# Term for using a figurative phrase literally? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 5, 2005, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-using-a-figurative-phrase-literally/334212 "2005-12-05T18:26:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2005, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-using-a-figurative-phrase-literally/334212/1 "2005-12-05T18:26:23Z")
English (and probably every other language) is rich in figurative speech, like “raining cats and dogs.” But suppose there was an airlift of stray animals and the door opened by accident and a lot of the critters fell from the sky. News reporters would say, “It’s raining cats and dogs out there!” The example above is a fanciful phrase that would never really be expected to happen literally. Another flavor of this is a figurative phrase that has its origins in a literal phrase, such as, “having an ace in the hole.” Happens all the time; I can imagine an ESPN commentator saying, “He had ace in the hole” when covering poker. I am looking for a synonym for “a normally figurative phrase used literally” that might be jargon used by English professors or other literary pros. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2005, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-using-a-figurative-phrase-literally/334212/2 "2005-12-05T22:49:46Z")
I’ve heard it called “bringing a dead metaphor back to life,” but I don’t know if this is what you’re looking for. ---
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2005, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-using-a-figurative-phrase-literally/334212/3 "2005-12-05T23:06:28Z")
There might be a word for it in the psychiatric field. For example, it’s often cited as characteristic of autism. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2005, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-using-a-figurative-phrase-literally/334212/4 "2005-12-06T00:58:22Z")
I know this isn’t what you’re looking for but in the good ol’ days we would have said “it’s literally raining cats and dogs”, now days stupid people say that when it’s just raining really really heavily. Stupid people have taken away our ability to say “literally” and have other’s know what we mean. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2005, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-using-a-figurative-phrase-literally/334212/5 "2005-12-06T02:51:13Z")
Really? Most people know the difference due to context – and the use of “literally” as an intensifier dates back to at least 1863. ---
**Author:** ![cainxinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7bcc69/32.png) [@cainxinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cainxinth)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2005, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-using-a-figurative-phrase-literally/334212/6 "2005-12-06T02:56:17Z")
Catachresis or solecism? ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2005, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-using-a-figurative-phrase-literally/334212/7 "2005-12-06T03:53:48Z")
It’s funny as hell when you can use a figurative phrase literally. One time when my wife’s daughter (previous marriage) saw her two cats fighting, she said in an appalled voice “Mother, the fur is flying!” ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2005, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-using-a-figurative-phrase-literally/334212/8 "2005-12-06T05:08:58Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Really? Most people know the difference due to context – and the use of “literally” as an intensifier dates back to at least 1863. Yeah, not to join in with this ridiculous hijack, but in reality it’s very difficult to even deliberately come up with examples that are actually ambiguous. ---
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2005, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-using-a-figurative-phrase-literally/334212/9 "2005-12-06T05:14:04Z")
Wouldn’t it be a sort of pun? You’re playing with the words, after all, since you’re using a phrase that is commonly accepted to mean one thing to mean another. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2005, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-using-a-figurative-phrase-literally/334212/10 "2005-12-06T07:31:22Z")
> [@Excalibre](#): > > Yeah, not to join in with this ridiculous hijack, but in reality it’s very difficult to even deliberately come up with examples that are actually ambiguous. I shall bow out of the ridiculous hijack. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2005, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-using-a-figurative-phrase-literally/334212/11 "2005-12-06T16:30:19Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > It’s funny as hell when you can use a figurative phrase literally. One time when my wife’s daughter (previous marriage) saw her two cats fighting, she said in an appalled voice “Mother, the fur is flying!” _Perfect_ example of what I was talking about! ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2005, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-using-a-figurative-phrase-literally/334212/12 "2005-12-06T16:42:35Z")
When my wife and I were first married, we were not in the best of shape financially, and she was stressing about it. She went to prepare dinner, took an open half gallon carton of milk out of the refrigerator, and the slippery carton fell out of her hands onto the floor, where the milk spilled out of it. She burst into tears at the waste and knowing we’d have to buy more out of what money we had left. I rushed out to comfort her, and said the first thing that came to my mind: “Honey, don’t cry. There’s no use crying over spi…” And we both broke into stress-relief laughter. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2005, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-using-a-figurative-phrase-literally/334212/13 "2005-12-06T19:27:47Z")
> [@1920s Style "Death Ray"](#): > > I know this isn’t what you’re looking for but in the good ol’ days we would have said “it’s literally raining cats and dogs”, now days stupid people say that when it’s just raining really really heavily. Stupid people have taken away our ability to say “literally” and have other’s know what we mean. > [@Reality Chuck](#): > > the use of “literally” as an intensifier dates back to at least 1863 :eek: How old **are** you? Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2005, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-using-a-figurative-phrase-literally/334212/14 "2005-12-06T22:21:01Z")
Thought of one: In **Rambo 2** , his main parachute snags and he has to cut himself loose and go down on his reserve chute, putting him miles off course. When he finally meets his contact on the ground and she asks him why he’s so late, he says, “I got hung up”. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2005, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-using-a-figurative-phrase-literally/334212/15 "2005-12-06T22:38:21Z")
Reminds me of a time my mom and I needed some building materials and were looking through various scrapyards. As we sat in my car, Mom got a bit apprehensive when she spotted an unleashed doberman a few hundred yards away. “Huh,” I said, “he’s literally a junkyard dog.” This took some tension out of the moment. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2005, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-using-a-figurative-phrase-literally/334212/16 "2005-12-06T23:17:26Z")
I once told a friend with a leg injury, “You should get rid of that thing - it’s just a crutch.” ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2005, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-using-a-figurative-phrase-literally/334212/17 "2005-12-09T03:14:25Z")
Great examples–but nobody knows if there is a name for it? I think we should take suggestions right here and now for how to refer to such a usage, then force our term on the world. ---
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2005, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-using-a-figurative-phrase-literally/334212/18 "2005-12-09T18:56:39Z")
For what it’s worth, I would call it a pun. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2005, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-using-a-figurative-phrase-literally/334212/19 "2005-12-09T19:46:40Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > Thought of one: In **Rambo 2** , his main parachute snags and he has to cut himself loose and go down on his reserve chute, putting him miles off course. When he finally meets his contact on the ground and she asks him why he’s so late, he says, “I got hung up”. That, and pretty much every other expression of James Bond’s mouth, would be a pun. > [@Cooking with Gas](#): > > Perfect example of what I was talking about! Or purrfect, as the case may be. ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2005, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-using-a-figurative-phrase-literally/334212/20 "2005-12-09T19:58:15Z")
> [@1920s Style "Death Ray"](#): > > I know this isn’t what you’re looking for but in the good ol’ days we would have said “it’s literally raining cats and dogs”, now days stupid people say that when it’s just raining really really heavily. Stupid people have taken away our ability to say “literally” and have other’s know what we mean. What **Chuck** said is [literally](http://www.slate.com/id/2129105/?nav=navoa) true. Solecism is the term I’d use, btw. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-using-a-figurative-phrase-literally/334212.md?page=2)