A simile () is a figure of speech that directly compares two things. Although similes and metaphors are similar, similes explicitly use connecting words (such as like, as, so, than, or various verbs such as resemble), though these specific words are not always necessary. While similes are mainly used in forms of poetry that compare the inanimate and the living, there are also terms in which similes and personifications are used for humorous purposes and comparison.
Video Simile
Uses
In literature
- "O My Luve's like a red, red rose." "A Red, Red Rose," by Robert Burns.
- John Milton, Paradise Lost, a Homeric simile:
As when a prowling Wolf,
Whom hunger drives to seek new haunt for prey,
Watching where Shepherds pen thir Flocks at eve
In hurdl'd Cotes amid the field secure,
Leaps o'er the fence with ease into the Fold:
. . . . . . .
So clomb this first grand Thief into God's Fold
In comedy
Similes are used extensively in British comedy, notably in the slapstick era of the 1960s and 1970s. In comedy, the simile is often used in negative style: "he was as daft as a brush." They are also used in comedic context where a sensitive subject is broached, and the comedian will test the audience with response to a subtle implicit simile before going deeper. The sitcom Blackadder featured the use of extended similes, normally said by the title character.
Maps Simile
In languages other than English
Given that similes emphasize affinities between different objects, they occur in many cultures and languages.
Arabic
Sayf al-Din al-Amidi discussed Arabic similes in 1805: "On Substantiation Through Transitive Relations".
Vietnamese
Thuy Nga Nguyen and Ghil'ad Zuckermann (2012) classify Vietnamese similes into two types: Meaning Similes and Rhyming Similes.
The following is an example:
Nghèo nh? con mèo
/??u ?? k?n m?u/
"Poor as a cat"
Whereas the above Vietnamese example is of a rhyming simile, the English simile "(as) poor as a church mouse" is only a semantic simile.
See also
- Alliteration
- Analogy
- Description
- Homeric simile
- Hyperbole
- Hypocatastasis
- Metaphor
- Metonymy
- Personification
- Phono-semantic matching
- Like
References
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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