Category: Langauge

Literal or Figurative? What’s what…

Literal language means exactly what it says, while figurative language uses similes, metaphors, hyperbole, and personification to describe something often through comparison with something different.

I like to learn by association. If I can make a rhyme, or find other words that already exist in my mind, I can remember things better. Here is a little rhyme which might help you to memorize the difference.

Literal or literally

rhymes with really

It happens as it is

No faking, no wiz.

Figurative -go figure

Is not what it seems

The words say one thing

Different thing it means.

 

Next time you read or hear a phrase, try to picture it in your mind. If what you see makes you want to pick up the phone and call an ambulance, then most likely that phrase is figurative.

Try this simple exercise. Imagine these phrases and then decide whether they are literal or figurative.

1. It is so loud, I think my head is about to explode.
2. She has no backbone.
3. He is a bad egg.
4. To do it in cold blood.
5. The joke was so funny I literally peed my pants.

 

Happy Reading!

Joyful Writing!