darkness and moonlight.4. I see that small group of villainous men who plan, organize, and launch this cataract of horrors upon mankind.3) Analogy: （类比）It is also a form of comparison, but unlike simile or metaphor which usually uses comparison on one point of resemblance, analogy draws a parallel between two unlike things that have several common qualities or points of resemblance.The chess-board is the world; the pieces are the phenomena of the universe; the rules the game are what we call the laws of Nature. The player on the other side is hidden from us. We know that his play is always fair, just and patient. But also we know, to our cost, that he never overlooks a mistake, or makes the smallest allowance for ignorance. To the man who plays well, the highest stakes are paid, with that sort of overflowing generosity with which the strong shows delight in strength. And one who plays ill is checkmated-without haste, but without remorse4) Personification: （拟人）It gives human form of feelings to animals, or life and personal attributes(赋予) to inanimate (无生命的) objects, or to ideas and abstractions(抽象).For example, the wind whistled through the trees.5) Hyperbole: （夸张）It is the deliberate use of overstatement or exaggeration to achieve emphasis. For instance,1. He almost died laughing.2. On hearing that he is married to that girl, I whispered to myself, “ He’s the luckiest man in the world.” … with her hoarse voice and her clumsy limping walk and her grim y cotton dresses that were always miles too long.6) Understatement: （含蓄陈述）It is the opposite of hyperbole, or overstatement. It achieves its effect of emphasizing a fact by deliberately(故意地) understating it, impressing the listener or the reader more by what is merely implied or left unsaid than by bare statement. For instance, It is no laughing matter. It took a few dollars to build this indoor swimming pool. I didn’t half like that.7) Euphemism: （委婉）It is the substitution of an agreeable or inoffensive(无冒犯) expression for onethat may offend or suggest something unpleasant. For instance, we refer to "die" as " pass away".8) Metonymy (转喻）It is a figure of speech that has to do with the substitution of the mane of one thing for that of another. For instance, the pen (words) is mightier than the sword (forces). 1. His purse would not allow him that luxury.2. Sword and cross in hand, the European conquerors fell upon the Americans.3. We have rid the earth of his shadow and liberated its peoples form his yoke.9) Synecdoche （提喻）It is involves the substitution of the part for the whole, or the whole for the part. For instance,1. they say there's bread and work for all.2. She was dressed in silks.3. The farms were short of hands during the harvest seasons.4. He had to earn his daily bread by doing odd jobs.5. Australia beat Canada at cricket.10) Antonomasia（换喻）It has also to do with substitution. It is not often mentioned now, though it is still in frequent use. For example, Solomon for a wise man. Daniel for a wise and fair judge. Judas for a traitor.11) Pun: （双关语）It is a play on words, or rather a play on the form and meaning of words. For instance,a cannon-ball took off his legs, so he laid down his arms. (Here "arms" has two meanings: a person's body; weapons carried by a soldier.)12) Syllepsis: （一语双叙）It has two connotations.In the first case, it is a figure by which a word, or a particular form or inflection of a word, refers to two or more words in the same sentence, while properly applying to or agreeing with only on of them in grammar or syntax(句法). For example, He addressed you and me, and desired us to follow him. (Here us is used to refer to you and me.)In the second case, it a word may refer to two or more words in the same sentence. For example, while he was fighting, and losing limb and mind, and dying, others stayed behind to pursue education and career. (Here to losing one's limbs in literal; to lose one's mind is figurative, and means to go mad.)13) Zeugma: （轭式搭配）It is a single word which is made to modify or to govern two or more words in the same sentence, wither properly applying in sense to only one of them, or applying to them in different senses. For example, The sun shall not burn you by day, nor the moon by night. (Here noon is not strong enough to burn)14) Irony: （反语）It is a figure of speech that achieves emphasis by saying the opposite of what is meant, the intended meaning of the words being the opposite of their usual sense. For instance, we are lucky, what you said makes me feel real good.15) Innuendo: （暗讽）It is a mild form of irony, hinting in a rather roundabout (曲折)way at something disparaging(不一致) or uncomplimentary(不赞美) to the person or