figure of speech catachresis it is present in our daily lives without, sometimes, not even noticing it. It occurs when we give a name to something that doesn't have one or we don't know the real name.
Catachresis is classified as a picture of words. As we have already explained here on the blog, this type of figure of speech differs from thought figures and sound figures in that it involves the meaning of words and expressions. While in the figure of thought, the idea is the main factor and, in the sound figure, the word is what makes all the difference.
Within the word pictures, let's go to the comparison. While metaphor, which uses other words as synonyms, and metonymy, which establishes as a synonym something that is involved with the noun in question, catachresis names what does not have a proper name or that we do not know the term used to identify such object.
Catachresis is when you use names of other elements that are similar.
As much as the real meaning of the word catachresis is “misuse”, over time, the terms were incorporated into the Portuguese language and accepted as it went unnoticed.
Let's go to the examples?
The examples below are commonly used in our daily lives and, for sure, you have heard or used these expressions:
Also check: This or This?
Now, let's understand some of them. As we explained earlier, we use similar-looking elements to identify something that doesn't have or we don't know what it's called.
In the first case, “cup wing”, there is a lack of knowledge of the object's name. And it would be very simple to solve, after all, the real name is handle and is present in other objects like pans. But in pots and bowls, no one calls them a wing. However, due to the similarity, it was renamed in the cups.
The roof of our mouth is simply called the roof of our mouth because it refers to a place that would be the limit above us. However, the correct name is palate. Onomatopoeia occurs due to little familiarity with the term.
Knife teeth, for example, in addition to looking a bit like our teeth, have the same function. However, it would be correct to call them knife saws.
In the case of match heads, cloves and garlic heads, there is no known or correct name for the object.
Others have meanings that can be called “metaphorical”, as in the case of the apple of the eye. It turns out that the scientific name is pupil. We can make an allusion to the pupil, who can be a dear pupil and protected from the master. The opposite also applies, as a favorite student can be called the apple of the master's eye.
We hope we have clarified. Any questions about catachresis, leave it in the comments. you can meet others speech figures by continuing to browse our blog.
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