Transferred Epithet

January 30, 2022February 23, 2024 reshana

Transferred Epithet

Transferred Epithet meaning

Transferred Epithet is a figure of speech where an epithet is transferred from its correct or proper word to another that is closely associated with it in the sentence.

It is also called “HYPALLAGE”.

Epithet

Usually, we use adjectives to describe nouns.

Epithet is nothing but adjective or phrase that shows/describes the quality of a person or a thing. It is the characterization of some person or thing.

Transferred Epithet example.

Imagine you were at a party and you were having a nice time. But the most enjoyable time was when you all were given gifts.

Here, it is you who had a great time at the party. But in the sentence below, I am mentioning the adjective “fun-filled” not for you but for the moment or time you were enjoying it.

The most fun-filled moment was the distribution of gifts at the party.

I am TRANSFERRING it from you to the time or moment, i.e., I am transferring the adjective from one person or thing to another.

This is called transferred epithet.

Difference between Transferred Epithet and Personification.

Transferred epithet: Transfer of a modifier from one noun to another.

Example: She spent a sleepless night though she was very tired.

Personification: Giving the quality of a human being to an inanimate object. Its like assigning emotions or actions to objects.

Example: The sunflowers nodded in the sunshine.

How to form an Epithet?

Example 1:

Identify the subject.

Let’s assume it’s a girl.

In order to impress her we need to just add and adjective.

So the next time you see her, instead of just saying, “Hi there”.

Try saying, “Hi gorgeous / Hi beautiful”!

Example 2:

Imagine you have an intelligent friend. You can say,

“Here comes Sam, the All-knower!”

Transferred Epithet examples

1. I gave him a knowing nod.

2. It was the most intelligent field trip.

3. It was the most boring picnic.

4. It was an easy test.

5. I had a dull pain.

6. I had a sharp pain.

7. She asked me a silly question.

8. She had a tiring day.

9. I had a busy afternoon.

10. For me it’s the best day.

11. We had a miraculous escape.

12. Yesterday was my lucky day.

13. We had a peaceful day.

14. Paul had a terrifying night.

15. Our teacher gives us intelligent answers.

16. Mary gave a confused look.

17. That was a clever prank.

18. They have a meaningful relationship.

19. Hi there, sleepy head.

20. They had a happy relationship.

21. I have a busy life.

22. That was a tiring path.

23. It was a tough move.

24. We had an enjoyable day.

25. It was a fun evening.

26. He cooked a tasteless dinner.

27. She follows a sugarless diet.

28. That was a jealous decision.

28. We had a happy lunch.

29. She has a successful carrier.

30. Sam has a problematic life.

31. They have a tough choice.

32. They made a faulty deal.

33. I had a restless day.

transferred epithet meaning with example

Have fun transferring!

Personification

January 17, 2022February 27, 2024 reshana

Personification

Personification meaning

Personification is a figure of speech, where objects and notions are spoken of as having life and intelligence.

It is like objects having qualities of human beings. As if they (objects) have personality and qualities.

Example: The breeze kissed her cheeks.

Describing the breeze as “kissing her cheeks”, is an example of personification, as the breeze cannot kiss anyone. We are giving human attributes, such as “kissing”, to a non-living thing, like the “breeze”. This is called personification.

Personification uses

As all the other figures of speech, personification too, helps readers to think creatively and in an imaginative way. Personification is giving human characteristics like emotions and behaviors to things, animals or ideas.

It encourages the readers to imagine and to create a connection with the story or article being written. It hooks the readers to the story. As the writers attribute human characteristics, it helps the readers easily understand the idea or content the writer is trying to convey. Writers bring the sentence to life, thus helping the reader to connect with the sentence or story emotionally.

