Need Help With The Word Synecdoche ?

1. Anonymous Says

   Synecdoche
   A figure of speech in which a part is used for the whole (as hand for sailor), the whole for a part (as the law for police officer), the specific for the general (as cutthroat for assassin), the general for the specific (as thief for pickpocket), or the material for the thing made from it (as steel for sword).
   So “broken bones” is a synecdoche as is represents all of the victim’s injuries and not just the broken bones, e.g. cuts, bruises, concussion, punctures, etc.

2. Anonymous Says

   I see you are posting from the UK. I guess you don’t have dictionaries over there. Here in the States we have these books called dictionaries, in which you can look up the meaning of a word.
   A synecdoche is a figure of speech where you use part of something to mean the whole thing. For example, “I have 100 head of cattle on my farm” doesn’t mean I have only the heads; I have the whole animals. Or, “I paid a hired hand to do some work for me” means I paid the whole person, not just his hand.
   So in this case the “broken bones” refers to a person with broken bones, not just the bones themselves.

3. quatt47 Says

   A synecdoche is a figure of speech used to refer to the whole, or vice versa, as in. for example ‘wiser heads’ meaning ‘wiser people’ . In the piece you quote from the police and ambulance were racing to the scene of an accident, denoted by the words ‘broken bones’. If you substitute the word ‘accident’ instead of ‘broken bones’ it will be evident.

4. danieltl Says

   Examples are easier to follow. “Broken bones” refers to the injured people or part if the whole.
   A part referring to the whole is a definition for synecdoche
   Prominently used in slang and vulgar speech, where a person’s home is referred to as their “crib” or the entire person is referred to by their genitalia.
   Referring to people according to a single characteristic: “the gray beard” representing an older man or “the long hair” representing a hippie. This leads to bahuvrihi compounds.
   Describing a complete vehicle as “wheels”
   Calling workers “hands”, e.g. Many hands make light work; All hands on deck!
   Historical: The Kingdom of Sardinia in the 19th century was commonly referred to as Savoy because its ruling house was from Savoy. The Soviet Union was commonly referred to by its largest and most well-known member, Russia. The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia later named Serbia and Montenegro was commonly referred to by its largest constituent republic, Serbia.
   Use of the names England (only one of the four constituent nations) or Great Britain (the geographical name of the main island) to mean the entire United Kingdom.
   Use of Holland, a region of the Netherlands, to refer to the entire country.
   The name for a whole when used to describe one part of it
   America is very often used to mean only the United States.
   A general class name used to denote a specific member of that or an associated class
   “the good book,” or “The Book” for the Bible
   “truck” for any four-wheel drive vehicle (as well as long-haul trailers, etc.)
   “He’s good people.” [Here, the word “people” is used to denote a specific instance of people, i.e. a person. So the sentence would be interpreted as “He’s a good person.”)
   A specific class name used to refer to a general set of associated things
   “John Hancock” for the signature of any person
   a genericized trademark, for example “Coke” for any variety of cola, “Band-Aid” for any variety of adhesive bandage, or “Styrofoam” for any product made of polystyrene.
   “bug” for any kind of insect or arachnid, even if it is not a true bug
   The material that a thing is (actually, historically, or supposedly) made of referring to that thing
   “glasses” for spectacles
   “steel” for a sword
   “strings” for guitar “Do you play the 6 strings?”
   “tin” for a container made with tin plating
   “willow” for a cricket bat or “pigskin” for an American or Canadian football
   “wood” for a type of club used in the sport of golf
   “irons” for shackles placed around a prisoner’s wrists or ankles to restrict their movement
   “plastic” for a credit card (asking a merchant) Do you take plastic?
   “lead” for bullets (e.g. They pumped him full of lead.)
   “silver” for flatware or other dishes that were once made of silver metal
   “rubber” for a condom
   “threads” for clothing Yo, check out my new threads!
   “flint” (the sparking bit in a lighter) for ferrocerium (which is not made of flint)
   A container is used to refer to its contents
   “barrel” for a barrel of oil
   “keg” for a keg of beer

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