Figures Of Speech: 60 Ways To Turn A Phrase

The book "Figures Of Speech: 60 Ways To Turn A Phrase" discusses the use of figures of speech in writing. The author argues that these figures should not be learned in the same way as scientific elements, as they are not hypothetical structures but rather potentialities within language and ourselves. The use of figures of speech allows for limitless creativity in language, as demonstrated by Shakespeare and other writers. The book presents definitions of figures of speech and uses quotations from various sources to show how they can be used in writing. The quotations are meant to inspire imitation and encourage readers to use language in new and creative ways.

Writing is not like chemical engineering. The figures of speech should not be learned the same way as the periodic table of elements. This is because figures of speech are not about hypothetical structures in things, but about real potentialities within language and within ourselves. The "figurings" of speech reveal the apparently limitless plasticity of language itself. We are inescapably confronted with the intoxicating possibility that we can make language do for us almost anything we want. Or at least a Shakespeare can. The figures of speech help to see how he does it, and how we might.

Therefore, in the chapters presented in this volume, the quotations from Shakespeare, the Bible, and other sources are not presented to exemplify the definitions. Rather, the definitions are presented to lead to the quotations. And the quotations are there to show us how to do with language what we have not done before. They are there for imitation.