Personification examples

Example	Personified object	Human attribute applied
The candle flame was calm.	flame	calm
The fire burned down the house angrily.	fire	anger
The fire burned quietly in its fireplace.	fire	quiet
The roses in my garden smiled at me.	roses	smile
The leaves were in the shade and begged for sunlight.	leaves	begged
The moon watched me all night.	moon	watched
The lined-up houses looked at me.	houses	look
My clock sings every hour.	clock	sings
The flowers peeped out of the window.	flowers	peep
He grabbed the opportunity which knocked on his door.	opportunity	knock
The pizza came out happily out of the oven.	pizza	happy
The doughnuts kept calling me to eat them.	doughnuts	call
Summer came smiling and winter went sad.	summer, winter	smile and sad
The table trembled due to the earthquake.	table	tremble
The trees danced crazily due to the storm.	trees	dance
The village welcomed him happily.	village	welcome
My village is always sleeping.	village	sleep(quiet)
My village is always awake.	village	awake(busy)
The ice cream agreed with him, even though he was lactose intolerant.	ice cream	agreed
The desert sun shines angrily.	sun	anger
My washing machine sings after it completes its job.	washing machine	sings
The sunflowers shook their heads in the morning breeze.	sunflowers	shook
All the stars winked at me.	stars	wink
My arms cried after the weight lifting session.	arms	cry
His foot screamed after two hours of running.	foot	scream
Dates are good for the blood.	dates	good
My laptop died an hour before.	laptop	die
My calendar reminds me continuously.	calendar	reminds
My TV is working very hard since morning.	TV	work
The mall is busy right now.	mall	busy
My car doesn't like me.	car	like
Pictures speak more.	pictures	speak
The moon wished me good night	moon	wish
Her hands spoke to us.	hands	spoke
My ears were happy when I heard the good news.	ears	happy
The windows went sad when it was closed.	windows	sad
The walls were sick of the old paint.	walls	sick
The moon waited all night for the Sun to rise.	moon	wait
The fries swam in the oil.	fries	swam
His pants shouted at him to wash it.	pant	shout
The batteries went dead.	batteries	dead
The volcano went quiet after a week.	volcano	quiet
The wind whispered in her ears.	wind	whisper
The garage was hiding a secret.	garage	hiding
The tornado killed the entire village.	tornado	killed
The yoga mat was tired.	yoga mat	tired
The books begged him to read.	books	begged
The door jumped in his way.	door	jump
My couch is calling out to me.	couch	calling
The wind kept whistling all night.	wind	whistle
The meat sat in the freezer for a week.	meat	sat
The sink suffocated as it had too many vessels.	sink	suffocated
My hair is happy after the wash.	hair	happy
My car engine is happy after the oil change.	car engine	happy
My AC groans every time I switch it on.	AC	groans

Greek Suffixes

How to change from Direct speech to reported speech

Direct and reported speech

Family idioms

Result conjunctions

Future perfect continuous tense

Sentence Formula – Part 1

Simile

Adverb clause

Figures Of Speech · Grammar

Synecdoche

January 8, 2022February 27, 2024 reshana

Synecdoche

Synecdoche meaning

Synecdoche (figure of speech) is a part used to designate the whole and the whole to designate a part.

Synecdoche types

— MICROCOSM – A part used to designate the whole is called Microcosm.

Example: All hands on steer.

Here, “all hands” refers to the crew members or team members. i.e., a part or smaller unit is used to imply to represent the “whole team or crew.”

–MACROCOSM – The whole used to designate a part is called Macrocosm.

Example: India won the test match.

Here, India refers to the eleven players of the Indian team.

That is, a whole (India) is used to represent a smaller unit (players).

Try your own Synecdoche.

1. Look in the sentence for objects or ideas.

Example: Check out my new car!

Here, the object is ‘CAR’.

2. Examine if its a part or a whole.

I am going to use wheels instead of car. That is, MICROCOSM – a smaller unit used to represent a whole.

“Hey! Check out my new wheels!”

Sounds more stylish.

Synecdoche uses

Synecdoche can be used in speeches, everyday conversations, movies, songs, plays, dramas, poems etc. It provides us with catchy and interesting phrases. All figures of speech, including Synecdoche, enhance description and create imagery for the reader.

Synecdoche example sentences

Synecdoche	Meaning
Get ready, I am bringing home the bacon.	Bacon refers to salary or paycheck.
Our ancestors wouldn't even have imagined that plastics would be the future to pay bills.	Plastics refers to debit and credit cards.
I am going to ask for her hand.	I am going to ask her to marry me.
The White house must be quick to take the decision.	The White house refers to individuals or members of the United States Government.
All boots on the ground.	Boots refers to soldiers.
The suits are making a visit today.	Suits refers to business people.
He paid too much for his new wheels.	New wheels refers to new car or any new vehicle.
With the power of social media, his news reached the whole ear of India.	Ear refers to the population of India.
Be kind forever and the pearly gate is yours.	Pearly gate refers to Heaven.
Keep stealing, and the thorny, fiery gate is yours.	Thorny, fiery gate refers to Hell.
He is behind bars for the sins he committed.	Behind bars refers to jail/prison.
Sara's got twinkle toes.	Twinkle toes refers that she's a dancer.
We are lucky, our grandfather got a green thumb.	Green thumb - He's good in gardening.
Those threads are awesome.	Threads refers to clothing.
We are eagerly waiting for you to tickle those ivories.	Tickle those ivories - to play the piano keys. [referring to an item by what it is made of, or components of it].
I am sure I know those voices.	Voices refers to the people.
"Keep the change", I said to the waiter.	Keep the balance money.
All hands on deck.	Telling everyone (team) to start their job.
Let me take a final headcount.	Let me count the number of people.
Always ask a gray beard for advice.	Gray beard refers to an old man.
I am going to grab a bite.	Bite refers to a meal.
Never ignore the words of a blue hair.	Blue hair refers to an old woman.
I need tin foil.	Aluminum foil.
You were rocking with those strings.	Strings refers to any string instruments like guitar etc.
Those blades in the museum were huge.	Blades refers to swords. Steel can also be used to refer to swords.
I have hired *hands* to finish the job.	hands - Hired workers.
I miss my glass of bubbly.	Bubbly refers to a glass of champagne.
I would love to take you to the movies tonight.	Movies refers to a single move in a particular theatre.
I gifted her ceramic silverware.	silverware refers to cutlery.
Beware of the lead before taking the move.	lead refers to the bullet.

