Searching for a word
Moderator: EC
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Stuey
- Member
- Posts: 4
- Joined: Wed Nov 01, 2006 7:37 pm
- Location: Scotland
Searching for a word
Can anyone help with a problem which has been driving me batty for days now? looking for the term given to a situation which has been discribed incorrectly, for example "the kettle is boiling" when obviously its the water inside the kettle that is boiling and not the kettle.
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honeylovely
- Member
- Posts: 8
- Joined: Tue Nov 22, 2005 3:56 pm
- Location: Vietnam
Hi there,
It was not "described incorrectly" like you said but it's a figure of speech. Its name is metonymy.
"Metonymy is the substitution of the name of one thing for that of another to which it is related /with which is associated."
A container substitues for what is stored or kept in the container.
--> The kettle ( = the water in the kettle) is boiling.
It was not "described incorrectly" like you said but it's a figure of speech. Its name is metonymy.
"Metonymy is the substitution of the name of one thing for that of another to which it is related /with which is associated."
A container substitues for what is stored or kept in the container.
--> The kettle ( = the water in the kettle) is boiling.