This video now includes Spanish as well as English subtitles. For a full list of dual-language videos in our series, please see the following site: liberalarts.oregonstate.edu/wlf/oregon-state-guide-english-literary-terms
Please drop us a comment to let us know what you thought of our video! Doing so will help us to build a rich digital learning environment around the topic of figurative language.
Metonymy is figure of speech in which word is replaced with another word closely associated with original concept . Metonymy often treated as subtype of metaphor, cognitive linguistic . Types of metonymy synecdoche and metalepsis . Best example pen is mightier than sword . Pen stands for written word and sword for military aggression. There are metonymy in poem ode to nightingale. Examples such as crown means monarch . Heart means passion or energy. Press means media publicity. Rags to riches means change in fortune from poverty to wealth . Thank you for your wonderful educational literary channel.
Sometimes, I get confused meronym with metonomy or synecdoche or holonym. Say for example in this sentence, "Don't take your break up with Hans too hard. Don't worry, there will be more handsome faces that will come your way." I'm not sure what the word "faces" is being referred to. I hope you'll have a video on holonym and meronym. Your videos are really helpful in my study.
Interesting question, Joy! From what we gather, holonyms and meronyms are similar in function to synecdoches--holonyms would the "vehicle" of a synecdoche (see our vehicles and tenors video) and meronyms are the opposite of holonyms. The big thing to keep in mind is that these terms (meronym and holonym) are MUCH more acceptable within linguistic or semiotic contexts and rarely show up in literary analyses. In your example, "handsome faces" would be a synecdoche for handsome people in a literary analysis written by, say, a literature professor, but would be called a meronym in certain linguistic contexts, say, by a linguistics professor. Unfortunately, different disciplines sometimes refer to the same phenomenon by different terms, and this seems to be the case here. Hope that clearer things up!
Thanks for a concise breakdown. I have a bit of uncertainty around F.Scott Fitzgerald’s description of Gatsby entirely by his smile. Is this metonymy since the smile stands in for pretty much all aspects of Gatsby’s character?
Thanks so much for the question, TIM! Were you thinking of the following quotation? "He smiled understandingly - much more than understandingly. It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life. It faced - or seemed to face - the whole external world for an instant, and then concentrated on you with an irresistible prejudice in your favor. It understood you just so far as you wanted to be understood, believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself, and assured you that it had precisely the impression of you that, at your best, you hoped to convey" In the latter part of the quotation, the "smile" seems indeed to take on the properties of Gatsby himself--it "understands," which, of course, a smile itself cannot do! But is that smile something associated with him but not a part of him (in other words, a metonym) or a part of him that comes to represent Gatsby in his entirety (in other words, a synecdoche)? What do you think? And thanks for keeping the conversation going!
The fellow in the metaphor video stated that metaphor is a comparison between two unrelated things, yet in the video at 1.00 it written on the screen that metaphor is a "comparison between two similar things"; what in fact I think you should write, is that metaphor is a comparison between two unrelated things which have qualities in common.
Thanks for the comment, Andrew! Another way to think of it is to frame metaphors as a balance between what critics call "ground"--the similarity between the two things being compared--and "tension"--the differences between those two things. A good metaphor will balance between the two concepts to create surprise (too much ground would be dull) but not total confusion (a product of too much tension). In any case, we hope you enjoy the other videos in our series!
Question. How is inn a metonym for day in Emily Dickinson's poem? Wouldn't that just be a metaphor? Day and inn are not closely related or commonly associated with each other. From Britannica: metonymy, (from Greek metōnymia, “change of name,” or “misnomer”), figure of speech in which the name of an object or concept is replaced with a word closely related to or suggested by the original, as “crown” to mean “king.” Thanks! :)
Great question Josie! How might inns (or hotels) be associated with discrete days (or a set of days) rather than like days in some way? You're nearly there! Does anyone else have any helpful suggestions?
