Questions tagged [figurative-language]
For questions about language where the words have meaning other than their literal sense. For example, metaphor or simile.
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What is the meaning of: "Rather like bulletins issued by the war office"?
This statement is taken from a story named "The Tiger King" by Kalki. This is said by the chief astrologer (a character in the story); when he hears an infant speaking very clearly, he says:
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Simile or metaphor [closed]
Or butterflies, off banks of noon
Leap, plashless as they swim
These verses are from the poem A Bird Came Down the Walk by Emily Dickinson. Which are the figures of speech that the poet is using in ...
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Equivalent idiom in English about something annoyingly appearing everywhere
There is a word combination in the Russian language: "из всех щелей", which can be translated word-for-word as "from all the cracks", and it is often used when there is something, ...
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Use of the verb "to grab" to refer to an abstract noun
Can the verb "to grab" be used figuratively to refer to an abstract noun, or a feeling, as in the sentence below?
This may sound insane, but when your country has been involved in a bloody ...
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". . .this lot will strip the table bare…" What is this type of phrase called in English?
(From A Terrible Kindness by Jo Browning Wroe, Part II Cambridge Choir, chapter 25)
At lunch. Martin and William are choristers visiting Martin's parents
Martin saves him by dropping the second two ...
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"But Aberfan has scooped out the core of him, stretched it thin and catapulted it into the wild blue yonder." [closed]
(From A Terrible Kindness by Jo Browning Wroe, Part I, Aberfan, chapter 11)
And then, at the dinner dance, with that kiss, he dared to believe they had a future. But Aberfan has scooped out the core ...
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What does "tripped over her head" mean?
"The fireflies had arrived, making everyone she passed appear a little enchanted as their laughter and flirtations tripped over her head."
Finale
Caraval Series Book 3
By Stephanie Garber · ...
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What's the actual meaning of "sits down to a banquet of consequences" in this sentence?
Sooner or later everyone sits down to a banquet of consequences.
— Robert Louis Stevenson
I don't find any relevant definition for the phrasal verb "sits down". And what's the thought ...
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Figurative usage of Kabuki?
In the podcast BBC newshour, episode 08 Aug 2023, they talk about the recent coup in Niger, starting at around 30:00.
The context is that the apparently strong reactions by Ecowas, such as the ...
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figurative usage of "within A of B"
According to the following sentence, was John in the city?
John was within a kilometer of the city.
Now let us look at a figurative usage of "within ... of":
John is within an inch of his ...
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How to convey that someone is struggling to solve a problem
"He needs help in climbing every step of the ladder." Is this a proper sentence?
The intent is to convey someone's ability to solve a Mathematical/Software Problem. So if one is assisted at ...
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When in English people say that things have needs, is it literal?
In Spanish, things cannot have needs. Only living creatures have needs. In English, instead, it’s very common for things to have needs, as in “This floor needs to be washed” to mean “This floor should ...
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Does "stoop" have a figurative meaning?
But you didn't have to cut me off
Make out like it never happened and that we were nothing
And I don't even need your love
But you treat me like a stranger, and that feels so rough
No, you didn't have ...
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What does this woman want to say? [closed]
Would you kindly help me to understand what does the woman said here in these few seconds " 25:3 to 25:14" I really couldn't understand it
https://fb.watch/fh9a2egKL2/
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What figure of speech or idiom is involved here?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2WxaeIJcqY
So I found this line: "You're a sewer troll that Stephen King wrote between his lines" in a rap music and I was trying to understand how it ...
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