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‘Synecdoche’ and ‘Metonymy’

Free Level Test

‘Synecdoche’ and ‘metonymy’ are not words that one often hears. Yet we are presented with examples of both of these Come and see our school and
intriguing literary devices on a regular basis. Synecdoche is the use of part of a thing to represent its whole or, conversely, take a free level test
using a whole to represent a constituent part. The former is called ‘microcosmic synecdoche’ whereas the latter is called
‘macrocosmic synecdoche’. Synecdoche is meant to be understood figuratively, not literally. Contact
Taking ‘microcosmic synecdoche’ first, i.e. using a part to signify a whole. An example: we can refer to a car as ‘wheels’, e.g. Tel. 934 155 452
‘Nice wheels, my friend!’ The speaker is actually complimenting the car as a whole, but choosing to mention only a _part_ of Tel. 934 150 387
the car. (It is generally understood that he means the car as a whole unless, of course, he is actually referring to that specific info@callanschool.info
part of the car… but don’t worry. You should easily be able to infer the correct meaning from context.) This use of ‘wheels’ to
mean ‘car’ is an example of microcosmic synecdoche.

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Another example: using the word ‘mouths’ instead of people. We might say that ‘a busy restaurant has many mouths to feed’.
Of course the image of a mouth sitting at a table with nothing else attached to it – no body, head, face, etc. – is surreal (and
faintly sinister). Clearly, when we say ‘mouths’ we are referring to the _people_ those mouths belong to, i.e. the customers.
Using the word ‘mouths’ is more original than simply saying ‘customers’, however; it’s also more evocative, conjuring as it Free English resources
does the bizarre image of that singular body part, waiting to be served.
Conditional Sentences
One more? If we were on a ship on a rough sea, it would be common to hear the captain cry: ‘All hands on deck!’ What he (or The present Continuous
she) really means is that all _sailors_ are to report to the deck to help out – not just their hands! ‘Hands’, in this context, Remember vs Remind
means sailors. ‘All crew on deck’ would also suffice – but it doesn’t have the same hearty, weather-beaten ring to it. Much, Many, Few, Little
Tail Questions – Part II
The examples above display use of microcosmic synecdoche. Macrocosmic synecdoche does the opposite and is often
used in politics. Take the following sentences: ‘The White House today announced plans to scrap Obamacare…’; ‘Buckingham
Palace has ordered its guards to be more vigilant following last week’s security scare…’ Obviously, it would be ridiculous to
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believe that every single person in the White House or Buckingham Palace was involved in those announcements. It would be
the work of one person – or maybe a few people. Not everyone was involved in the decisions and the announcements.

This device is often used in newspapers, particularly in sports reporting. If a newspaper refers to the United States in a story Resources by levels
about the Olympics, chances are they are referring to the United States Olympic Team – not the country (the USA) and all of
its inhabitants!
Stage 01 (5) Stage 02 (16)
Similarly, when we read a report about ‘the police’ making inquiries into a murder, we are actually referring to a few officers
involved with the case – not the entire British police force. Stage 03 (28) Stage 04 (43)

Sometimes, we refer to a material that is used to make a particular object (or group of objects). For example, we can refer to Stage 05 (61) Stage 06 (57)
credit cards by saying ‘plastic’, as that is the material they are made from. Or we might hear a gangster in an action film
Stage 07 (69) Stage 08 (70)
exhorting his adversaries to ‘Eat lead!’ Lead referring to bullets from guns, of course, not pencils!

Synecdoche is a useful figure of speech. Remember that, in all the examples above, the thing mentioned is part of (or the
Stage 09 (50) Stage 10 (27)
whole of) the thing being discussed: wheels for cars, hands for sailors; America for the United States, Downing Street for the
Stage 11 (23) Stage 12 (17)
Prime Minister’s office; etc.
Stage 13 (15) Stage 14 (10)
When we use _metonymy_, however, we use a word that is closely associated with the thing being discussed _without
actually being a part of it_. A very famous example is the sentence: ‘The pen is mightier than the sword.’ Here, ‘the pen’ refers Stage 15 (9) Stage 16 (7)
to the written word, whilst ‘the sword’ refers to weapons and violence. The idea is that words can often be more powerful
than warfare and confrontation. Stage 17 (7) Stage 18 (8)

This is metonymy, since ‘the pen’ and ‘the sword’ are not actually parts of the written word or warfare. Yes, they are used in
both pursuits; but they are not an intrinsic part of the things being discussed, in the way that mouths or hands are actually
part of a person’s body, or ‘feet’, in the following line, refers to the figure of Jesus Christ:

_And did those feet in ancient times_

_Walk upon England’s mountains green_
William Blake, Jerusalem, 1808

Sometimes the line between metonymy and synecdoche becomes blurred. If we look at the following sentence, are we
studying an example of synecdoche or metonymy?

_Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your EARS._

William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, Act I

If we understand that Mark Anthony here uses the word ‘ears’ to mean ‘attention’, we can see that it is an example of
metonymy. ‘Ears’ do not literally form a part of the concept of attention, after all – ‘attention’ is an abstract noun and thus
cannot contain body parts such as ears.

Why not check out our blog test to see how you manage with using synecdoche and metonymy?

A. Porter

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Author Recent Posts

Mamen
Secretaria Dirección at Callan School
Mamen es licenciada en Historia por la Universidad de Valladolid. Ha trabajado Técnico de Cultura y
programadora de Artes escénicas y en el campo de la arqueología. Implicada desde muy joven en el
desarrollo local, cambió de rumbo hace unos años, instalándose en Barcelona para dar un nuevo giro a su
vida profesional. Es una apasionada de la literatura, el cine y la ópera.

Mamen has a degree in History from the University of Valladolid. Her passions include literature, cinema
and opera. Mamen has worked as a Culture Technician, a Performing Arts programmer, in the field of
archaeology, and she has also been involved in local development since she was very young.
She decided to change course a few years ago, when she settled in Barcelona to begin a new chapter of
her professional life.

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