Interesting question, Live! Can you give us a sense of the context? "Hit the road running" is usually more of an idiom (and a metaphor) than a metonym in our experience.
Great video, thanks! Just one question: my teacher said that if it says the word 'park' (e.g. going to the park) in a novel, then we as readers automatically know that there will be trees, bushes, maybe a bridge etc. etc. And he called this metonomy. Do you agree? I'm just thinking that it fits better with synecdoche since they are part of the park?
Great question, Marina! Many literary scholars consider synecdoche to be a subset of metonymy, so you're both right but your term is a bit more precise. A non-synecdochic metonym for park could be children or games, which aren't an actual part of the park but are associated with it. Thanks for keeping the conversation going!
Thanks, Ghad! The literary critic who engages with metonymy most extensively (in our opinion) is Roman Jakobson, who distinguishes between metaphor and metonymy in a few of his widely circulated essays. Be warned: his work can be challenging, but it is also quite fascinating.
Great question, Zebra! How are you interpreting the microscope's meaning here? To use the language of another video in our series, if it is a vehicle, what is its tenor?
@@SWLF I think she uses microscopes metaphorically and its meaning could be new scientific inventions and could be discoveries that are helpful for our lives. Since this is a 19th-century work, the dichotomy here is science and faith. Faith is a metaphor, it could be the official religion with all the institutions, or personal beliefs; also could be believing in goodness, a value or an idea. Again, gentlemen are those who belong to high ranks and control the masses by creating religions and scientific institutions. Also, it is clear that Dickinson implies more than one thing by making capital letters. Sorry, I talked too much. But I believe it is a metaphor and means scientific inventions briefly.
@@zehraaltnok1456 We love this reading! Our only question is how a microscope relates to the science you address. Is a microscope unrelated to science but has some surprising property in common with it (a metaphor) or is it associated with science in some way here and stands in for the tenor through that association (a metonym). If the latter, you may want to consider it metonymy rather than metaphor. What do you think?
Great question, Ben! Symbolism can be understood as the general term for one thing standing in for another. As our videos on figurative language (metonymy, synecdoche, metaphor, etc.) suggest, however, the relationship between those two terms varies widely, which is why there are many more precise terms to call attention to these relationships. An easy way to think about this is through an analogy: All jets are planes, but not all planes are jets. All metonyms are kinds of symbols, but not all kinds of symbols are metonyms. Hope that helps!
Hi! Thanks for making this video, but I have a question regarding the use of "hand". I've searched several websites, and it says that "hand" could be either metonymy and synecdoche depending on its use?? Metonymy: Can you please give me a hand carrying this box? Synecdoche: I've come here to get your daughter's hands. I'm confused as Synecdoche is the part of a whole, so isn't "can you please give me a hand carrying this box?" supposed to be a synedoche?? Can you please enlighten me?
Great question, Tofunnie! In the first case, "giving someone a hand" is lending someone your help. In that case, it is a metonym, as hand stands in for help--something that is associated with hands but hands are not a part of help. In the latter case, a "daughter's hand" is physically attached to that daughter. As such, it is a part (hands) standing in for a whole (the daughter). In that case, it is a synecdoche.
@@SWLF THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE FAST REPLY!! I'm realllyyyyy thankful since I have an upcoming quiz bee next week. I started reviewing today, and I got stuck between synecdoche and metonymy, but I understand it now thanks to your answer :))
Interesting question, Akshita! We would say that transferred epithets can help to establish metonymy but aren't themselves metonymy. Here's an example: In Adrienne Rich's "Diving into the Wreck," the speaker states that she puts on "absurd flippers" and a "grave and awkward mask." Clearly, the flippers in and of themselves can't be "absurd" and the mask can't be "grave and awkward," because those are feelings we associate with humans. As such, what Rich really means is that she feels grave, awkward, and absurd when she puts them on. This is a transferred epithet that helps to establish the metonymic link between the scuba suit and what that suit really means here--her feelings about wearing the suit. Or here's a simpler example: There's an old, cheesy song that you can Google or TH-cam about a man with "hungry eyes." The eyes, of course, aren't hungry. The person looking at someone he finds attractive is "hungry." As such, this is a transferred epithet again, but this time, because eyes are a part of a person, it helps to create a synecdoche (the eyes stands in for the "hungry" person.) Transferred epithets can create a bunch of figurative relationships--metaphors, metonyms, and synecdoches. They are one grammatical way in which these relationships come into being. Hope that helps!
