Daily Archives: July 5, 2016

Metalepsis

Metalepsis (me-ta-lep’-sis): Reference to something by means of another thing that is remotely related to it, either through a farfetched causal relationship, or through an implied intermediate substitution of terms. Often used for comic effect through its preposterous exaggeration. A metonymical substitution of one word for another which is itself figurative.

You see yourself as a bridge over troubled waters–to me you’re a doormat over dog poop.

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Definition courtesy of “Silva Rhetoricae” (rhetoric.byu.edu).