Metonymy (me-ton’-y-my): Reference to something or someone by naming one of its attributes. [This may include effects or any of the four Aristotelian causes {efficient/maker/inventor, material, formal/shape, final/purpose}.]
The pen is mightier than the car jack when it comes to stabbing somebody in the eye, but the word-processor is mightier than the AK-47 when affecting the human spirit and bringing about positive change. So, you want to change things to fit your vision? Start writing, stop shooting. It may take longer to make your writing effective—longer than spraying bullets. The easiest way to settle a disagreement is to kill your opponent. But it is murder, and it doesn’t really settle anything— dead bodies can’t be persuaded and it’s persuasion, not coercion, that brings society forward in a reasonable compassionate way. Dead bodies create anger a alienation: faulty foundations for social reality.
So, if you don’t want the dove to crap on your head, don’t screw with fire irons.
Definition courtesy of “Sliva Rhetoricae” (rhetoric.byu.edu). Bracketed text added by Gorgias.
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