Homophones

Prepositions

Homograph

Simple present tense

Sentence Formula – Part 3

Sentence Formula – Part 1

Synecdoche

Frame sentences without grammar mistakes with these formulas

Sentence Formula – Part 5

Figures Of Speech · Grammar

Litotes

January 5, 2022February 27, 2024 reshana

Litotes meaning

In Litotes, an affirmative is conveyed by the negation of the opposite, the effect being to suggest a strong expression by means of a weaker.

It is the opposite of hyperbole (exaggerate to make a point).

Litotes - Words that create negative effect to a sentence.

Before getting any further, let’s see the words that create a negative effect on a sentence or a statement.

The words such as NOT, NON, NO, DON”T etc., when applied to a statement, create a not-so-good terminology. But these words can also be used to create a positive statement.

Types of Litotes

There are two types of litotes.

1. DENIED NEGATIVES.

2. DENIED POSITIVES.

Denied negatives

[affirming a positive statement]

–It uses negative wordings to express a positive statement.

USES:

The affirmation is mitigated and downplayed. That is, you are not into it fully, but only accept to a certain point.

Example 1: I don’t hate the movie. (Double negatives – don’t and hate)

Meaning: I like the movie, but only to a certain point, and not fully. It’s not that I like it 100%, or, hate it 100%, but indicates the level of likeliness which is reduced or mitigated. I like it but not fully like it.

Example 2: The story is not unpleasant. (double negatives – not, unpleasant)

Meaning: The story is good.

The meaning of unpleasant = not nice.

The meaning of not unpleasant = nice.

So, it’s a denied negative.

The use of double negatives creates a positive effect.

Denied positives

[to affirm a negative statement]

It is used to create a negative effect.

Example: He’s not a great player.

Meaning: He has difficulty learning the rules of the game.

In this sentence, we are trying to mention that the person is not a great player.

Imagine if someone is saying, “He’s an awesome player.” But you are not a fan of that player and you want to deny it, you should say, “He’s not a great player.”

This is a denied positive.

More examples

Litotes	Meaning
It's not my lucky coin.	It's just an ordinary coin and not that particular one he finds lucky.
It's not costly.	He needs an expensive one and this one is not to his expected level.
It's not cheap.	It's expensive.
This man is no fool.	This man is very clever.
This man is not clever.	This man is a fool.
He is not a little surprised.	He is greatly surprised.
He is not very much happy.	He is not satisfied.
The cake is not bad.	It is good.
She is not a little angry.	She is extremely angry.
I don't have a few failures.	I have faced many drawbacks.
I don't hate her.	I like her.
The result was not negative.	It was positive.
I am not unwilling to do it.	I am willing to do it.
After the speech, he was not unhappy.	He was happy.
He won't regret it for choosing that.	He will be happy.
He's not the toughest nail in the toolbox.	He is not strong.

Litotes advantages

It is always rude or impolite to say bad about someone. But, we will be in a situation to convey the message.

In that case, litotes comes to our rescue, especially if you don’t want to hurt others and say it in a polished way.

Example: “He is not the brightest star in the band.”

– can be said instead of saying directly, “He is not good at music.”

Litotes disadvantages

On the other hand, it is used by people to not appreciate whole heartedly or directly, and prefer to use a much lesser tone.

Example: Your results are awesome.

But the person says, “Your results are not bad.”

Just to maintain a safe distance between the situation and the person.

Most of us would have come across this situation where we would have expected a real appreciation but it would have turned out to be, “is that it all”!!

Either the person is forced to say so, or it is who they are and do it purposefully.

Whatever maybe the reason, we should not be disheartened by these negative use of litotes by people. Let’s keep moving on and strive for the best!

And let’s make it a point to use litotes to speak good and not to hurt others.

Best wishes.