LEXICAL STYLISTIC

DEVICES
Play on Words. Irony. Epithet.
Hyperbole. Understatement.
Oxymoron
 I. What is a Pun?

A pun is a joke based on the interplay of homophones —

words with the same pronunciation but different meanings. It
can also play with words that sound similar, but not exactly
the same. The joke’s humor (if any) comes from the confusion
of the two meanings.
 II. Examples of Puns
Example 1
The tallest building in town is the library — it has thousands of
stories!

A pun on the difference between stories in books and stories

(floors) in a building.

Example 2
I can’t remember which state my wife wanted to visit for our next
vacation — it’s OK, Alaska.

Read the joke out loud: “Alaska” sounds like “I’ll ask her.”
 III. The Importance of Puns
• The point of a pun is to make the reader laugh. It tends to be a
pretty heavy-handed form of comedy (not at all subtle or dry),
so puns create a “jokey” tone for your writing. This is great for
some kinds of writing, especially if you’re writing a creative
piece and you want one of the characters to come in as silly
comic relief. However, it’s not the right tone for formal essays.
• Of course, many puns are not as funny as the joker expects, and
so people groan with annoyance rather than laughing. This may
be a result of the joke being too “obvious,” and thus failing to
create the micro-discomfort that leads to laughter.
 I. What is Zeugma?

Zeugma is when you use a word in a sentence once, while

conveying two different meanings at the same time.
Sometimes, the word is literal in one part of the sentence,
but figurative in another; other times, it’s just two completely
separate meanings for the word.
 II. Examples of Zeugma
Example 1
The farmers in the valley grew potatoes, peanuts, and bored.

This is an example of zeugma being used for humor. Like many jokes, it comes
in three parts: the first two establish a pattern, and the third changes it. It’s an
example of zeugma because the word “grew” is being used in two different
senses: literally, the farmers grew potatoes and peanuts, but figuratively they
also grew bored.

Example 2
They left the room with tear-filled eyes and hearts.

Obviously, hearts don’t fill up with tears, except in a very figurative sense. (If
their hearts were literally filling with tears, they would need to go straight to
the hospital!) So this too is an example of zeugma where tear-filled is being
used both literally and figuratively at the same time.
 III. The Importance of Zeugma
• The basic function of zeugma is surprise. Take the
first example in §2: the potatoes and peanuts lead
us to expect that the third word will be another
crop. But the word “bored” violates this
expectation and surprises the reader. Our brains
try to fit the new word into the old pattern, and it
results in the humorous image of boredom
growing out of the earth like a crop!
• Even when the surprise doesn’t result in humor, it
still makes the phrase stand out. In the second
example, above, the image of “tear-filled hearts” is
an unusual figure of speech produced by the
zeugma.
 I. What is Irony?
• Irony (pronounced ‘eye-run-ee’) is when there are two
contradicting meanings of the same situation, event,
image, sentence, phrase, or story. In many cases, this
refers to the difference between expectations and reality.
• For example, if you go sight-seeing anywhere in the world
today, you will see crowds of people who are so busy taking
cell-phone pictures of themselves in front of the sight that
they don’t actually look at what they came to see with their
own eyes. This is ironic, specifically, situational irony. This
one situation has two opposing meanings that contradict
expectations: (1) going to see a sight and prove that you
were there (2) not enjoying the thing you went to see.
 I. What is Irony?
• Irony is often used for critical or humorous effect in
literature, music, art, and film (or a lesson). In
conversation, people often use verbal irony to express
humor, affection, or emotion, by saying the opposite of
what they mean to somebody who is expected to recognize
the irony. “I hate you” can mean “I love you”—but only if
the person you’re saying it to already knows that! This
definition is, of course, related to the first one (as we
expect people’s words to reflect their meaning) and in most
cases, it can be considered a form of sarcasm.
 II. Examples of Irony
Example 1
A popular visual representation of irony shows a seagull sitting on
top of a “no seagulls” sign. The meaning of the sign is that
seagulls are not allowed in the area. The seagull sitting on the
sign not only contradicts it, but calls attention to the absurdity of
trying to dictate where seagulls may or may not go, which makes
us laugh.
Example 2
Aleister Crowley, a famous English mystic of the early twentieth
century, who taught that a person could do anything if they
mastered their own mind, died of heroin addiction. This is ironic
because the way he died completely contradicts what he taught.
 III. The Importance of Irony
The most common purpose of irony is to create humor
and/or point out the absurdity of life. As in the all of the
examples above, life has a way of contradicting our
expectations, often in painful ways. Irony generally makes us
laugh, even when the circumstances are tragic, such as in
Aleister Crowley’s failure to beat his addiction. We laugh not
because the situations were tragic, but because they violate
our expectations. The contrast between people’s
expectations and the reality of the situations is not only
funny, but also meaningful because it calls our attention to
how wrong human beings can be. Irony is best when it points
us towards deeper meanings of a situation.
 I. What is Epithet?

A girl’s name is Marilynn, but her parents call her Lynn. Her
sister calls her Mary. And her friends call her Merry-go-round
when she’s being silly. Lynn, Mary, and Merry-go-round are all
epithets, or special nicknames that replace the name of
a person and often describe them in some way. Epithet
(pronounced ep–uh-thet) is derived from the Greek
phrase epitithenai, meaning “to add” or “to put on.”
 II. Examples of Epithet
Example 1
Man’s best friend
This phrase is immediately understood as meaning “dog.”
Dogs have been such important and constant companions to
human beings that they have earned the epithet “man’s best
friend.”
Example 2
Ivan the Terrible
Ivan IV Vasilyevich earned his epithet for the fear he inspired
in his subjects and enemies. In this example, the epithet
takes the form of the byname “the Terrible.”
 III. The Importance of Epithet

Epithets show just how strong certain character traits or

physical traits are, as they come to replace the actual names
of people, places, or things. Also known as sobriquets, these
longstanding nicknames label the most memorable aspects
of kings and queens and also provide simplified names for
complicated or scientific concepts.
 I. What is Hyperbole?

