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Metonymy and Synecdoche

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Compare and contrast a metonymy and a synecdoche? Provide an example of each.

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Compares and contrasts a metonymy and a synecdoche. Provides an example of each.

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Metonymy is the use of a word or phrase for another to which it bears an important relation, as the effect for the cause, the abstract for the concrete, and similar constructions. Examples of metonymy are "He was an avid reader of Chaucer," where the poems of the English writer Geoffrey Chaucer are meant not the person of Chaucer, and "The hostess kept a good table," where good food is implied.

Whereas Synecdoche is a figurative locution whereby the part is made to stand for the whole, the whole for a part, the species for the genus, and vice versa. Thus, in the phrase "50 head of cattle,""head" is used to mean whole animals, and in the sentence "The president's administration contained the best brains in the country,""brains" is used for intellectually brilliant persons.

Other examples: (excerpt)

[Q] From Phil Murphy: Can you tell me whether the words synecdoche and metonymy mean the same thing?

[A] Both ...

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