Figures of speech
Simile(明喻)
Metaphor(暗喻) (隐喻) Metonymy(转喻) (借代) Personification（拟人） Euphemism（委婉） Hyperbole（夸张） Contrast（对照） Antithesis（平行对照） Parallelism（平行）
一 Simile(明喻)
Simile：(明喻)It is a figure of speech which makes a comparison between two unlike elements having at least one quality or characteristic (特性)in common. To make the comparison, words like as, as...as, as if and like are used to transfer the quality we associate with one to the other.
Simile is a comparison between two different things that resemble each other in at least one way. In formal prose the simile is a device both of art and explanation, comparing an unfamiliar thing to some familiar thing (an object, event, process, etc.) known to the reader. For example,
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Repetition（反复） Oxymoron（矛盾修饰） Irony（反语） Climax（层递） Anticlimax（突降） Onomatopoeia（拟声） Alliteration（头韵） pun（双关）
transferred epithet(移就)
As cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country.
1. Simile通常由三部分构成：本体（tenor or subject）,喻体（vehicle or reference）和比喻词（comparative word or indicator of resemblance）。 eg: My love is like a red red rose. tenor comparative word vehicle 2.句型 （1）.like型
★A联系动词（以to be 居多）+like
Eg: Living without an aim is like sailing without a compass. 生活没有目标犹如航行没有指南针
The children went from adult to adult like buckets in a fire brigade. ★实意动词+like。
They will never be able to save money to buy a new house——they both spend money like water. ★ as 型
as在明喻句中用作介词，后跟名词。也可用作连词，后跟状语从句，表示动作或行为的方式。此外，还有两个常用句型，即as…as…和as…so…。 英语里有不少含有明喻的成语，其结构为as+形容词+as+名词（第一个as可省略）。例如：
(as) firm as a rock 坚如磐石 (as) light as a feather 轻如鸿毛 (as) close as an oyster 守口如瓶
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(as) mute as a fish 噤若寒蝉 (as) strong as a horse 强壮如牛 (as) cool as a cucumber 泰然自若 (as) sober as a judge 十分清醒 (as) sure as a gun 千真万确 ★虚拟句型
最常见的是as if/though，另外还有其他一些形式。
Eg: He was a beautiful horse that looked as though he had come out of a painting by Vealsquez.
这匹马真雄俊，看起来仿佛是从一副维拉斯奎兹的油画里跑出来的一样。 The dogs were in full cry, their noses down, their tails up, so close together that might have been one great yellow and white moving carpet.
那群狗吠叫着追猎，低着头，翘着尾巴，一条挨一条，看上去就像一块行进的黄白交织的大地毯。
He woke them both up getting to bed, but when they tried to wake him up afterwards they might as well have tried to wake the dead.
他去睡觉的时候把他们两个都弄醒了，但是后来他们想唤醒他时，简直就像唤死人一样。 ★ what型
A. A is to B what X is to Y
Eg: Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.
阅读之于思想，如同锻炼之于身体。
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Judicious praise is to children what the sun is to flowers. 明智的表扬对于孩子的作用，就像阳光对于花朵的作用。 B What X is to Y, A is to B.
Eg: What salt is to food, that wit and humour are to conversation and literature.
妙语与幽默对于会话与文学，恰似盐对于食物一样。 What blood vessel is to a man‟s body, that railway is to transportation. 铁路对于运输，好比血管对于人体一样。
二、Metaphor(隐喻)(暗喻)
Metaphor：(暗喻)It is like a simile, also makes a comparison between two unlike elements, but unlike a simile, this comparison is implied rather than stated.
For example, the world is a stage.
Metaphor compares two different things by speaking of one in terms of the other. Unlike a simile or analogy, metaphor asserts that one thing is another thing, not just that one is like another. Very frequently a metaphor is invoked by the to be verb: Metaphor is compressed simile(简缩了的明喻)。
在实际运用中Metaphor有时仅出现喻体，本体需要从上下文中分析推敲出来。
英语Metaphor的运用格式灵活多样，它可以体现在任何句子成分上，如主语、谓语、表语、定语、宾语或状语。在表达上它可以是一个单词、一个词组或一个句子，甚至是一个段落。以下为英语Metaphor的常见运用格
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式： ★名词型
最常见的句式是“甲是乙”，喻体一般体现在句子的表语部分。 All the world‟s a stage, and all the men and women merely players.
整个世界是座舞台，男男女女，演员而已。
Money is a bottomless sea, in which honour, conscience, and truth may be drowned.
金钱是无底的海洋，荣誉、良心和真理都可以淹没在其中。 ★动词型
The boy wolfed down the food the moment he grabbed it. 那男孩儿一抓到食物便狼吞虎咽般地吃了下去。
Some books are to be tasted, others swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested 。
书有可浅尝者，有可吞食者，少数则须咀嚼消化。 ★形容词型
She has a photographic memory for detail. 她对细节有照相机般的记忆力。
The mountainous waves swallowed up the ship. 山一般的巨浪吞没了那艘航船。
Mark Twain succumbed to the epidemic of gold and silver fever in the west.
三、Metonymy(转喻) (借代)
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Metonymy (转喻) It is a figure of speech that has to do with the substitution of the mane of one thing for that of another. For instance,. Beneath the rule of men entirely great The pen is mightier than the sword.
该修辞故意不用需要说明的人或物的本称，而是借与该人或该物密切相关的事物名称来代替，即借乙名代甲称。Metonymy的运用基础是联想，两个相互借代的事物必然紧密相关，存在某种现实的联系。
如：What is learned in the cradle is carried to the grave(幼小所学，终生不忘)，句中的the cradle与the grave是跟birth与death密切相关的事物，因此两者之间形成了借代关系。 ：
★以事物的特征代替事物本身
A thousand mustaches can live together, but not four breast. 千条汉子能共处，两个婆娘难相容。 ★以工具代替动作或行为者
A hundred bayonets were marching down the street. 100把刺刀正沿街前进。 ★以容器代替其中内容。
Whenever my husband has a bad day at the office, he hits the bottle. 每当我丈夫在办公室不顺心，他就会喝得酩酊大醉。 ★以人体器官代替其功能
The practiced ear can recognize a classic flavour. 有音乐修养的人能够听出古典音乐的韵味。
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She has the eye for the fair and the beautiful. 她有审美眼光。
I have an opinion of you, sir, to which it is not easy to give the mouth. 我对你有一个意见，先生，不过很难用话语表达出来。 ★以人或动物代替其特性
There is still much of the schoolboy in him. 他身上还有许多小学生的气质。
The wolf and the pig mingled together in his face. 凶残与贪婪交织在一起，浮现在他的脸上。 ★以原材料代替制成品
The 25th Games in Barcelona saw 4golds and 5 silvers in swimming fall into China‟s pockets.
在巴塞罗那举行的第25届奥运会上，游泳项目有4枚金牌、5枚银牌落入了中国队的囊中。
And as he pluck‟d the cursed steel away, 当他拔出那可恶的凶器的时候 Mark how the blood of Caesar followed…瞧，恺撒的血是怎样跟着它流出来 ★以作者或生产者代替作品或产品
The captain…had fallen in possession of a complete Shakespeare. 船长…得到了一整套的莎士比亚作品。 We drove a Ford to Hyde Park. 我们驾驶一辆福特到海得公园去。 ★以具体事物代替抽象事物
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Although his plan had not completely succeeded, she gave him a pat on the back for having tried so hard.
尽管他的计划未获完全成功，但她对他作出的努力表示赞许。 His pen would prove mightier than his pickax for making money. ★以抽象事物代替具体事物
In the present instance, it was sickness and poverty together that she came to visit.
