"Fire I' the Blood": A Handbook of Figurative Language

Front Cover
Universal-Publishers, 1999 - Language Arts & Disciplines - 49 pages
There are great differences between the oral use of figurative language and its written use. Nevertheless, the only separately published textbook for figurative language is almost entirely concerned with oral figurative language, offering such examples as "you have a heart of stone" or "you make my blood boil." Much, if not most, oral language consists of long, repetitious portions of cliche and platitude, and not surprisingly, the figurative language used follows the same pattern. Writing teachers generally ask their students not to use cliches and platitudes, even though they may (mistakenly, I think) advise students to "write like you speak."
 

Other editions - View all

Common terms and phrases

Bibliographic information