Linguistics & Word Confusions: Metonymy

Metonomy is a literary device, encompassing word play and figures of speech to quickly and colorfully convey an image.

This device uses an association between two concepts, substituting one term for another. For example, the bench may refer to the high desk behind which a judge sits while the press is commonly understood to mean journalists. If someone mentioned parliament, it would be understood to refer to the British government.

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Exploring Later . . .

You may also want to explore the following entries in the post on “Figures of Speech”: metonymy, metaphor, metalepsis, polysemy, synecdoche, and toponymy.

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Linguistics and Word Confusions sometimes . . .

. . . involve the same words as it does here in this post on “Metonymy”. Whereas a Word Confusion is a pair (or more) of words that are confused spelling-wise with each other, Linguistics may jump in because of the confusion involved in how the words are used within the structural rules and principles of English.

As I discover more examples, also-known-ases, and additions, I’ll update this post. If you have a suggestion, I would appreciate you contacting me. If you found this post on “Metonymy” interesting, consider subscribing to KD Did It, if you’d like to track this post for future updates.

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Metonymy
Part of Speech: Linguistics, Semantics, Word Play, Figure of Speech
Definition: A word, name, or expression (a metonym) associated with something that represents a concept or object. A standard journalistic / headline practice, it quickly creates concrete and vivid images, adding flavor to your writing. POST CONTENTS: Type of Metonym Metalepsis Narratology Metaphor Polysemy Synecdoche Toponym
Type of Metonym Refers to Example Containment When one thing contains another A dish is used to refer to the food it contains. The name of a building is used to refer to the entity it contains. A physical item, place, or body part Used to refer to a related concept The bench for the judicial profession Stomach or belly for appetite or hunger Mouth for speech Being in diapers for infancy Palate for taste The altar or the aisle for marriage Hand for someone’s responsibility for something Head or brain for mind or intelligence Nose for concern about someone else’s affairs A reference to Timbuktu, as in “from here to Timbuktu,” usually means a place or idea is too far away or mysterious. Tools/instruments A tool used to signify the job it does or the person who does the job. “his Rolodex is long and valuable” refers to the Rolodex instrument, which keeps contact business cards, meaning he has a lot of contacts and knows many people). Also “the press” (referring to the printing press), or as in the proverb, “The pen is mightier than the sword.” Product for process The product of the activity stands for the activity itself. The book is moving right along” the book refers to the process of writing or publishing. Punctuation marks Expresses a meaning using a punctuation word. He’s a big question mark to me. That’s it. Period. Credit to: Metonym
Examples:
Metonym Refers to Washington refers to the federal government of the US The Crown refers to the English monarchy The bottle refers to alcohol The White House can refer to the US executive branch, the US president, or where the president and his family live Wall Street American stock market plastic credit card” the Oval Office the President of the United States or their administration silver fox attractive older man lend a hand give someone help. city hall municipal government “The pen is mightier than the sword.” pen stands for the written word sword stands for military aggression new blood new people fresh ideas suits businessmen FBI brass high-ranking officials ears paying attention listening Using the name of a state or country refers to their government track horse racing the Pentagon US military the Department of Defense chicken an animal a type of meat a coward the press journalists the book refers to the process of writing or publishing Vegas gambling Detroit the motor industry Broadway the American commercial theatrical industry red tape bureaucracy #10 Downing Street the residence of the British prime minister
Metalepsis	Definition: Uses a familiar word or a phrase taken from figurative speech in a new context that is only slightly related.
Return to top or post contents	There are two ways to make this association: Through showing causal relationship to seemingly unrelated things Through indirect intermediate replacement of terms A.k.a. transumption
	Examples of Metalepsis:
	Metalepsis Refers to lead foot a fast driver I’ve got to catch the worm tomorrow. from the early bird catches the worm something smells in Denmark a reference to Shakespeare’s Hamlet “to keep the life from spilling refers to spilling blood Helen of Troy as the”‘face that launched a thousand ships” A second-order device in rhetoric in which one metonym refers to another metonym.
Narratology	Definition: Studies how stories are put together (which events to relate and in what order), as well as how these narratives are shaped by human understandings and how these understandings (such as language) in turn shape narratives.
Return to top or post contents	At its base the idea of narratology is that a narrative has within it a literary language or system of codes. The narrator may seem separated from the action, but he interacts in the middle of the story to create heightened effect and deeper meanings for the readers. Its goal is to examine how human beings shape narratives and are shaped by narratives.
	Examples of Narratology in Metalepsis:
	The difference between what you tell your friends about your first date with your spouse versus how you tell your parents the same story. You leave a few details out and you almost certainly reorder a few . . . events. “History is written by the victors” is what people know about history as shaped by the stories that have been told by the victors, rather than the stories of the losers. In A Streetcar Named Desire, Blanche’s slide into madness comes when she can no longer reconcile the difference between the story and the narrative. She’s spent so much time in the illusion of what she says, she no longer remembers the core truth — her story. When Rose tells the story of “how I went from screenwriter to television marketer to content marketer, I almost always leave out an entire two-year stint where I toiled as an assistant at a defense subcontractor that made military-grade testing equipment. It’s not important to that narrative. My story is stronger because I don’t include it. But I’m conscious of it. (By the way, those two years are their own fun story, and I have a narrative for it as well.)” Credit to: Rose; Wassilewsky
Metaphor	Definition: Uses a word or phrase to describe a person, place, thing, or action that creates an indirect comparison between two disparate things to represent an idea.
Return to top or post contents	A figure of speech, metaphors are used in a specific instance to draw attention to similarities and parallels between different things.
	Examples:
	He’s a couch potato. She’s got a heart of gold. That party was the bomb. Money is the root of all evil.
Polysemy	Definition: Words that use the same spelling with related BUT distinct meanings. These meanings are a branching off from the word’s original meaning.
Return to top or post contents	A type of word play or figure of speech with its own post “Polysemy“.
	Polysemy Refers to to get can mean procure I’ll get the drinks. become She got scared. understand I get it man The human species Males of the human species Adult males of the human species To operate or constitute a vehicle or machine bank a financial institution the physical building where a financial institution offers services to deposit money or have an account in a bank a supply of something held in reserve a synonym for rely upon crown the object the monarchy Credit to: Polysemy
Synecdoche	Definition: A part of something that refers to the whole or the whole to refer to the part.
Return to top or post contents	Synecdoche Refers to head cattle hands cowboys assistants loonie the image of a bird on the Canadian one-dollar coin the law police Bens Benjamins Franklins American $100 bill
Toponym	Definition: Refers to important locations such as a country’s or state’s capitol, a city, or a street that refers to the country’s or state’s government that refers to its government or industry.
	Using a toponym may continue even when the industries in question have moved elsewhere.
	Toponym Refers to Washington, DC the US government Ottawa the Canadian government Rome the Italian government the Pope Paris the French government Madison Avenue the American advertising industry Silicon Valley the American technology industry Hollywood linked to the entertainment business, celebrities, and movie-making Fleet Street the British national press K Street lobbying