在目前这种情况下，她一并前来探望的是病人和穷人以事物活动的处所代替事物或活动者
She is an ageing opera singer who has retired from the stage to teach. 她是一位年迈的歌剧演员，现已退出舞台从事教学。
★地名或建筑物名可借以代称设于那里的机构。如：
Kremlin(克林姆林宫，俄罗斯政府) The Pentagon(五角大楼，美国国防部) Hollywood(好莱坞，美国电影业) Downing Street(唐宁街，英国政府) Foggy Bottom(雾谷，美国国务院) Buckingham Palace(白金汗宫，英国皇室) 等等。
五、Personification（拟人）
Personification: (拟人)It gives human form of feelings to animals, or life and personal attributes(赋予) to inanimate(无生命的) objects, or to ideas and
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abstractions(抽象). For example, the wind whistled through the trees.
★.Laziness travels so slowly, that poverty soon overtakes him. 懒惰缓慢而行，贫穷迎头赶上。。
★.Liquor talks mighty loud when it gets loose from the jug. 酒一从酒壶里溜出来就会大言不惭。
★.It is useless for the sheep to pass resolutions in favor of vegetarianism while the wolf remains of a different opinion.
当狼依然持有不同意见之时，群羊要通过赞成素食主义的决议案也是无济于事的。
★.Mosquitoes were using my ankles for filling stations. 蚊子把我的脚脖子当作了加油站。
★.Time is like a fashionable host, that slightly shakes his passing guest by th’ hand; and with his arms stretched, as he would fly, grasps in the comer. The welcomes ever smile, and farewell goes out sighing. （William Shakespeare） 时间正像一个趋炎附势的主人，对于一个临去的客人不过和他略微握一握手，对于一个新来的客人，却伸开了双臂，飞也似地过去抱住他。欢迎是永远含笑的，告别总是带着叹息。
★.A lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.
( Mark Twain)
当真理刚刚穿上鞋子，谎言就可能已经走了半个世界。
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Bitterness fed on the man who had made the world laugh
★.How soon hath Time, the subtle thief of youth, stolen on his wing my three and twentieth year!
John Milton)
时间，这个盗窃青春的狡猾的小偷，盗窃了我二十又三年飞走了。
六．Euphemism（委婉）
Euphemism: (委婉) It is the substitution of an agreeable or inoffensive(无冒犯) expression for one that may offend or suggest something unpleasant. For instance, we refer to \"die\" as \" pass away\".
★Euphemism（委婉）， 以文雅、悦耳或温婉来代替粗野、刺耳或直露。借助语音、语法、词汇，表达生活中使人尴尬、惹人不快、招人厌恶或令人恐惧的事物。
Euphemism又叫sweet talk（甜言蜜语），gilded words（镀金的字眼）或cosmetic words（化装词） 有关疾病、残疾、衰老、死亡 ★疾病
Look off colour（气色不好，指身体有病）
under the weather（在恶劣天气条件下，指健康欠佳） not all there（神志不清，实指患精神病）
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long illness（久病，实指癌症） social disease（实指艾滋病）。
替代illness或disease婉称疾病的词有condition, disorder, problem, trouble等。 ★残疾
Disabled（丧失能力的） handicapped（受到障碍的）， ,inconvenienced（行动不便的）, hard of hearing（听觉困难的），
auditory-impaired（听觉损伤的）表示“耳聋的“； sight-deprived（被剥夺视力的）
visually retarded（视力上有障碍的）指“失明”。 ★衰老
“衰老”的委婉说法
Advanced in age（年岁上先行的） past one‟s prime（已过壮年） feel one‟ age（感觉上了年纪） golden age（金色岁月） sunset years（日落之年） 表示“老人”
senior citizen（资深的公民）， the longer living（生活经历较长者）。 ★.死亡
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多达上百条。如，go west（西去），be at rest（安息），be asleep in the Arms of God（安睡在上帝的怀抱中），go the way of all flesh（走众生之路），join one‟s ancestors（加入祖先的行列），return to dust（归之尘土），breathe one‟s last（作最后一次呼吸），pass away（离去），run one‟s race（跑完自己的赛程），be no longer with us（与我们永别了）。
★以下为一些实际用例，部分出自名家笔下，堪称巧用英语委婉的典范。 ▲And, it being low water, he went out with the side.
正是退潮的时候，他跟潮水一道去了。*作者用“驾潮而去”表示“溺水而死”，话说得哀婉动人。
▲If you will allow me , I will call your carriage for you .
如果你愿意的话，我去给你叫辆车。*以“去给你叫辆车”委婉地下达了逐客令，却礼貌、得体。
▲The boy used to take things without permission and has just been out of the rehabilitation home in the country. 那男孩以往常不经允许拿走东西，他刚从乡间的康复中心出来。 *“不经允许拿走东西”实际指“偷窃”，“康复中心”实际是“劳教所”的婉称。
▲He pardoned us off-hand, and allowed us something to live on till he went the way of all flesh.
他轻易地就原谅了我们，并且直到他逝世为止还一直供给我们生活费。 ▲I‟m afraid she can‟t act that part ——she is a little on the plump side. 恐怕她扮演不了那个角色——她有些发福。
▲The reactor began to run out of control “above critical” in the parlance of
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the nuclear engineer.反应堆开始失控——或者用核工程师的话来说：处于临界点之上。
*above critical实际为“核反应堆泄露”。政府在处理核事故时用词尤慎，惟恐引起民众恐慌或愤怒。
▲He was both out of pocket and out of spirits by that catastrophe, failed in his health and prophesied the speedy ruin of the empire.
经过这次灾难，他手头拮据，总是无精打采，身体也不好，时常预言大英帝国不久便会垮台。
*作者用委婉语out of pocket 代替poor或bankrupt这类羞于启齿之词，而且与out of spirits 同一结构，相映成趣。
七、Hyperbole（夸张）
Hyperbole: (夸张) It is the deliberate use of overstatement or exaggeration to achieve emphasis.
a conscious exaggeration fot the sake of emphasis. Not intended to be understood literally
For example:a) The wave ran mountain high. b)America laughed with Mark twain. c)His speech brought the house doen.
d)All the perfunmes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand.
For instance, he almost died laughing.
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★特点是对表达对象进行有违常识或不合逻辑的夸张性描写，以此来取得强烈的修辞效果。比较：
(1) He ran down the avenue, making a loud noise.
(2) He ran down the avenue, making a noise like ten horses at a gallop. 例句（1）为一般性描写，
而（2）则属夸张性描写，有如临其境、如闻其声
Hyperbole多见于文学作品中，但日常口语里也常有运用。如： Haven‟t seen you for ages. I could sleep for a year. We‟re all tired to death.
★英语夸张可分为两类，即扩大夸张( Extended Hyperbole)和缩小夸张(Reduced Hyperbole)。前者将描写对象的形象、数量、作用、程度等特征的东西说得特别高、特别大；后者正相反，即把描写对象的形象、数量、作用、程度等特征性的东西说得特别低、特别小。比较下列例句可看出两者的特点：
▲His eloquence would split rocks! (Extended Hyperbole) 他的雄辩之威之利，能劈磐石。
▲It is the last straw that breaks the camel‟s back. (Reduced Hyperbole) 骆驼能负载过重，加根草就能压死。
★Hyperbole按构成方式分为五类，举例如下： ★用数词表示
This made him roar like a thousand bulls.
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这使他像千牛怒吼一般咆哮起来。
One father is more than a hundred schoolmasters. 一个父亲的作用大于100个教师。
She is sitting here, but her mind is a thousand miles away. ★用其他词汇表示
除数词外，英语夸张也常借助其他各类词来表示，或用动词，或用名词，或用形容词，灵活多样，并无定式，但不少词汇都有极限意义。 A.动词
▲In its wake, budget cuts and food shortages have hit the new nation of Russia——and prices have shot out of this world.
随其（指前苏联）解体后，预算缩减和食品短缺已经沉重地打击了俄罗斯这个新生国家——而且物价高涨，直冲九霄。
▲We not only saw but heard it: the report positively reverberated down the Rhine.我们不仅看见了，而且听见了。这个报告简直响遍了整个莱茵河。 B.名词
▲It‟s a crime to stay inside on such a beautiful day. 今天阳光明媚，躲在家中实在太遗憾了。 ▲*a crime=a great pity，表示“遗憾之极”。
Falstaff: I saw beaten myself into all the colours of rainbow… 福斯塔夫：我自己也给他打得五颜六色，浑身挂彩呢… C.形容词
▲Everyone bowed, including the Westerners. After three days in Japan, the
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spinal column becomes extraordinarily flexible.
每个人都鞠躬，连在场的西方人也不例外。在日本只需要呆3天，脊椎就变得异常灵活。
▲She has that everlasting rotation of tongue, that an echo must wait till she dies before it can catch her last words.
由于她的话真是说个不停，连回声也得等到她死才可以抓到她的最后的话。
八、Contrast
英语Contrast（对照）是一种表现力颇强的常用修辞手法。它将两个相反的事物或同一事物的正反两面并列在一起，使之相互衬托，形成鲜明对照，更加突出地表现事物的本质。
Contrast与Antithesis有相似之处，即都把意义相反的语言单位并列在一起加以对照、比较；
但也有相异之处，主要在于Contrast不像Antithesis那样要求结构相同或相似。试比较以下例句：
(1) United, there is little we cannot do in a host of cooperative ventures. Divided, there is little we can do… (John F. Kennedy) 若能团结，许多合作的冒险计划没有不能成功的。倘使分裂，则无所作为。
(2) Let both sides explore what problems unite us instead of laboring those
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problems which divide us.
让双方一起探讨什么问题能使我们团结，而不要在使双方分裂的问题上耗费心力。
不难看出，（1）不仅语义相反而且结构相似，比较工整、对称，应算做Antithesis；而（2）尽管语义相反，但结构不同，并不对称，应视为Contrast。 运用Contrast可使对立事物的矛盾鲜明突出，揭示其本质，或使正反互衬，相映成趣，加深读者印象。
Caesar. Cowards die many times before their death; The valiant never taste of death but once… (William Shakespeare: Julius Caesar) 凯撒 懦夫在未死之前，就已经死过好多次；勇士一生只死一次…… Let us never negotiate out of fear, but let us never fear to negotiate. (John F. Kennedy)
让我们永不因畏惧而谈判，但让我们永不要畏惧谈判。
They are wonderful when they are good, he thought. There is no people like them when they are good and when they go bad there is no people that is worse.
他想，他们好的时候真了不起。他们好的时候，谁也比不上他们；他们坏的时候，可谁都不如他们恶毒。
To be prepared for war is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace.
(George Washington)
准备战争是维护和平的一种最有效的方法。
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Men always want to be a woman’s first love; women have a more subtle instinct; what they like is to be a man’s last romance.
男人老想当上女人的第一个情人；女人则具有更微妙的本能，她们喜欢的是成为男人追求的最后一个对象。
To be , or not to be: that is the question: whether‟ tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or to take arms against a sea of troubles by opposing end them…
(William Shakespeare: Hamlet)
生存还是毁灭：这是一个值得考虑的问题：默然忍受命运的暴虐的毒箭，还是挺身反抗人世的无涯的苦难，通过斗争把它们扫清，这两种行为，哪一种更高贵……
Technological progress has merely provided us with more efficient means for going backwards.
科技上的进步，只不过为我们提供了向后倒退的更有效的手段而已。 *作者在这里指的是科技用于战争，引起灾祸，导致文明倒退的情况。 A mother takes 20 ytears to make a man of her boy, and another woman makes a fool of him in 20 minutes.
做母亲的要费20年工夫把她的男孩子养大成为男子汉，到了别的女人手中，只要20分钟就会把他化为一条笨汉。
Are not there little chapters in everybody’s life, that seem to be nothing, and yet affect all the rest of the history? (William M. Thackeray: Vanity Fair) 人生一世，总有一些片段当时看着无关紧要，而事实上却牵动了全局。
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A man will joyfully pay a lawyer 500 dollars for untying the knot that he begrudged a clergyman 50dollars for tying.
当牧师为他结合姻缘时舍不得付50块钱的人，却为了要律师解开这个而会高高兴兴地付上500元。
A bank is a place where they lend you an umbrella in fair weather and ask for it back again when it begins to rain.
银行，是在天晴之时借伞给你，到了下雨之时就催你还回去的地方。
九、Antithesis（对偶，对仗）
Antithesis: (对偶) It is the deliberate arrangement of contrasting words or ideas in balanced structural forms to achieve emphasis. For example, speech is silver; silence is golden.
The setting of contrasting phrases opposite each other for emphasis. In true antithesis the opposition between the elements is manifested through parallel grammatical structure
Antithesis指把意义相反或相对的语言单位组织排列在平行、对称的结构里，以求取一种匀称的形式美和强烈的对照感。
Antithesis有两个特点，一是语义上的对照性，一是结构上的对称性。 该辞格可看作是parallelism（平行）和 contrast（对照）的结合。 Antithesis的运用可增强语势，突出事物的矛盾对比及本质特征。 其结构匀称，排列整齐，对照鲜明，寓意深刻，具有很强的修辞效果。 体现Antithesis的语言单位可分为四个层次，即单词、短语、从句和句子。
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（1）单词
Knowledge make humble, ignorance make proud. （2）短语
One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. （3）从句
The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. （4）句子
A miser grows rich by seeming poor. An extravagant man grows poor by seeming rich.
由于Antithesis能揭示事物的矛盾性，这类语句往往说得巧妙、机智、隽永，蕴涵着某种人生的哲理或真谛，加之结构整齐、匀称、音韵铿锵，故运用频繁，常见于英语谚语、演说、报刊文章及文学作品中。 Money is a good servant but a bad master. 金钱是个好仆人，但却是个坏主人。 Work has a bitter root but sweet fruit. 工作之根苦，工作之果甜。
The life of the wolf is the death of the lamb 让狼活着，羊就得死。 Short accounts make long friends. 勤算帐才能交情长。
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They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. 流泪撒种的，必欢呼收割。
Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards. 只有向后看才能理解生活，但要生活好必须向前看。
The young physician starts life with 20 drugs for each disease, and the old physician ends life with one drug for 20diseases.
年轻的医生开始行医时以20种药治一种病，年老的医生结束医业时以一种药治20种病。
A pessimist is one who makes difficulties of his opportunities; an optimist is one who makes opportunities of his difficulties.
悲观的人把机会变成困难；乐观的人将困难化为机会。
*这个例子体现了一种特殊的Antithesis，即在句中采用“交错配列法”(chiasmus)，倒装前一语言单位的某些词序，使句子前后对照，相映成屈，寓意深刻，发人深思。下面三例属于同样用法。 Ask not what your country can do for you —
ask what you can do for your country. (John F. Kennedy) 不要问国家能为你们做些什么，而要问你们能为国家做些什么。 Where there‟s marriage without love, there will be love without marriage 哪里有无爱情的婚姻，哪里便有无婚姻的爱情。
What between the poor men I won’t have and the rich men who won’t have me, I stand as a pelican in the wilderness. (Thomas Hardy)
一边是我不欲与之为伍的穷人，一边是不欲与我为伍的有钱人，我像一只
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伫立在荒野的塘鹅。
If the economy stays down, can conservatives stay up? 如果经济下降，保守党人还能呆在上面吗？
*此例摘自英国《泰晤士报》，stay down与stay up 巧妙并列一句，形成对照，说明执政的保守党人的地位取决于国家经济的兴衰，言语机智、犀利，一针见血。
It is customary fate of new truths to begin as heresies and end as superstitions. 开始被视为异端，最后被一味迷信，这正是许多新真理的共同命运。 We find ourselves rich in goods , but ragged in spirit, reaching with magnificent precision for the moon, but falling raucous discord on earth. 我们物质丰富，却精神贫乏；我们以卓越的准确登上了月球，但地球却陷入一片混乱。
If a man will begin with certainties, he shall end in doubts; but if he will be content to begin with doubts, he shall end in certainties. (Francis Bacon) 治学之人，若一开始就确信既定的结论，他必将终止于怀疑；但如果他宁从怀疑开始，他终会止于确定的结论。
An estimated 500 million people around the world——watching a live television broadcast——saw Armstrong step onto the powdery lunar surface and say: “That‟s one small step for man , one giant leap for mankind.” 据估计全世界有5亿人观看现场直播电视，他们目睹了阿姆斯特朗登上满是尘土的月球表面，并说道：“对于个人来说这是小小的一步，对于人类来说这是巨大的飞跃。”
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*美国宇航员阿姆斯特朗是人类首位登上月球者。在那个激动人心的历史时刻，他说的一句话巧用了Antithesis，以个体与整体、微观与宏观的对比，反衬出人类登月的伟大意义。
Sink or swim, live or die, survive or perish, I give my hand and my heart to this vote.
沉或浮，生或死，存或亡，我都诚心诚意地投上这一票。
*该句再现了亚当斯为支持北美独立而大声疾呼的情景。句子连用三个Antithesis，说明北美人民面临的是决定民族前途、命运的关键时刻，同时也表明亚当斯置个人荣辱、得失和安危于度外的爱国赤诚和坚强决心。 I take thee to my wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and cherish, till death do we part, according to God‟s holy ordiance, and thereto I plight thee my troth.
我愿意遵照上帝圣仪，娶汝为妻。从今起，无论境遇顺遂或乖逆，富贵或贫困，身体康泰或身罹疾病，愿长相厮守，相爱相惜，至死不渝，谨誓。 *这段话是英美等国传统婚礼仪式上新郎对新娘的承诺，可谓信誓旦旦、情真意切。连续运用Antithesis增强了语势，表明了夫妻同甘共苦、白头偕老的决心。
十、Parallelism（平行）
Parallelism（平行）广泛见于诗歌、散文、小说、戏剧、演讲中。其基本用法是将结构相同或类似、意义相关或并重、语气前后一致的语言成分平
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行并列在一起。Parallelism（平行）具有结构整齐、节奏鲜明、表达简练、语义突出的特点，能有效得增强语势，表达强烈的感情，说明深刻的道理。 英语Parallelism（平行）的构成可体现于各个语言层次，如单词、短语、从句、句子等，其中以三项式平行结构最为普遍。如： （1）单词平行
Language occupies a central, pivotal, principal position among L.Bloomfield‟s works.
在布龙菲尔德的著作里，语言占有一种中心的、关键的和主要的地位。 Civilized men arrived in the Pacific, armed with alcohol, syphilis, trousers and the Bible.
文明人来到了太平洋，带着酒、梅毒、裤子、圣经等一身武器。 Europe after millennia of war, rapine, slavery, famine, intolerance, had sunk to the level of a sewer.
欧洲经历了1000年的战乱、掠夺、奴役、饥饿、偏执后沉到了最底层。 An Englishman thinks seated; a Frenchman, standing; an American, pacing; an Irishman, afterward.
英国人坐着想，法国人站着想，美国人走着想，爱尔兰人事后想。 （2）短语平行
包括各种短语，如介词短语、分词短语、不定式短语等。
Studies serve for delight, for ornament, and for ability. (Francis Bacon: Of Studies)
读书足以怡情，足以博采，足以长才。
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We can gain knowledge, by reading, by reflection, by observation or by practice.
求知门径很多，或阅读，或回忆，或观察，或实践。
And raising good cotton, riding well, shooting straight, dancing lightly, squiring the ladies with elegance and carrying one’s liquor like a gentleman were the things that mattered.
他们所关心的，只是棉花要种得旺，骑马要骑得好，开枪要开得准，跳舞要跳得轻松，追女人要追得得体，喝酒要喝得不至于坍台。
A money lender serves you in the present tense, lends you money in the conditional mood, keeps you in the subjunctive and ruins you in the future. 放债人用现在时态为你服务，借钱给你时用的是条件语气，使你老是处于虚拟的状态，并且会在将来毁掉你。 （3）从句平行
They vanish from a world where they were of no consequences, where they achieved nothing; where they were a mistake and failure and a foolishness; where thery left no sing that they had existed.
他们在这样一个世界消失了：在那里他们微不足道，他们一无所就；他们在那里是个过错、失败、犯傻，在那里他们没有留下存在过的痕迹。 It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us, the from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they here gave the last full measure of devotion; that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain; that this nation, under
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God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
(Abraham Lincoln: The Gettysburg Address)
倒是我们应该在这里把自己奉献给仍留在我们面前的伟大任务，以便使人们从这些光荣的死者身上汲取更多的献身精神，来完成他们已经完成、彻底为之献身的事业；以便使我们下定最大的决心，不让这些死者白白牺牲；以便使国家在胜地福佑下得到自由的新生，并且使这个民有、民治、民享的国家永世长存。
*该例出自林肯在葛底斯堡烈士公墓落成典礼上的演讲。整篇演讲仅10句话，只延续了3分钟，但措辞简练、感情深沉、意义深刻，已成为演讲的经典名篇。在最后一句里，作者运用了一个含有四个目的状语从句的平行结构，深刻而有力地阐明了学习英烈应见于行动，努力完成他们未尽之伟业。为千古名言，本身也是一个三项式的平行结构。 （4）句子平行
We are caught in war, wanting peace. We are torn by division, wanting unity.
我们卷入战争，渴望着和平。我们被分隔搞得四分五裂，期望着统一。 *该句工整、对称，酷似汉语的对偶句。国内有些学者将译为排偶，因为他们认为该英语辞格相当于汉语的排比与对偶。
A woman‟s whole life is a history of the affections. The heart is her world: it is there her ambition strives for empire; it is there her avarice seeks for hidden treasures.
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一个女性的全部生活便是一部感情的史话。方寸柔肠便是她们的天地：方寸之内她的志向乃是追求至尊；方寸之内她的贪婪乃是探寻隐藏的珍宝。
We shall fight him by land, we shall fight him by sea, we shall fight him in the air. (W. S. Chruchill)
我们要在陆地上打击他，我们要在海上抗击他，我们要在空中袭击他。 The world listens. The world watches. The world waits to see what we will do.
世界在倾听。世界在注视。世界等待着我们做些什么。
十一、Repetition（反复）
Repetition(反复)是一种常用的修辞手法.其基本用法是连续或间隔地反复使用同一单词 短语或句子,以增强语气和语势,强调表述的观点,抒发强烈的情感,阐明深刻的道理.该修辞运用广泛,常出现于诗歌、散文、小说、演讲及政论文中,在日常口语里也屡见不鲜.其运用格式可分两大类,即连续反复(immediate repetition)和间隔反复(intermittent repetition). (1)连续反复
指同一语言成分紧紧相接,连续出现.
Would you please please please please please please please please stop talking.
务必请你,千万请你别说了吧!
*说话人为了阻止对方继续说下去,竟连续使用了7个,可见要求之迫切,呼
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吁之强烈.
There are three things which the public will always clamour for sooner or later, namely, novelty, novelty, novelty.
有三种东西早晚会为一般大众始终抢着要的就是:新奇、新奇、新奇. （2）间隔反复
指同一语言成分反复使用，但不连接，而是间隔出现。
Old wood best to burn, old wine to drink, old friends to trust, and old authors to read. (Francis Bacon)
旧柴最好烧，陈酒最好喝，老友最可靠，老作家的书最好读。
Revolution is bloody, revolution is hostile, revolution knows no compromise, revolution overturns and destroys everything that gets in its way.
革命是要流血的，革命是敌对的，革命没有折中，革命要推翻和摧毁阻挡着它道路的一切。
Farewell to the mountains high covered with snow! Farewell to the straths and green valleys below! Farewell to the forests and wild-hanging woods! Farewell to the torrents and loud-pouring floods!
(Robert Burns: My Heart‟s in the Highlands) 再见了，积雪皑皑的高山！ 再见了，脚下的西壑绿谷！ 再见了，森林和原始垂悬的树木！ 再见了，急流和奔腾轰鸣的洪水！
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*首句反复的运用，充分抒发了诗人对故乡的眷恋之情，表达有力，不容质疑。
Nothing can come of nothing. (William Shakespeare) 没有只能换到没有。 Blood must atone for blood. 血债用血来还。
*以上两例为句子的首尾重复，该格式常见于英语谚语，如：Diamond cut Diamond（棋逢对手）等。
十二、Oxymoron（矛盾修饰）
Oxymoron: (矛盾修饰) It is a compressed paradox, formed by the conjoining(结合) of two contrasting, contradictory or incongruous(不协调) terms as in bitter-sweet memories, orderly chaos(混乱) and proud humility(侮辱).