subject mentioned. For example, the weatherman said it would be worm. He must take his readings in a bathroom.16) Sarcasm: （讽刺）It Sarcasm is a strong form of irony. It attacks in a taunting and bitter manner, and its aim is to disparage, ridicule and wound the feelings of the subject attacked. For example, laws are like cobwebs, which may catch small flies, but let wasps break through.17) Paradox: （似非而是的隽语）It is a figure of speech consisting of a statement or proposition which on the face of it seems self-contradictory, absurd or contrary to established fact or practice, but which on further thinking and study may prove to be true, well-founded, and even to contain a succinct point. For example more haste, less speed.18) Oxymoron: （矛盾修饰）It is a compressed paradox, formed by the conjoining(结合) of two contrasting, contradictory or incongruous(不协调) terms as in bitter-sweet memories, orderly chaos(混乱) and proud humility(侮辱).Juliet：O Serpent heart, hid with a flow’ring face!Did ever dragon keep so fair a cave?Beautiful tyrant!Fiend angelical?Dove-feather’d raven! Wolfish-ravening lamb!Despised substance of divinest show!Just opposite to what thou justly seem’st,A damned saint, an honourable villain!1. A living deathConspicuous absenceTearful joyJarring concord2. Cold pleasant mannerPoor rich guys3. Dully brightMercifully fatal4. Hasten slowlyShine darkly5. A love-hate relationship19) Antithesis: （对照）It is the deliberate arrangement of contrasting words or ideas in balanced structural forms to achieve emphasis. For example, speech is silver; silence is golden.20) Epigram: （警句）It states a simple truth pithily(有利地) and pungently(强烈地). It is usually terse and arouses interest and surprise by its deep insight into certain aspects of human behavior or feeling. For instance, Few, save the poor, feel for the poor.21) Climax: （渐进）It is derived from the Greek word for "ladder" and implies the progression of thought at a uniform or almost uniform rate of significance or intensity, like the steps of a ladder ascending evenly. For example,I came, I saw, I conquered.It is an outrage to bind a Roman citizen; it is a crime to scourge him; it is almost parricide to kill him; but to crucify him—what shall I say of this?”22) Anti-climax or bathos: （突降）It is the opposite of Climax. It involves stating one's thoughts in a descending order of significance or intensity, from strong to weak, from weighty to light or frivolous. For instance, But thousands die, without or this or that, die, and endow(赋予) a college, or a cat.“Among the great achievements of Benito Mussolini's regime were the revival of a strong national consciousness, the expansion of the Italian Empire, and the running of the trains on time.”“Seldom has a city gained such world renown, and I am proud and happy to welcome you to Hiroshima, a town know throughout the world for its-oy sters.”23) Apostrophe：（顿呼）In this figure of speech, a thing, place, idea or person (dead or absent) is addressed as if present, listening and understanding what is being said. For instance, England! awake! awake! awake!24) Transferred Epithet: （转类形容词）It is a figure of speech where an epithet (an adjective or descriptive phrase) is transferred from the noun it should rightly modify(修饰) to another to which it does not really apply or belong. For instance,1. I spent sleepless nights on my project.2. I found myself was driven by the boring speech into a sleepy corner of the auditorium.3. I was ashamed, ashamed of my own timidity, the frightened tendency to look the other way.25) Alliteration: （头韵）It has to do with the sound rather than the sense of words for effect. It is a device that repeats the same sound at frequent intervals(间隔) and since the sound repeated is usually the initial consonant sound, it is also called "front rhyme". For instance, the fair breeze blew, the white foam flew, the furrow followed free.26) Onomatopoeia: （拟声）It is a device that uses words which imitate the sounds made by an object (animate or inanimate), or which are associated with or suggestive(提示的) of some action or movement. For example,From the moment you open the door, you are greeted by a tinkling and a chiming and a trilling and tintinnabulation in a crystalline shower of sound.As you approach it, a tinkling and banging and clashing begins to impinge on your ear. Antonomasia:-a name standing for an idea(换称)1. Solomon a wise man2. Judas a traitor3. Uncle Tom a black who compromise and conforms to the Whites.4. Tom is a Hercules (extremely powerful and muscular man)5. But that is a mistake. I know even before I wake up. Who ever knew a Johnson with a quick tongue? Repetition.（反复）Selected from Figures of Speech by Feng Cuihua。