Synecdoche is a type of metaphor in which the part stands for the whole, the whole for a part, the genus for the species, the species for the genus, the material for the thing made, or in short, any portion, section, or main quality for the whole or the thing itself (or vice versa).
- Farmer Jones has two hundred head of cattle and three hired hands.
Here we recognize that Jones also owns the bodies of the cattle, and that the hired hands have bodies attached. This is a simple part-for-whole synecdoche. Here are a few more:
- If I had some wheels, I'd put on my best threads and ask for Jane's hand in marriage.
- The army included two hundred horse and three hundred foot.
- It is sure hard to earn a dollar these days.
- Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. --Genesis 2:7
And notice the other kinds of substitutions that can be made:
- Get in here this instant or I'll spank your body. [Whole for part--i.e. "body" for "rear end"]
- Put Beethoven on the turntable and turn up the volume. [Composer substituted for record]
- A few hundred pounds of twenty dollar bills ought to solve that problem nicely. [Weight for amount]
- He drew his steel from his scabbard and welcomed all comers. [Material for thing made]
- Patty's hobby is exposing film; Harold's is burning up gasoline in his dune buggy. [Part for whole]
- Okay team. Get those blades back on the ice. [Part for whole]
Take care to make your synecdoche clear by choosing an important and obvious part to represent the whole. Compare:
- His pet purr was home alone and asleep.
- His pet paws [whiskers?] was home alone and asleep.
One of the easiest kinds of synecdoche to write is the substitution of genus for species. Here you choose the class to which the idea or thing to be expressed belongs, and use that rather than the idea or thing itself:
- There sits my animal [instead of "dog"] guarding the door to the henhouse.
- He hurled the barbed weapon [instead of "harpoon"] at the whale.
A possible problem can arise with the genus-for-species substitution because the movement is from more specific to more general; this can result in vagueness and loss of information. Note that in the example above some additional contextual information will be needed to clarify that "weapon" means "harpoon" in this case, rather than, say, "dagger" or something else. The same is true for the animal-for-dog substitution.
Perhaps a better substitution is the species for the genus--a single, specific, representative item symbolic of the whole. This form of synecdoche will usually be clearer and more effective than the other:
- A major lesson Americans need to learn is that life consists of more than cars and television sets. [Two specific items substituted for the concept of material wealth]
- Give us this day our daily bread. --Matt. 6:11
- If you still do not feel well, you'd better call up a sawbones and have him examine you.
- This program is for the little old lady in Cleveland who cannot afford to pay her heating bill.