A kind of a paradox or antithesis that links together two sharply contrasting terms, as “cheerful pessimist”, “ the wisest fool in Christendon””living deaths” “freezing fires”, “glorious defeat”
英语Oxymoron（矛盾修饰）是一种比较特殊的修辞格，其用法是将意义相反或看似矛盾的词语巧妙地搭配在一起，使之构成修饰关系，借以揭示和强调事物内部或之间的矛盾性和复杂性。Oxymoron（矛盾修饰）的运用
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往往产生一种乍看不合逻辑、令人惊讶，细想却自有道理、耐人寻味的效果。
从构成方式看，Oxymoron（矛盾修饰）可归纳为以下九类： （1）形容词+名词
proud humility 不亢不卑 painful pleasure 悲喜交加
a thunderous silence （此时）无声胜有声 a cheerful pessimist 纵情享乐的厌世者 （2）形容词+形容词
bitter-sweet memories 苦甜参半的回忆 poor rich guys 精神贫穷的富人 bad good news 既坏又好的消息
a miserable, merry Christmas 又悲又喜的圣诞节 （3）副词+形容词
falsely true 虚伪的诚实 conspicuously absent 引人注目的缺席 a wisely stupid idea 自作聪明的糊涂主意 a mercifully fatal blow 仁慈为怀的致命打击 （4）名词+名词
a love-hate relationship 既爱又恨的关系 a life-and-death struggle 生死攸关的搏斗 （5）副词+现在分词
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changeless changing 既始终如一，又变化多端 deliciously aching 既令人愉悦，又使人痛苦 （6）现在分词+名词
speaking silence 千言万语的静默
loving hate 亲亲热热的怨恨 （7）动词+副词
shine darkly 暗淡地发光 die merrily 快乐地死去 hasten showly 慢慢地快起来 （8）过去分词+名词
a vanquished victor 被征服的胜利者 long-lived death 永生的死亡 a disillusioned hopeful 仍抱希望的失望者 （9）of结构
the feather of lead 铅铸的羽毛
mis-shapen chaos of well-seeming forms 整齐的混乱
Oxymoron（矛盾修饰）在英语诗歌里用得十分普遍（尤以16、17世纪为盛），其在散文及其他文体中的运用，虽不及Simile, Metaphor等辞格那样频繁，但亦不罕见。如：
The mother is undergoing the joyful pain, and the painful joy of childbirth.
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这位母亲正经受着分娩时那种欢乐的痛苦和痛苦的欢乐。
*Oxymoron把母亲临产时那种苦中有乐、乐中有苦的复杂感受表达得淋漓尽致。
The Major again pressed to his blue eyes the tips of the fingers that were disposed on the edge of the wheeled chair with careful carelessness. (Charles Dickens: Dombey and Son)
少校用一种精心做出的漫不经心的姿态，再次把原来放在轮椅边上的指尖按住自己的蓝眼睛。
* careful carelessness.描绘了一个假装斯文者的惺惺作态。
There was an audible stillness, in which the common voice sounded strange. 呈现出一片声犹在耳的寂静，而一般的声音倒显得有些异样了。 Dudley Field Malone called my conviction a “victorious defeat.” 杜德理*费尔德*马伦把审判的结果称为一场“胜利的败诉”。
*1925年，美国中学教师John Scopes因在课堂上讲授进化论而遭宗教界指控违法。开庭时虽有多位科学家和律师为他作证、辩护，但此案仍以John Scopes被判有罪而告终。尽管如此，民众却认为他虽败犹胜，虽败犹荣，故有a victorious defeat之说。
十三、Irony（反语）
Irony: (反语) It is a figure of speech that achieves emphasis by saying the opposite of what is meant, the intended meaning of the words being the
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opposite of their usual sense.
The expression of actual intent in words that carry the opposite meaning. It is an effective literary device because it gives the impression of great restraint. For example, …until we are marching backwords to the glorious age of the sixteenth centry (lesson 10).
Irony(反语)即说反话，是一种通过正话反说或反话正说来取得讽刺、幽默等修辞效果的辞格。Irony(反语)不仅在文学作品中屡见不鲜，而且在日常口语里也时有运用。如：
我们很幸运。12月13日到彼岸。那使我们觉得真愉快。
What a noble illustration of the tender laws of his favored country! -----they let the paupers go to sleep!
We are lucky. It‟s the other side on the thirteenth of December. That makes us feel real good.
*13对西方人来说是个不吉利的数字，但恰好是在这天，作者他们奉命在太平洋彼岸的越南登陆参战。本是倒霉，却说“幸运”；本是惶恐不安，却说“真愉快”，这表现了作者的自嘲。
He was such a marvelous teacher that whenever he recognized a spark of genius you could be sure he‟d water it.
他是一个了不起的老师，如果他发现了一点天才的火花，你可以相信他一定会把它浇灭。
*将学生中冒出的天才火花加以浇灭者被称为“了不起的教师”，无疑是对他
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的莫大讽刺。
Chivalry: going about releasing beautiful maidens from other men‟s castle, and taking them to your own castle.
骑士作风——到处在别人的城堡里把漂亮的姑娘们解救出来，然后把她们带回自己的城堡里来。
*通过Irony的运用，作者将所谓的“骑士作风”的虚伪性揭露无遗。 A bronco often becomes so attached to his master that he will lay down his life if necessary—— his master‟s life, I mean.
美洲野马常常如此爱其主人，是以在必要时，还会牺牲他的性命——我的意思是牺牲它主人的性命。
*句首令读者深信不疑：野马深爱其主人；句末才让读者恍然大悟，如此爱法，原来是说反语。
His designs were strictly honourable; that is to rob a lady of her fortune by way of marriage.
他的企图是完全高贵的；那就是，以结婚位手段来夺取贵妇人的财产。 The public is wonderfully tolerant——it forgives everything except genius. 世人是宽大得惊人的——除天才之外，他们宽恕一切。
What a noble illustration of the tender laws of his favoured country!——they let the paupers go to sleep!
他们竟允许穷人睡觉！——这是多么高尚的例证，说明他们那行善的国家的法律是多么仁慈！
*句中noble, tender和favoured均为反语，讽刺当时英国的法律，说明除失
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业和睡觉外，穷人别无任何权利。
He is one of those wise philanthropists who, in a time of famine, would vote for nothing but a supply of toothpicks.
他是当饥荒之际只回建议供应牙签的那一类聪明的慈善家之一。 It saves a lot of trouble if, instead of having to earn money and save it, you can just go and borrow it.
假如你可以干脆去借钱，以此代替赚钱与省钱，那会省掉许多麻烦了。 We send missionaries to China so the Chinese can get to heaven, but we don‟t let them into our country.
我们派传教士到中国去，好让中国人能够上天堂，但我们却不让他们进入我国。
*当时美国政府禁止中国人移居彼国，作者借Irony讽刺此事：口口声声要让中国人“上天堂”，却又连位于人间的美国都不让进，“上天堂”岂会有真？ Her capacity for family affection is extraordinary; when her third husband died, her hair turned quite gold from grief.
她对家庭的情谊异常深厚——当她的第三任丈夫死去的时候，她的头发因悲伤而变成金色。
*暗示该女士或许发的是“丈夫”财，因此连头发都变成了金色。
The English are mentioned in the Bible: Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
《圣经》中有提及英国人的话：“柔顺的人们是有福的，因为人民将会继承大地。”
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*该句中的引语出自《马太福音》第五章，耶稣在山上垂训的一节，不过谈及的并非是有关英国的事情。马克*吐温作此言时，英国仍号称“日不落帝国”，在全世界占有大片土地。
十四、Climax（层递）
21) Climax: (渐进)
It is derived from the Greek word for \"ladder\" and implies the progression of thought at a uniform or almost uniform rate of significance or intensity, like the steps of a ladder ascending evenly.