A friendly advice. You guys should use darker background. I am a coder myself, I look at the screen all the time and trust me, most people don't want anything to do with light theme.
Ha! Professor Betjemann is not a symbologist, but he's pretty good with figurative language. Thanks for the comment, Kenta! We're delighted to hear that you enjoyed the lesson.
@@SWLF thank you but I was way ahead of you and actually watched the video, my next question would be: Is a metonymy just another idiom, only that we specify that idiom?
Thanks for the comment, Bertie! We were a little too enthusiastic with the music in these initial videos, but we've kept them down in our more recent ones.
![เปิดบ้าน โคตรสวย ป๋องกพล รู้จักตั้งนาน เพิ่งรู้ว่ารวย!!! l [Nickynachat]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/tmgCF_2HfYI/mqdefault.jpg)
This video now includes Spanish as well as English subtitles. For a full list of dual-language videos in our series, please see the following site: liberalarts.oregonstate.edu/wlf/oregon-state-guide-english-literary-terms
Please drop us a comment to let us know what you thought of our video! Doing so will help us to build a rich digital learning environment around the topic of figurative language.
Love these videos and recommending them to students and colleagues at the University of Winnipeg. Can you do one on intertexuality?
@@candidarifkind9876 Thanks so much for getting the word out, Candida! We've added intertextuality to the list!
Metonymy is figure of speech in which word is replaced with another word closely associated with original concept . Metonymy often treated as subtype of metaphor, cognitive linguistic . Types of metonymy synecdoche and metalepsis . Best example pen is mightier than sword . Pen stands for written word and sword for military aggression. There are metonymy in poem ode to nightingale. Examples such as crown means monarch . Heart means passion or energy. Press means media publicity. Rags to riches means change in fortune from poverty to wealth . Thank you for your wonderful educational literary channel.
watched this for one class and it's inspired an essay in another. it felt easy to understand and thorough, thank you!
Thank you so much, Nadine! We're delighted to hear that you've found the video useful, and we hope you enjoy the others in our series as well!
really helpful for my midterm exam thanks a lot sir
Thanks so much for your king words, Kübra! We hope you enjoy the other videos in our series as well. Good luck on that midterm!
This is so good... I was blanked when my school teacher was teaching... But this vedio gave a clear picture... ☺.. Happy to find this channel..
Thanks so much, Faizahmed!
@@SWLF ... ☺
Sometimes, I get confused meronym with metonomy or synecdoche or holonym. Say for example in this sentence, "Don't take your break up with Hans too hard. Don't worry, there will be more handsome faces that will come your way." I'm not sure what the word "faces" is being referred to. I hope you'll have a video on holonym and meronym. Your videos are really helpful in my study.
Interesting question, Joy! From what we gather, holonyms and meronyms are similar in function to synecdoches--holonyms would the "vehicle" of a synecdoche (see our vehicles and tenors video) and meronyms are the opposite of holonyms. The big thing to keep in mind is that these terms (meronym and holonym) are MUCH more acceptable within linguistic or semiotic contexts and rarely show up in literary analyses. In your example, "handsome faces" would be a synecdoche for handsome people in a literary analysis written by, say, a literature professor, but would be called a meronym in certain linguistic contexts, say, by a linguistics professor. Unfortunately, different disciplines sometimes refer to the same phenomenon by different terms, and this seems to be the case here. Hope that clearer things up!
