idiom

It’s idiomatic of Irene to claim that loud music gives her headaches.

"Put your money where your mouth is" is an idiom.

If an argument makes no sense, it is an idiom.

vernacular

Words like "swell" or "groovy" used to be popular, but have now become vernacular.

In the vernacular words of Robert F. Kennedy, "justice delayed is democracy denied."

In parts of Louisiana, people speak a vernacular that I cannot understand.

didactic

I find the pounding didacticism of hip-hop music irresistible.

When I asked Doug if he liked wine better than beer, he answered didactically, "that depends."

Many readers are turned off by didactic stories that convey a moral.

paradox

Isn’t it paradoxical that in some oil-producing countries, many people cannot afford to buy gas?

Blond and pale Eva is the exact paradox of her twin sister Ellen, who is dark and robust.*

The trips to the moon made in the last century are one of the great paradoxes of modern times.

oxymoron

Rich is a complete oxymoron: who else would try to get rid of a gas spill by holding a match to it?

Mae West, a famous movie star in the 1930s, is now best remembered for oxymorons such as "it is better to be looked over than to be overlooked."

Come to think of it, "act naturally" really is an oxymoron.

hyperbole

When I’m bowling, I do best when I throw the ball in a hyperbole.

"A sane mind in a sound body" is a hyperbole that comes to us from ancient Rome.

In one of his typical hyperboles, Hank claimed that he had to "wait an eternity" at the doctor’s office.

allegory

George Orwell wrote Animal Farm in 1945 as an allegory of life in the Soviet Union (no longer in existence today).

It was really an allegory of justice when the culprit received such a light sentence.

When I asked Al what he was up to, he answered allegorically, "you’ll see."

parable

For many people, snakes are parables of evil or treachery.

"The Ant and the Grasshopper" is a parable meant to teach the value of thrift and preparing for the future.

It’s a parable when Trisha claims that I never listen to her advice.

personification

In Orwell’s Animal Farm, pigs personify Communist leaders like Lenin and Stalin, while sheep personify their unthinking followers.

My roommate can do a perfect personification of her history teacher.

I have to personify this room and put up some posters, perhaps even replace the curtains.

alliteration

His speech was filled with alliterations to his military service.

My teacher insists that we give the source of each alliteration we use in our paper.

"Practice what you preach" and "the whole kit and caboodle" are examples of alliteration.