Note the following dialog:
- Mom, what does metonymy mean?
- I don't know, boy. Get Aurélio!
As you can see, the mother, when referring to the dictionary, uses the author's name to represent the work, isn't it? This use of a word instead of another that has a proximity to the referent is it a style feature, or word picture, known as metonymy. Thus, we can define that:
Metonymy: it is the use of one word or expression instead of another to name something that maintains a close relationship with the referent of the replaced word or expression. |
The use of metonymy occurs when we take:
a) the part for the whole:
Examples:
Many hands wrote this story.
Many heads contributed to the execution of the project.
Note that when we use the nouns “hands” and “heads”, we are not referring to these parts of the body per se, but to people who “they wrote this story” with their hands and to the people who “contributed to the execution of the project” using their “head”, their reasoning, to realize it.
b) the continent by content:
Examples:
Peter is good at fork.
drank two cups of water.
Now, see how, in these examples, containers are used to represent the quantity, that is, Pedro doesn't eat a fork, but eats a lot. I didn't "drink" two glasses made of water, but two glasses containing water.
c) the author for the work:
Examples:
whenever i read Monteiro Lobato, I remember my childhood.
Got a Picasso authentic at home.
In these cases, notice how the author's name, used in the examples, represents the works they made: Monteiro Lobato = book; Picasso = painting on canvas.
d) the brand for the product:
Examples:
O steel wool he finished.
I need to buy cotton swabs.
Finally, see how the brands of some products can substitute the reference of the product itself, that is, instead of saying “steel wool”, we say “bombril” (a brand of steel wool); instead of saying “flexible rods”, we say “swabs” (a brand of flexible rods).