@@SWLF Thank you for the response.
@@Joy-yk9pw You're welcome!
Thanks for a concise breakdown. I have a bit of uncertainty around F.Scott Fitzgerald’s description of Gatsby entirely by his smile. Is this metonymy since the smile stands in for pretty much all aspects of Gatsby’s character?
Thanks so much for the question, TIM! Were you thinking of the following quotation? "He smiled understandingly - much more than understandingly. It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life. It faced - or seemed to face - the whole external world for an instant, and then concentrated on you with an irresistible prejudice in your favor. It understood you just so far as you wanted to be understood, believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself, and assured you that it had precisely the impression of you that, at your best, you hoped to convey" In the latter part of the quotation, the "smile" seems indeed to take on the properties of Gatsby himself--it "understands," which, of course, a smile itself cannot do! But is that smile something associated with him but not a part of him (in other words, a metonym) or a part of him that comes to represent Gatsby in his entirety (in other words, a synecdoche)? What do you think? And thanks for keeping the conversation going!
Oregon State University - School of Writing, Literature and Film That’s the one. Sorry, should have included it
Thanks for taking the time to respond. It seems pretty clear that the smile comes to stand in for Gatsby , in which case it’s synecdoche.
We agree!
I was watching this with my headset and the explosion legit startled me 😦
Ha! Sorry about that, Lily, but we hope that means the lesson will stay in your memory!
Haha, just happened to me too
youve got me with the aha effect after the first example. Thank you so much, now I am prepared for my exam in 2 days :D
Thanks so much, Paddy! We hope you enjoy the other videos in our series as well. Good luck with the exam!
If a book was titled 'metonymy', instead of book what would it contain as a book.
Ha! OK, this seems like the plot of the movie Inception. Or Synecdoche, New York.
Thank u sir. U did made my day for my exam tomorrow 😅 Love from India 🇮🇳
Excellent! Good luck in that exam, Birendra!
The fellow in the metaphor video stated that metaphor is a comparison between two unrelated things, yet in the video at 1.00 it written on the screen that metaphor is a "comparison between two similar things"; what in fact I think you should write, is that metaphor is a comparison between two unrelated things which have qualities in common.
Thanks for the comment, Andrew! Another way to think of it is to frame metaphors as a balance between what critics call "ground"--the similarity between the two things being compared--and "tension"--the differences between those two things. A good metaphor will balance between the two concepts to create surprise (too much ground would be dull) but not total confusion (a product of too much tension). In any case, we hope you enjoy the other videos in our series!
@@SWLF Thanks, and I am certainly enjoying all your videos!
What would a book titled Meyonymy contain? Would 6 suggest that its total content meant something else ? For instance, the author?
Question. How is inn a metonym for day in Emily Dickinson's poem? Wouldn't that just be a metaphor? Day and inn are not closely related or commonly associated with each other.
From Britannica:
metonymy, (from Greek metōnymia, “change of name,” or “misnomer”), figure of speech in which the name of an object or concept is replaced with a word closely related to or suggested by the original, as “crown” to mean “king.”
Thanks! :)
Great question Josie! How might inns (or hotels) be associated with discrete days (or a set of days) rather than like days in some way? You're nearly there! Does anyone else have any helpful suggestions?
@@SWLF Wow thank you for responding. If anyone can help me that would be great!
Hello, is ' Hit the road running' a metonymy?
Interesting question, Live! Can you give us a sense of the context? "Hit the road running" is usually more of an idiom (and a metaphor) than a metonym in our experience.
Great video, thanks! Just one question: my teacher said that if it says the word 'park' (e.g. going to the park) in a novel, then we as readers automatically know that there will be trees, bushes, maybe a bridge etc. etc. And he called this metonomy. Do you agree? I'm just thinking that it fits better with synecdoche since they are part of the park?