Hyperbole (pronounced ‘high-purr-bo-lee’) is a figure of

speech in which an author or speaker purposely and
obviously exaggerates to an extreme. It is used for emphasis
or as a way of making a description more creative and
humorous. It is important to note that hyperbole is not
meant to be taken literally; the audience knows it’s an
exaggeration.
 II. Examples of Hyperbole
Example 1
That suitcase weighed a ton!
In this example, the speaker claims that a suitcase weighed a ton–
two thousand pounds! Of course, this does not mean that the
suitcase literally weighed a ton. The speaker is using hyperbole in
order to emphasize that the suitcase feels very heavy.
Example 1
She’s going to die of embarrassment.
This does not mean that the girl is going to get sick or that her
heart will stop due to embarrassment. Instead, the speaker is
using hyperbole to emphasize just how embarrassed she’s going
to feel.
 III. The Importance of Hyperbole
• Hyperbole is often used in day-to-day speech. For example,
upon seeing your friend after a long absence, you may say, “I
haven’t seen you in a million years!” You and your friend both
know that this is not literally the case. Here, hyperbole is used
to emphasize how long it feels since you last saw your friend. It
uses exaggeration to emphasize a certain characteristic of
something, and especially how it feels. Hyperbole can be used
to communicate all kinds of feelings and amuse or surprise
people with the creativity of a description.
• Hyperbole is also often used in creative writing just to make a
description more amusing or creative. For example, it is more
interesting to say “she had a brain the size of planet” than “she
was really smart.” It is always better to describe something in
an original way and hyperbole is a great opportunity to inject
feeling and humor into a description.
 I. What is an Understatement?

Understatement is when a writer presents a situation or thing

as if it is less important or serious than it is in reality. It
describes something with less strength than would be
expected. Understatement is the opposite of hyperbole or
overstatement.
 II. Examples of Understatement

a. Ironic Understatement
Imagine that your friend has just failed a test. An intense
response would be:
Wow! That’s a terrible score! What are you going to do to
improve your grade in the class now?
Using understatement, though, the response minimizes the
magnitude of the situation:
That grade’s not so bad. It could have been worse.
 II. Examples of Understatement
b. Comedic Understatement
Typically serious statements can become funny through the use
of understatement. For example, in comedic movies, a series of
unfortunate events will often happen: the once happy couple is
arguing, their car breaks down, and as they get out of the car to
see what’s wrong, it begins to rain heavily.
A proper response would be:
This is horrible! What else could go wrong? We have terrible luck!
A comedic understatement would be:
Looks like we’ve got a bit of trouble on our hands, huh?
 II. Examples of Understatement
c. Modest Understatement
After doing something amazing, it is tempting to brag or
outwardly celebrate. Using understatement, though, can allow
one to remain modest.
For example, upon winning a race, a prideful runner would say:
I won the race! I can’t believe I did so well!
A modest runner would use understatement to modestly accept
the win:
I did pretty well. I’m happy that I improved my time.
 II. Examples of Understatement
d. Polite Understatement
Difficult situations can sometimes result in impolite comments.
For example, when in a heated disagreement, one may say:
I’m never going to agree with you! You’re completely wrong about
this.
Using understatement, though, can allow one to remain polite:
I think we have different opinions on this subject.
 IV. The importance of Understatement

Understatement has a wide variety of uses. You can use it for

irony, comedy, modesty, and/or politeness. Writers often use
understatement for an ironic effect. For instance, an intense
situation usually generates an intense response. However, using a
simple response, would be unexpected and and considered an
ironic understatement. Similarly, using it in serious situations can
have a comedic effect. Also, when one has accomplished a great
task, understatement can be used to remain modest instead of
conceited. Lastly, understatement can be used to remain polite by
understating discomfort or difficulties.
 I. What is Oxymoron?
My room is an organized mess, or controlled chaos, if you will. Same
difference.
The above phrase is packed with oxymorons, including “organized mess,”
“controlled chaos,” and “same difference.” For something to be
organized, it cannot be a mess. Chaos is anything but controlled! And
how can something be different and the same? The answer is the
oxymoron.
An oxymoron is a figure of speech that puts together opposite elements.
The combination of these contradicting elements serves to reveal a
paradox, confuse, or give the reader a laugh.

The word oxymoron is derived from the Greek phrases oxus and mōros,
meaning a mix of “sharp and keen” and “dull and dumb.”
 II. Examples of Oxymoron
Example 1
For instance, imagine a woman who has a thirty-five year old son who still lives
in her attic, playing video games and refusing to get a real job. An oxymoronic
name for him could be used in this way:
That’s my adult child. Poor thing still can’t get himself into the real adult world.
An “adult child” literally does not make sense—you cannot have an adult who
is also a child. This oxymoron, though, serves to describe an adult who refuses
to act like an adult.
Example 2
Consider the common snippet of advice:
Act naturally.
When sneaking around, causing trouble, or entering a stressful situation, we
often advise people to “act naturally.” Of course, if one is acting naturally, one
is not acting. Still, we understand the phrase because, despite its contradictory
elements, it makes sense.
 III. The Importance of Using Oxymoron

Oxymora are important in a variety of ways. For one, they

spice up everyday conversation with wit and humor. On the
other hand, they also challenge audiences in speeches,
poetry, and prose with confusing phrases that apparently
contradict themselves, but upon further inspection, make
sense. Oxymora encourage audiences to think beyond
everyday logic in order to critically think about and
understand paradoxes.