Arrangement of phrases or sentences in ascending order of importance For example,
a)I came, I saw, I conquered.
b)做人难，做女人更难， 做名女人难上加难。
c)Some books are to be tasted, others to swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested.
climax 指的是平行并列一系列的词语或句子，其中表达的意义根据事物发展的逻辑关系，由轻及重，由浅入深，由弱及强，如此等等，依次阶升，层层递进，直至达到高潮。
英语climax的运用，可使思想逐步深化，感情逐步强化，从而增强语言的说服力与感染力。从结构上看，英语climax所并列的语言单位为三项或三项以上，其中以三项式层递最为常见，最为典型。
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英语climax的排列格式大致可分为以下三种： （1）按语意的轻重顺序排列
To acquire wealth is difficult, to preserve it more difficult, but to spend it wisely most difficult.
积财难，守财更难，而明智地花钱最难。
It is an outrage to bind a Roman citizen; to scourage him is a crime; to put him to death is almost patricide.
捆绑罗马公民是暴行；鞭笞他是犯罪；处死他更是忤逆不赦的大罪。 And her face looking up, her lost face with beseeching eyes, and dark, wet hair ——possessed, haunted, tortured him.
她仰视着，她那失神的脸色带着央求的目光和温辘辘的头发——这又萦绕他、侵扰他、折磨他！
He who loses wealth loses much; he who loses a friend loses more; but he who loses courage loses all.
失去财产的人损失很大，失去朋友的人损失更大，失去勇气的人损失一切。 Threaten him, imprison him, torture him, kill him: you will not induce him to betray his country.
威胁他，监禁他，拷打他，处死他：这些都不能使他背叛自己的国家。 I am sorry. I am so very sorry, I am so extremely, sorry. 我抱歉，我很抱歉，我非常抱歉。 （2）按时间的先后顺序排列 I came, I saw, I conquered.
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我来了，我扫视一切，我征服一切。
The prisoner was first questioned, then tortured, and finally shot. 囚犯先受审讯，然后遭拷打，最后被枪杀。
You can fool all the people some of the time; and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.
你可以一时欺骗所有的人，也可以永远欺骗一部分人，但决不可能永远欺骗所有的人。
I was born an American: I live an American; I shall die an American. 我生来是个美国人，我活着是个美国人，我死时也还是个美国人。 （3）按范围的大小顺序排列
he gazed upon the pretty houses, green hills and the broad Pacific; his heart was filled with awe.
他凝视着美丽的房子、绿色的山冈和辽阔的太平洋；敬畏之情油然而生。 It was the ruin of the family, the uprooting of moral, the destruction of Germany.
那出戏实在是家庭的毁灭，道德的沦丧，德意志的崩溃。
Some read to think, these are rare; some to write, these are common; and some read to talk, and these form the great majority.
有些人为思考而读书，罕见；有些人为写作而读书，常见；有些人为搜集谈资而读书，这些人占读书人的大多数。
He wanted to educate his children, serve his country, and satisfy his God. 他要教育子女，要服务于国家，还要敬奉上帝。
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英语里还有一种特殊的层递结构，实则是climax与（首尾重复）的结合运用，其特点是递进明显，表达有力，饶有趣味。如： for glances beget ogles, ogles sighs,
sighs wishes, wishes words, and words a letter… 因为注视会招来媚眼，而媚眼 惹出叹息，叹息则又引起渴望， 接着是言语搭讪，以后是书简…
…but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulations worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope; and hope maketh not ashamed…
……就是在患难中，也是欢欢喜喜的。因为知道患难生忍耐。忍耐生老练。老练生盼望。盼望不至于羞耻……
十五、Anticlimax（突降）
Anti-climax or bathos: (突降)
It is the opposite of Climax. It involves stating one's thoughts in a descending order of significance or intensity, from strong to weak, from weighty to light or frivolous.
The sudden appearance of an absurd or trivial idea following one or more significant or elevated ideas. Anticlimax is usually comic in effect For instance,
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1．But thousands die, without this or that, die, and endow(赋予) a college, or a cat.
2．秋波就是秋天的菠菜
3．Seldom has a city gained world renown, and I am proud and happy to welcome you to Hiroshima, a town known throught the world for its----oysters. Anticlimax又称Bathos,其汉语译名除“突降”外，还有“渐降”、“倒层递”。这是正与climax相反的一种修辞手法，指在说话或写作时内容急转直下，突然从庄严崇高降至平庸可笑，籍以取得嘲弄讥讽或幽默滑稽的修辞效果。
从结构上看，Anticlimax与climax的不同之处在于：climax所排列的层递结构一般都在三项或三项以上，而Anticlimax所排列的突降结构两项即可成立，但也不乏三项或三项以上者。
Anticlimax在语义上的急转直下往往出人意料之外，令人猝不及防。这主要是由于其最后一项结构与前一项（或数项）结构在内容上形成鲜明对照，其次还在于Anticlimax常采用掉尾句（periodic sentence）或破折号等语法手段，从而在读者或听众一方造成一种悬念。 看下列英语突降修辞法的实际用例：
It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a fortune must be in want of a wife. (Jane Austen: Pride and Prejudice)
凡是有钱的单身汉，总想娶位太太，这已经成了一条举世公认的真理。 *该句采用掉尾结构，语气极为正式，令人预感作者将要高谈阔论一番。
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岂知笔锋一转，所谓“举世公认的真理”不过是众所周知的平庸之见，滑稽可笑，让人捧腹。
We had plenty of company in the way of wagon-loads and muleloads of tourists
——and
the
dust.
(Mark Twain: A Tramp Abroad)
我们的旅伴很多，有载客的马车，有当作坐骑的骡子——还有滚滚尘土。 *作者将旅途上扬起的尘埃视为旅伴之一，与乘马车或骑骡子的游客相提并论，表现了他的幽默感。
One describes the glory of the British Queen. And one describes a charming Indian screen. 有人赞颂英国女王的光荣， 也有人描绘美丽的印度屏风。
A woman who could face the very devil himself——or a mouse——loses her grip and goes all to pieces in front of a flash of lightning. (Mark Twain)
一个碰到魔鬼——或是老鼠——都不害怕的女人，在闪电面前她就沉不住气，吓得魂不附体了。
For God, for America, and for Yale. 为了上帝，为了美国，也为了耶鲁。
*美国耶鲁大学的校训采用突降法修饰，说明了要成就大事业必须从小处做起的深刻道理。
How haughtily he cocks his nose,
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To tell what every schoolboy knows. (J. Swift) 他昂首挺胸，趾高气扬，傲慢无比， 讲起了每个小学生都知道的东西。
The explosion completely destroyed a church, two houses, and a flowerpot. 这起爆炸事故彻底毁坏了一个教堂、两所房屋和一个花盆。
*区区一只花盆竟与一个教堂和两所房屋相提并论，让人感到滑稽可笑。 In our country we have three unspeakably precious things: freedom of speech, freedom of conscience, and the prudence never to practice either. (Mark Twain)
在我国，我们拥有三种不可以言喻的宝物：言论的自由、信仰的自由以及使两者均不获履行的精明。 *话说得含蓄，幽默之中含讽刺。
He has been a doctor a year now and has had two patients——no three, I think ——yes, it was three; I attended their funerals.
他行医迄今已有一年了，曾看过两个病人——不，三个，我想——对了，那是三个，我参加过他们的葬礼嘛。
The only solid and lasting peace between a man and his wife is doubtless a separation.
夫妻之间唯一的巩固而又持久的和平，无疑是分手。
“Seldom has a city gained such world renown, and I am proud and happy to welcome you to Hiroshima, a town known throughout the world for its ——oysters.”
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(J. Danvoir, Hiroshima——the “Liveliest” City in Japan)
“很少有哪一个城市在世界上享有这样的盛名。我非常自豪而且非常愉快地欢迎大家来到广岛。广岛之所以能如此出名，是由于它的——牡蛎。” *该句本应一“原子弹灾难”而告终，结果出人意料之外，突然降到“牡蛎”一词，收到了一种幽默、嘲讽的效果。
十六．Onomatopoeia（拟声）
Onomatopoeia: (拟声) It is a device that uses words which imitate the sounds made by an object (animate or inanimate), or which are associated with or suggestive(提示的) of some action or movement.