Great question, Marina! Many literary scholars consider synecdoche to be a subset of metonymy, so you're both right but your term is a bit more precise. A non-synecdochic metonym for park could be children or games, which aren't an actual part of the park but are associated with it. Thanks for keeping the conversation going!
The professors of this channel are *da bomb* xD
Thanks so much, Trishita! This post just makes our day. We're so happy you are enjoying the channel!
Thanks
Are there any book about metonymy?
Thanks, Ghad! The literary critic who engages with metonymy most extensively (in our opinion) is Roman Jakobson, who distinguishes between metaphor and metonymy in a few of his widely circulated essays. Be warned: his work can be challenging, but it is also quite fascinating.
A number of books on Metonymy listed on Amazon.
Great video! In another poem by Dickinson called ''Faith is a fine invention'', is the ''microscope'' a metaphor or metonymy in this sense? Thank you
Great question, Zebra! How are you interpreting the microscope's meaning here? To use the language of another video in our series, if it is a vehicle, what is its tenor?
@@SWLF I think she uses microscopes metaphorically and its meaning could be new scientific inventions and could be discoveries that are helpful for our lives. Since this is a 19th-century work, the dichotomy here is science and faith. Faith is a metaphor, it could be the official religion with all the institutions, or personal beliefs; also could be believing in goodness, a value or an idea. Again, gentlemen are those who belong to high ranks and control the masses by creating religions and scientific institutions. Also, it is clear that Dickinson implies more than one thing by making capital letters. Sorry, I talked too much. But I believe it is a metaphor and means scientific inventions briefly.
@@zehraaltnok1456 We love this reading! Our only question is how a microscope relates to the science you address. Is a microscope unrelated to science but has some surprising property in common with it (a metaphor) or is it associated with science in some way here and stands in for the tenor through that association (a metonym). If the latter, you may want to consider it metonymy rather than metaphor. What do you think?
@@SWLF Thanks for the idea! Now I see the difference between metaphor and metonymy. Metonymy sounds better for the microscopes
@@zehraaltnok1456 We agree!
So what is the difference between symbolism and metonymy?
Great question, Ben! Symbolism can be understood as the general term for one thing standing in for another. As our videos on figurative language (metonymy, synecdoche, metaphor, etc.) suggest, however, the relationship between those two terms varies widely, which is why there are many more precise terms to call attention to these relationships.
An easy way to think about this is through an analogy: All jets are planes, but not all planes are jets. All metonyms are kinds of symbols, but not all kinds of symbols are metonyms. Hope that helps!
Hi! Thanks for making this video, but I have a question regarding the use of "hand". I've searched several websites, and it says that "hand" could be either metonymy and synecdoche depending on its use??
Metonymy:
Can you please give me a hand carrying this box?
Synecdoche:
I've come here to get your daughter's hands.
I'm confused as Synecdoche is the part of a whole, so isn't "can you please give me a hand carrying this box?" supposed to be a synedoche?? Can you please enlighten me?
Great question, Tofunnie! In the first case, "giving someone a hand" is lending someone your help. In that case, it is a metonym, as hand stands in for help--something that is associated with hands but hands are not a part of help. In the latter case, a "daughter's hand" is physically attached to that daughter. As such, it is a part (hands) standing in for a whole (the daughter). In that case, it is a synecdoche.
@@SWLF THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE FAST REPLY!! I'm realllyyyyy thankful since I have an upcoming quiz bee next week. I started reviewing today, and I got stuck between synecdoche and metonymy, but I understand it now thanks to your answer :))
Thank you! :) very helpful.
Thanks so much, Aleksandra! We hope you enjoy the other videos in our series as well!
I have a midterm tomorrow wish me luck! :)
Good luck, azra!
@@SWLF it was so great thanks to you 🥳
Awesome! Congrats, azra!
