ABSTRACT
This chapter defines seven figures of speech: idioms, similes, metaphors, personification, euphemisms, hyperbole, and chiasmus. Idioms are combinations of words that represent a unique meaning that cannot be inferred from the meanings of the individual words. For this reason, idioms are best learned in the same ways as individual words. Synonyms cannot be used in idiomatic expressions. Many familiar idioms originally had literal meanings. More studies of idiom comprehension have been conducted than those of any other figurative-language category.
