What is the term for an abstract personification? (Examples below) (lemmy.world)

submitted 11 months ago by AnalogyAddict@lemmy.world to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world

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Something like "the Firm wants to hire you," "London doesn't like you," or "the Company has noticed your achievements."

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[-] 1stTime4MeInMCU@mander.xyz 5 points 11 months ago

Synecdoche

[-] AnalogyAddict@lemmy.world 6 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

Oo, I got a bonus word! I spent way too much time trying to parse synecdoche from metonym.

Apparently, synecdoche is something associated with, and metonym is a whole or a part of of. So "red hats" and "trust funds" referring to people are synecdoche and my examples were all metonyms.

I'm geeking out a bit now.

[-] AnarchistArtificer@slrpnk.net 2 points 11 months ago

A book you'd probably enjoy is "Elements of Eloquence", by Mark Forsythe. It covers this kind of stuff in a fun, accessible format. Like how John F Kennedy's "Let us never negotiate out of fear, but let us never fear to negotiate" is an example of chiasmus, the symmetrical repetition of structure or wording; or how the Fight Club rules thing is an example of epizeuxis.

The audiobook version is pretty fun to listen to, that's how I first encountered the book - a friend who needs something to listen to as they sleep put it on and I enjoyed it.

[-] AnalogyAddict@lemmy.world 2 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

Thanks for the recommendation! I'll check it out.

[-] Chozo@kbin.social 3 points 11 months ago

In case anybody is struggling to pronounce this.

[-] AnalogyAddict@lemmy.world 2 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

I think that pronunciation has a few too many syllables. Lol. SiNEKduhkey. Not sinokideecodechodee or whatever that was.

this post was submitted on 21 Dec 2023

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