What is the difference between metonymy and transferred epithet
Interesting question, Akshita! We would say that transferred epithets can help to establish metonymy but aren't themselves metonymy. Here's an example:
In Adrienne Rich's "Diving into the Wreck," the speaker states that she puts on "absurd flippers" and a "grave and awkward mask." Clearly, the flippers in and of themselves can't be "absurd" and the mask can't be "grave and awkward," because those are feelings we associate with humans. As such, what Rich really means is that she feels grave, awkward, and absurd when she puts them on. This is a transferred epithet that helps to establish the metonymic link between the scuba suit and what that suit really means here--her feelings about wearing the suit.
Or here's a simpler example: There's an old, cheesy song that you can Google or TH-cam about a man with "hungry eyes." The eyes, of course, aren't hungry. The person looking at someone he finds attractive is "hungry." As such, this is a transferred epithet again, but this time, because eyes are a part of a person, it helps to create a synecdoche (the eyes stands in for the "hungry" person.)
Transferred epithets can create a bunch of figurative relationships--metaphors, metonyms, and synecdoches. They are one grammatical way in which these relationships come into being.
Hope that helps!
Your videos are always helpful
Thanks so much, yes! We're delighted to hear that you found this video helpful!
Really helpful..
We're happy to hear you enjoyed it!
nice vid this will help with my paper due today in 14 min
Ha! Thanks, Buildandgo, but you may want to start a bit earlier next time!
@@SWLF eh no thanks
Thanks!!! now I can do my presentation :)
it was very helpful
@@rafyramadhan8711 Thanks so much! We hope you enjoy the other videos in our series as well!
Well said sir
Thanks so much for dropping us a comment! We hope you like the other videos in our series as well. Happy fishing...
Thank you. This was helpful.
Thanks so much, Manjari! We hope you enjoy the other videos in our series as well!
he looks like a character from pixar animation XD
and thanks for the explanation
Ha! We're glad the video was helpful, SeYTer13. We hope you enjoy our other videos in the series as well!
@@SWLF yeah sure im watching it
i must learn this to pass my exams
A friendly advice. You guys should use darker background. I am a coder myself, I look at the screen all the time and trust me, most people don't want anything to do with light theme.
Thanks for the advice, Minhazul!
Awesome 👌
Thanks so much, hemalakshmi! We'll be putting out a new one soon!
@@SWLF waiting 🤩
Thank you very much
Thanks so much for supporting the series, Ashley!
u r robert langdon. and thx for the video
Ha! Professor Betjemann is not a symbologist, but he's pretty good with figurative language. Thanks for the comment, Kenta! We're delighted to hear that you enjoyed the lesson.
Great!
Thanks, Brett! We hope you enjoy other videos in our series as well!
To give the professor a hand or the palms?
The common expression would be "give the professor a hand" if you wanted people to clap. Is that what you were going for, Angela?
helpful
Thanks so much, Jacob! We hope you enjoy the other videos in our series as well!
Great
Thanks, language tv! Nice work with your own site as well!
Needs more camera angles.
Ha! Thanks for the tip, Fw.
Swapping content by continent or vice-versa
This is a rather enigmatic post, Fel!
👍
I could get this confused with personification
If you are confused about the difference, check out our video on personification here: th-cam.com/video/5GOfjV6u0Co/w-d-xo.html
@@SWLF thank you but I was way ahead of you and actually watched the video, my next question would be:
Is a metonymy just another idiom, only that we specify that idiom?
This would be better without the music.
Thanks for the comment, Bertie! We were a little too enthusiastic with the music in these initial videos, but we've kept them down in our more recent ones.
Just some ranadom words for the algorithm. Hello, I am see thing about your new job that I have been doing and you have not done any of that work
he looks so mad
You just cleared all my doubts💫.. Such an awesome way of teaching😊.. From India🇮🇳🦚
Thanks so much, Thisha! We're delighted to see this video making its ways to India, and we hope you enjoy the other videos in our series as well!