Literal and figurative language

Common card · No. 334037

The distinction between literal and figurative language exists in all natural languages; the phenomenon is studied within certain areas of language analysis, linguistics, and the humanities, in particular stylistics, rhetoric, and semantics. Literal language is the usage of words exactly according to their direct, straightforward, or conventionally accepted meanings: their denotation. Figurative (or non-literal) language is the usage of words deviating beyond their conventionally accepted definitions in order to convey a more complex meaning or achieve a heightened effect. This is done by presenting words in such a way that their audience equates, compares, or associates the words with normally unrelated meanings. A common intended effect of figurative language is to elicit audience responses that are especially emotional (like excitement, shock, laughter, etc.), aesthetic, or intellectual. The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle, and later the Roman rhetorician Quintilian, were among...

Read on Wikipedia