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Looking for a rhetorical term similiar to metaphor, synechdoche, metonymy etc. to describe a certain concept.
While translating a screenplay, an interesting play on words just came up. In a scene where a dying old man's bony hands are extremely prominent, he later says, "I haven't much time on my hands."
Of course, there's irony there, because he most certainly does have time on his hands, in a literal sense. But I'm struggling to come up with a way to express the idea of a parallel --or double-- meaning, especially when a metaphorical phrase contrasts or adds to something literal.
Any suggestions?
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Some other examples of the concept, perhaps, would be:
• A woman leaps out of her rocking chair in a rage and her husband says, “You’re off your rocker!”
• A soldier gets his nose shot off. When the nurse looks at him sympathetically, he shrugs, “No skin off my nose.”
• An impotent man who uses marijuana to arouse himself, explains to his partner, “Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.”
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old hand
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old hand
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Kia ora Tito,
'Dry humour' springs to mind.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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there are a zillion 'rhetorical figures'; have you given The Forest of Rhetoric a try? link
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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Tito if you haven't already been there and if you're very patient,
http://onelook.com/?w=*&loc=revfp2&clue=double+meaning
dalehileman
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tsuwm, dalehileman, very nice links. Thank you. Bookmarked and ready for perusal, but not this late.
Maybe it's something as simple as "double entendre." I just thought that with all the specialized terms there are, there would be something that pegs "a figurative saying which, if taken literally, expresses the opposite of something else."
... Though, in a couple of my examples, it doesn't state the opposite.
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Carpal Tunnel
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taking my own advice (Silva Rhetorica) I find:
1) adianoeta An expression that, in addition to an obvious meaning, carries a second, subtle meaning (often at variance with the ostensible meaning).
2) antiphrasis Irony of one word, often derisively through patent contradiction.
there are others..
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Pooh-Bah
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the term double entendre usually indicates that the second meaning is sexual. I suppose inadvertent pun would be too simplistic? People might figure it out where the more accurate adianoeta would need to be looked up.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Does Silva Rhetorica tell you how to pronounce adianoeta?
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Good work, tsuwm! Yes, that does seem to be it. And adianoeta is apparently just another word for double entendre. Why didn't I see that from the beginning?
Reminds me of a scene from the 60's Batman show when Robin says, "Of course! It was too simple even for the Bat-Computer to figure out!"
Oh, well. At least we've all got a couple of new words here. Perhaps the most specific way to describe what I want is "antiphrastic adianoeta."
Thanks!
Last edited by TitoMatito; 08/19/09 07:28 AM.
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