Onomatopoeia（拟声）是通过模仿、描绘和渲染人类万物的声音来修辞的辞格，运用它能刺激人们的听觉，产生语音象征意义的联想，从而增强语言表达的直观性、生动性和形象性，给人一种耳闻其声、身临其境的感觉。
英语拟声词大体可分以下三类： 1
模仿人类声音构成的拟声词
如：aha（啊哈，表示得意），sh（嘘，示意安静），boo（呸，表示轻蔑），wow（哇，表示惊奇、喜悦、羡慕），ow or ouch（啊呦或唉呦，表示疼痛的叫喊声），ahem（姆哼，清嗓子或引人注意之声），hurrah（乌拉，欢呼声），giggle（咯咯地笑），clap（啪啪地拍掌），patter（嗒嗒地急行）等等。 2
模仿动物声音构成的拟声词
如：baa（咩，羊叫声），moo（哞，牛叫声），mew（喵，猫叫声），coo（咕，
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鸽叫声），heehaw（驴叫声），bow-wow（汪汪，狗叫声），doodle-doo（喔喔喔，公鸡叫声）等等。
以下为一些常见动物与拟声动词的搭配
Apes gibber 猿吱吱叫 Asses bray(beehaw) 驴叫 Bees hum(buzz, drone) Bulls bellow Cows low(moo) Cocks crow(cock-a-doodle-doo) Hens cackle(cluck) Chicken cheep Cats mew (purr) Dogs bow-wow Doves coo Ducks quack Elephants trumpet Frogs croach Geese gaggle Horses neigh (snort) Magpies chatter Mice squeak Pigs squeal (grunt)
蜜蜂翁翁叫 公牛吼叫 母牛哞哞叫 雄鸡喔喔叫 母鸡咯咯叫 小鸡叽叽叫
猫喵喵叫或发呼噜声 狗汪汪叫 鸽子咕咕叫 鸭子戛戛叫 象吼叫 蛙呱呱叫 鹅嘎嘎叫 马嘶（喷鼻息） 喜鹊喳喳叫 老鼠叽叽叫
猪尖叫（或发呼噜声）
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Lions roar 狮子吼叫 Tigers growl (roar) 虎咆哮 Snakes hiss 蛇作嘶嘶声 Wolves howl 狼嗷叫 3
模仿各种事物声音构成的拟声词
如：溪流淙淙（murmur）或潺潺（bable），波浪汩汩（swish），雨点啪嗒（patter），雷声隆隆（rumble,roll），风吹草木飒飒（rustle）等。再如：子弹嗖嗖（zip），喇叭嘟嘟（toot），钟表滴答（tick），铃声叮当（tinkle），汽车嘎然刹住（screech），照相机咔哒拍照（ka-dok）等等。
在英语里，用语拟声修辞的拟声词可呈多种次词类形式，其中最常见的是名词、动词、副词和感叹词。
如：The angry husband shut the door with a bang. （用作名词） 生气的丈夫砰地一声把门关上了。
My heart is banging in my ears. （用作动词） 在我耳中响着砰砰的心跳声。
The drunken driver drove bang into the store window. （用作副词） 醉醺醺的司机开车砰地撞进商店的橱窗。
“Bang! Bang!” shouted the boys in imitation of gunfire. （用作感叹词） 男孩们高喊：“砰，砰！”模仿着枪声。
Onomatopoeia的主要修辞作用是创造声音形象，使表达生动、逼真、惟妙惟肖。
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十七.Alliteration（头韵）
25) Alliteration: (头韵) It has to do with the sound rather than the sense of words for effect. It is a device that repeats the same sound at frequent intervals(间隔) and since the sound repeated is usually the initial consonant sound, it is also called \"front rhyme\". For instance, the fair breeze blew, the white foam flew, the furrow followed free.
Alliteration: 一组词、一句话或一行诗里，有意反复使用起首字母或起首声韵相同的词。
头韵一般出现在两个或两个以上临近的词或音节中，通常为
起首辅音的重复。 注意:
不发字母本音的字母不构成头韵。如：physical pain并不构成头韵，因为字母组合 ph发[f]音; an honest hostess也无头韵，因为honest中的h不发音。
Alliteration 主要修辞作用是增强语言的节奏感，此外还可用于模仿许多事物的声响，以使语言表达更为生动形象。
在现代英语里，Alliteration运用较广，除诗歌外，还常见于散文、谚语、广告、书名等。现分别举例说明如下： （1）用于诗歌
Long and loudly little Lily laughed.
★When to the sessions of sweet silent thought
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I summoned up remembrance of things past, I sigh the lack of many a thing I sought,
And with old woes new wail my dear time‟s waste.
(William Shakespeare: Sonnet30) 当我传唤对以往事物的记忆 出庭于那馨香的默想的公堂， 我不禁为命中许多缺陷叹息， 带着旧恨，重新哭蹉跎的时光。
*此诗以清辅音[s]作头韵，增强了沉思默想的意境；第四行改押浊辅音[w]构成的头韵，结合词义表达了呜咽哀叹的情调，余音缭绕，生动形象。 （2）用于散文
在散文里偶尔运用头韵可起到醒目、突出的作用。
Nest to health, heart, home, happiness for mobile Americans depends upon the automobile.
对于好动的美国人来说，幸福不仅取决于健康、爱情、舒适和温暖的家庭，还取决于汽车。
The world believes in the wonder worker, not in the words of wisdom. (Richard Jefferson)
世界信任的是创造奇迹的劳动者，而不是智慧的话
★The flakes were falling tick and hard now, pouring past the window, a waterfall of mystery.
现在雪下得又大又密，好似神秘的瀑布在外飘泼。
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（3）用于谚语或习语
Alliteration的运用不仅可增强谚语、习语的语义，还能加深读者的印象，使其过目不忘。例如：
★Money makes the mare go. 有钱能使鬼推磨。 A fair face may hide a foul heart. 笑里藏刀。
Dumb dogs are dangerous. 哑巴狗最危险。 Willful waste makes woeful want. 肆意挥霍，家徒四壁。 Tit for tat 针锋相对 With might and main 尽全力 Neither fish, flesh, nor fowl 不伦不类 Safe and sound 安然无恙 （4）用于各类广告
在广告中运用Alliteration，可使之悦目悦耳，增强宣传效果，吸引读者的注意力。
★Vitamins for vim and vigor 摄取活力和精力的各种维生素
★Cut costs without cutting corners 减少花费而不必节省 *上例为汽车广告，cut corners一语双关：抄近路；以经济的方式做事，指汽车是不可省掉的消费，有了它就不必步行抄近路。
★Sea, sun, sand, seclusion——and Spain 海滨，阳光，沙滩，幽静——更有西班牙风情 *此例为一则旅馆广告。
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★Sensotously smooth. Mysteriously mellow. Gloriously golden. Who can resist the magic of Camus XO Cognac?
