Figurative language communicates directly because it precisely demonstrates what we mean.

Abstract

We often believe that figurative language refers to speakers saying what they do not really mean. After all, metaphors, idioms, irony, and other varied figures of speech are presumed to communicate something beyond what they literally state. Yet this traditional view mistakenly assumes it is sometimes possible to directly, and precisely express one's meaning, through the use of so-called literal language. Under this view, figurative language is primarily employed, sometimes quite deliberately, for special rhetorical reasons, such as to be polite, to be memorable, to be vivid, or to express ideas that simply can't be easily formulated into literal speech. This article takes issue with many of these long-held beliefs within the multidisciplinary study of figurative language. Figurative language works efficiently, and is mostly produced and understood without special effort, because it precisely demonstrates what we mean. This quality of figurative language makes it an ideal vehicle for capturing our complex figurative thoughts and enables others to experience what we are thinking and feeling. In many respects, figurative language works so well because it communicates directly given there is simply no alternative method which meets people's adaptive cognitive and social needs. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).