Synecdoche
Definition:
A synecdoche is a literary devices that uses a part of something to refer to the whole. It is somewhat rhetorical in nature, where the entire object is represented by way of a faction of it or a faction of the object is symbolized by the full.
Example:
“Weary feet in the walk of life”, does not refer to the feet actually being tired or painful; it is symbolic of a long, hard struggle through the journey of life and feeling low, tired, unoptimistic and ‘the walk of life’ does not represent an actual path or distance covered, instead refers to the entire sequence of life events that has made the person tired.
Comments
12 comments postedThe salesman wanted to speak to the head of the house.
I think this is an example of synecdoche.
When Sheila says of Eric, "He strokes number four" and she is implying that he plays guitar, would that be synecdoche?
yes it is
It almost seems to be a kind of metaphor, using a part in comparison to the whole. Am I way off with this?
Does "Soul Meets Body" a example of a Synecdoche?
Not exactly. A better example would be "That guy has nice wheels!" in reference to his car. The wheels are only a part of the whole car.
Sin-ek-doh-key
how do you pronounce that word
Would 'Diamond in the rough' be an example?
No. It is a piece of the whole.
What is the whole in "diamond in the rough"?
Across the bounding waves? waves for ocean?
Yes, this is definitely a part of the whole.
Waves (part) are part of the (whole) ocean.
Most often synecdoches are used when someone, for example, blames a whole beauty salon for the mess-up of one hairdresser. "That salon is awful! Look what they've done to my hair!". It is not the salon (whole), it is the individual hairdresser.
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