诱发美感的柔和，神秘的芳醇，荣耀的金色，有谁能抗拒Camus XO康涅克白兰地的魔力？
*此为推销Camus XO康涅克白兰地酒的广告。 （5）用于书名或报刊文章标题
★Pride and Prejudice 《傲慢与偏见》 ★Sense and Sensibility 《理智与情感》 ★The Winds of War 《战争风云》
★Pei‟s Pyramids Puzzle Paris 贝氏的金字塔使巴黎困惑
*这是美国《时代》周刊上一篇报道文章的标题，“贝氏”指著名建筑师、美籍华人贝聿铭。文章说由他设计建于罗浮宫内的金字塔模型令巴黎公众感到困惑难解。
★Jazzy in Jeams, Sassy in Sweater
穿上牛仔裤，活泼利索；套上毛线衫，潇洒俊俏。
*这是《生活》杂志评述英国王妃戴安娜服饰风格的文章标题。
★Alliteration还常用于英语绕口令，在游戏和语音练习中具有一定的实用意义。
例如：A. big black bug bit a big black bear and made the big black bear bleed blood等。
B Peter piper picked a pack of pickled pepper
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十八．pun（双关）
Pun: (双关语)
♣It is a play on words, or rather a play on the form and meaning of words. For instance, a cannon-ball took off his legs, so he laid down his arms. (Here \"arms\" has two meanings: a person's body; weapons carried by a soldier.) ♣A play on words based on similarity of sound and sharp difference in meaning For example
Seven days without water make one weak=(week)
Paronomasia（双关）俗称 Pun。该辞格巧妙利用英语许多词谐音、多义的特点，在同一句话里同时表达两层不同意义，以造成语言活泼、幽默或嘲讽的修辞效果。
paronomasia（双关）在英语中出现很早，是一种有趣的文字游戏，广泛应用于各种文学作品，或插科打诨，或借题发挥，或旁敲侧击，使语言表达妙趣横生。
paronomasia（双关）的构成需要两个基本条件，即双重情境(double context)和多义词或同音异义词。其构成方式主要有三种： （1）同音异义词构成的双关
You earn your living and you urn your dead. 人们谋求生计，火化死者。
*Earn与urn同音异义，用在一起显得俏皮，别有趣味。
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（2）多义词构成的双关
To England will I steal, and there I‟ll steal. (William Shakespeare: Henry V)
我要偷偷溜回英格兰，上那儿偷去。
*动词steal 重复使用，前者为“潜行”之义，后者为“偷窃”之义，构成双关，表达幽默。
（3）同形同音异义词构成的双关
An ambassador lies abroad for the good of his own country. 大使是为了本国利益而在国外撒谎（或居住）的诚实人。 *除说谎外，兼有“居住”、“驻扎”，之义，一语双关，十分风趣。
英语paronomasia（双关）运用颇广，除文学作品外，还常见于笑话、谜语等，另在商品广告里也时有运用。如：
We must all hang together, or we shall all hang separately. 如果我们不团结在一起，我们将一个个被绞死。
*本句运用双关语，深刻而又幽默地说明了不团结便要灭亡的道理。 On Sunday they pray for you and on Monday they prey on you. 星期日他们为你祈祷，星期一他们则对你掠夺。
*该句巧借与谐音构成双关，辛辣地嘲讽了西方一些人貌似虔诚教徒，实则敲诈他人，灵魂丑恶。
Women have a wonderful sense of right and wrong, but little sense of right and left.
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女性对善恶具有惊人的感觉，但对左右则感觉甚微。 *该句借双关语讽刺女性方向感差，开车不分左右。
A policeman said to a criminal, “You reckon your Dodge would help you up to all these dodges again” .
警察质问罪犯：“你以为你的„道奇‟车又能帮你逃之夭夭吗？”
*Dodge为„道奇‟牌汽车，恰与动词 dodge（躲避）构成双关。这是英语专有名词构成双关的用例。
Bridge is a game of cards which a good deal depends a good deal. 桥牌，是大部分要看发牌（的好坏）而定的纸牌游戏。
*句中重复使用a good deal，前者意为“大部分”，后者意为“好牌”，构成双关，相映成趣。
“We would like very much to have you for dinner,” as the cannibal said to the captured missionary.
嗜食人肉的生番对俘虏的传教士说：“我们想设宴招待你（吃掉你）。” * to have you for dinner是个有歧义的结构，也构成双关，既可理解为to invite you to dinner，又可理解为to eat you for dinner。
Some persons can be everywhere at home; others can sit musingly at home and can be everywhere.
有些人可以四海为家而无拘无束，也有些人可以静坐家中而神游四海。 When a woman dresses to kill, the victim‟s apt to be time. 当女人着装打扮自己去迷人时，被牺牲的往往是时间。
*该句双关别致、有趣。从句中的kill作不及物动词是理解为“使着迷”（相
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当于 charm），而作及物动词则理解为“消磨（时光）”，恰与主句中的time相呼应。
Try our sweet corn, and you‟ll smile from ear to ear. 尝尝我们的甜玉米，包你乐得合不拢嘴。
*此为商品广告，from ear to ear一语双关，即表示因满意而乐得合不拢嘴，又表示因喜欢而吃了一穗一穗。 Tick, Tock, Tick…Talk 滴答，滴答，滴答……说吧。
*该文章标题见于美国《时代》周刊。美国总统克林顿曾因Lesinsky绯闻案而声名狼藉，险些失去总统宝座。该标题模仿时钟响声，给人一种紧迫感和期待感。最后一词由 tock改为 talk，妙不可言，表明美国人期待总统快说实话。
十九、transferred Epithet移就
Transferred epithet is an adjective modifying a noun which it does not normally modify, but which makes figurative sense:
Transferred Epithet（转类形容词）。其修辞方式是将本该用来修饰某类名词的修饰语移用于修饰按常规不能修饰的另一类名词。英语Hypallage的用法看似有违常理，不合逻辑，实则语言凝练、形式新颖、生动形象、新鲜活泼。
从结构上看，可用于移位修饰的词语或结构主要有以下六种：
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（1）描绘性形容词移位修饰名词 I spoke to them in hesitant French. 我结结巴巴地用法语对他们说。 （2）复合形容词移位修饰名词
People listened with open-moused astonishment while the shocking new sank in.
当这个令人震惊的消息传来时，人们听了都惊得目瞪口呆。 （3）形容词性名词移位修饰名词
The United States has now set up a loneliness industry.
美国现在已创建了一种为孤独的老年人服务的社会服务项目。 （4）现在分词移位修饰名词
They prolonged the clasp for the photographers, exchanging smiling words. 他们握手时边笑边谈，以此延长握手时间，好让摄影师拍照。 （5）过去分词移位修饰名词 An awed hush fell upon the bystanders. 在场的人都惊奇得目瞪口呆。 （6）of结构用于移位修饰 The Grapes of Wrath 《愤怒的葡萄》
*此系美国作家斯坦贝克（J. Steinbeck）所著小说名，wrath本该用于形容那些历尽艰辛、受骗上当去西部当采摘工的移民，作者却移用来修饰他们所采摘的葡萄。移民们的命运何等悲惨，连葡萄都愤怒了！
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就修饰语同被修饰语的关系看，Hypallage的运用大致可归纳为以下几种：
（1）说明人的修饰语移用于说明具体事物或抽象概念 He crashed down on a protesting chair.
他一屁股坐了下来，椅子吱呀作响，好象是在抗议似的。 *说明人的行为的Protesting移用于修饰具体事物chair。
He behaved with guilty caution and rather enjoyed stealing a march on Doctor Ed.
他的一举一动小心谨慎，心中虽然有些内疚，但为能偷偷地抢在埃德大夫之前颇为得意。
* 形容人的心态的Guilty移用于抽象概念caution。 （2）说明动物的修饰语移用于说明事物
The American society saw a gnawing poverty during the tears of the Great Depression.
在大萧条年代，美国社会充斥了令人心酸的贫困。
*To gnaw通常指动物、昆虫的“咬”，在本句中移用于修饰 poverty，意为“令人心酸的贫困”。
（3）说明抽象事物的修饰语移用于说明具体事物 The sky turned to a tender pallet of pink and blue. 天空成了一块柔和的粉红色和蓝色的调色板。
*Tender常用于说明抽象事物，此处转饰具体事物“调色板”。 （4）说明具体事物的修饰语移用于说明抽象事物
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All the time the creeping fear that he would never come back to her grew strong within her.
她的心一直被那越来越强烈的恐惧感揪着，她感到他是永远不能回到她身边来了。
*表示具体动作的Creeping转移修饰抽象事物 fear。
（5）说明具体事物的修饰语移用于说明另一通常不能修饰的具体事物 Mark Twain had to leave the city because of the scathing columns he wrote. 由于马克*吐温写了一些尖锐而辛辣的专栏文章，所以他不得不离开那个城市。
Darrow put a reassuring arm on my shoulder and told me not to be worried.
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