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C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!

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Resources for Metonym

Betts, Jennifer, B.A. “Examples of Metonymy: Understanding its meaning and use.” YourDictionary.com. 11 Oct 2021. Accessed 25 Nov 2023. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/articles/examples-metonymy-meaning-use>.

“Definition of Metalepsis.” Literary Devices. n.d. Accessed 28 Nov 2023. <https://literarydevices.net/metalepsis/>.

“List of Metonyms.” Wikipedia. 22 Nov 2023. Accessed 28 Nov 2023. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_metonyms>.

“Metonym.” Wikipedia. 16 Nov 2023. Accessed 28 Nov 2023. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metonymy>.

“Polysemy.” Wikipedia. 4 Oct 2023. Accessed 30 Nov 2023. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polysemy>.

Rose, Robert. “The Crucial Difference Between Story and Narrative.” Content Advisory.net. 24 Feb 2020. Accessed 30 Nov 2023. <https://contentadvisory.net/the-crucial-difference-between-story-and-narrative/>.

Tikkanen, Amy. “Metonomy.” Encyclopaedia Britannica. 3 Nov 2023. Accessed 27 Nov 2023. <https://www.britannica.com/art/metonymy>.

Wassilewsky, Masha. “Narratology Definition, Theory & Applications.” Study.com.. 2 Feb 2023. Accessed 30 Nov 2023. <https://study.com/academy/lesson/narratology-definition-overview-what-is-narrative-theory.html>.

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Pinterest Credits

Wall Street — New York Stock Exchange is Carlos Delgado‘s own work and under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons.