A thousand years can not repair a moment’s loss of honor. (A single slip may cause lasting sorrow.
The error of a moment becomes the regret of a lifetime. One false step brings everlasting grief. One single slip brings eternal regret.)
For me, there is no one but my wife, and my wife is the world. It’s a crime to stay inside on such a beautiful day. It’s no crime to mispronounce a word.
I’m a bit angry. /I’m rather angry. /Scarcely am I so angry. I’ve spent a considerable amount of time reading. He is not a fool. He is no fool.
The face wasn’t a bad one; it had what they called charm. ― John Galsworthy If Saddam Hussein goes out of power, no tear is to be shed. Money is kind of tight.
My daughter got a passing grade for History, but her score could be better. cf. Her score leaves much to be desired. Her score is far from being satisfactory.
Her testing performance is well below par. She doesn’t apply herself to her study. The book reads dull, but its cover is not a bad one. She didn’t quite enjoy the best reputation. — “Are you OK?”
— “Nothing could be better.”
I must say some TV programs are interesting, but others should have been better. You should have been here earlier. 9.
Transferred Epithet
An epithet is an adjective or descriptive phrase that serves to characterize sb. or sth. A transferred epithet is one that is shifted from the noun it logically modifies to a word associated with that noun.
Happy New Year! a sleepless night
I’ll have a busy afternoon ― four classes! The crawling minutes seem to be everlasting.
I have mountainous difficulty in understanding Shakespeare’s works. sweet voice icy look sour remarks sharp cry oily-tongued
I had some cheerful wine at the party.
IBM has a quite handsome increase of productivity this year. Lazy clouds drifted across the sky.
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He was mortified by his humble scores at the examination. 10.
Oxymoron
Oxymoron is a figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms are combined to produce a special effect:
The interview lasted for an endless morning; I got quite exhausted.
He sat there and watched them, so changelessly changing, so bright and dark, so grave and
gay.
It was the best of times, it was the worst times; it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of
foolishness; it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity; it was the season of light, it was the season of Darkness; it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair; we had everything before us, we had nothing before us; we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way. cruel kindness cruel beauty
painful pleasure creative destruction
ugly beautiful love-hate relationship
old young man victorious defeat
wise fool a woman of devastating beauty loving hate
What he said is falsely true. No light, only darkness visible.
That was one of his bittersweet memories. It is a life-and-death struggle.
You are nothing but a walking dead.
“I have a last request to make of you, my friendly enemy,” said he. Soapy walked eastward through a street damaged by improvement. She nodded her head, with a touch of sorrowful gladness.
11.
Alliteration
Alliteration refers to the appearance of the same initial consonant sound in two or more words:
Speech is silver; silence is gold. Waste not, want not. Many men, many minds.
I kissed thee ere I killed thee. —— Othello The solitary reaper is singing a song. I spent a splendid spring there. May you get good grade! Money makes the mare to go.
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Enjoy your pleasures and pressures of campus life. Super Savings in the Skies Jazzy in Jeans, Sassy in Sweater. Very fancy, very fast. 12. Repetition
Repetition is a figure of a speech in which the same words or expressions (or their cognates) occur repeatedly so as to give expression to intense feeling and create a sense of clearness or balance in a sentence.
Eat to live, but do not live to eat. A friend in need is a friend indeed. What’s done can’t be undone. Like cures like.
Diamond cut diamond. Measure for measure.
Never trouble trouble till trouble troubles you. Let bygones be bygones.
Easy come, easy go. (Light come, light go.)
Out of sight, out of mind. (Far from eye, far from heart.) Follow love, and it will flee; flee love, and it will pursue.
He doesn’t say much, and when he does, he doesn’t say much. We are human and human beings are far from perfect.
13. Antonomasia
Antonomasia is a figure of speech by which the name of a famous character (religious, historical and literary) is used for the class he typifies.
(1) biblical or mythological figures
Solomon ― a wise man
Daniel ― a wise and fair judge Judas ― a traitor
Hercules ― a hero of strength and bravery (2) historical figures
the Rubicon ― an irrevocable step Nero ― a tyrant
John Wayne ― a modern figure of a tough guy (3) literary figures
Uncle Tom ― a Negro who compromises and conforms with the Whites The only way out is fig-leaf diplomacy.
Both sides are looking for a virgin birth, a deal with no obvious father. 3-D or not 3-D, that’s the question for advertisers. There is something rotten in the state of Europe. Something is rotten in the state of Denmark. It is his albatross to be involved in the scandal. The project is a financial albatross from the start.
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He is a Byronic figure. Limey Shylock Don Juan
Sherlock Holmes
Gretna Green marriage the Bard Eden Hitler Hamlet
If autumn comes, can winter be far behind?
With apologies to T. S. Eliot, January is the cruelest month. 班门弄斧
三个臭皮匠，顶个诸葛亮。 八仙过海，各显神通。 司马昭之心，路人皆知。 说到曹操，曹操就到。
14. Climax and Anticlimax
Climax is a Greek word signifying a ladder. By climax the sense rises by successive steps to what is more and more important and impressive. Anti-climax is the opposite to climax, and signifies a descent from the higher to the lower.
Speech is silver, but silence is gold.
Be slow in choosing a friend; slower in changing. I came, I saw, I conquered.
He sacrificed his business, his home, and his honor for political gain.
In the above sentences the sense rises by successive steps to what is more and more important and impressive. The following sentences signify a descent in sense from the higher to the lower.
Much ado about nothing. More haste, less speed.
Jack of all trades, but master of none.
Fame is as fatal to men as fattening to pigs. Men die for wealth; birds die for food.
To run after two hares, you can catch neither.
He lost his wife, his household goods and his dog at one fell swoop. cf.
It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife. ― Jane Austen
15. Epigram
Epigram is a short, pointed saying which arrests attention by its cleverness. In rhetoric an epigram can be further classified into aphorism, zeugma and paradox.
a) Aphorism
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Aphorism is a figure of speech in which a generally accepted truth is stated in a simple and unadorned way so as to leave no room for dispute.
Waste not, want not. Comparisons are odious. Content is happiness.
Where there is a will, there is a way. No cross, no crown.
Hardship increases statue.
Life depends on physical exercises (or on sports). Patience wears out stones.
Laziness in youth spells regret in old age.
b)
Zeugma
Zeugma is a figure in which a single word, usually a verb or adjective, is syntactically related to two or more words, with only one of which it seems logically connected; thus forming a
sentence which violates not usage but also the general collocation of words. One will wonder at its novelty at first, then finally realize its truth, thus leaving a profound and unforgettable impression behind.
All is fair in love and war.
Beauty and folly are often companies. Joy and sorrow are next door neighbours. to blow hot and cold.
Time and tide wait for no man. Teaching others teaches yourself.
c)
Paradox
On the surface a statement in this figure seems self-contradictory and runs counter to the common sense and reason, but after due consideration one will find there is a brilliant philosophy under this apparent contradiction or violation of reason. Besides this substratum of truth revealed in a paradox is much more profound than ordinary “little truth” though accepted beyond doubt. That is why paradox is regarded as the most wonderful epigram among the three.
Best is cheapest.
The child is father of the man.
The farthest way about is the nearest way home. Everybody’s business is nobody’s business.
One boy is a boy, two boys half a boy and three boys no boy. to set a thief to catch a thief; like cures like. Much cry and little wool. More haste, less speed.
Out of blows friendship grows. good-for-nothing.
Many kiss the baby for the nurse’s sake. to flog a dead horse.
Victory lies in desperate positions.
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