In figurative language, it can be said that an athlete is a dog due to his poor ability.
Figurative language is that by which one word expresses an idea in terms of another , appealing to a similarity that may be real or imaginary. Figurative language is opposed to literal language , which assumes that words have the meaning that defines their exact meaning.
For example: the term dog refers, in a literal sense, to a quadruped mammal that belongs to the canid family. However, in figurative language, the concept allows us to refer, at least in Argentina , to someone who is bad at developing a certain activity . “This team is full of dogs” is a phrase that could refer to a group of players in a certain sport who do not stand out for their quality.
Figurative language suggests meanings and it is the listener or reader who must find the new reference . A person who hears the phrase “this team is full of dogs” and does not share the linguistic codes spoken in Argentina is likely to be disconcerted.
What figurative language produces is a displacement of meaning. “My boss already roared and I ran out of alternatives” does not mean that the speaker's pattern is a lion (the animal that roars). The phrase is suggesting that the boss has a fierce attitude and cannot be argued with.
Figurative language in poetry
When we read scientific or legal documents we find concise and direct (literal) language that tries to be as precise as possible to avoid confusion. In literature, however, figurative language is more common, especially in poetry .
As the Spanish philologist Rafael Lapesa expressed it, literary language enriches the lexicon and refines the significant nuances of the words . And in this functionality it has the duty of recovering certain lost terms and completely expanding the colloquial language. The use of figurative language in literature denotes a strong capacity for abstraction on the part of the author and an absolute dedication to language beyond known meanings.
Poetry often uses figurative language.
A poet can choose a certain concept to weave it with an idea , in some cases absolutely personal and not necessarily coincidental; It is about using a word in a different sense than what it represents in the dictionary to relate it to an idea or feeling.
This resource is more used in avant-garde poetry and, taking into account the movement in which the author is located, said figuration will be more or less abstract. There are, however, certain standards, for example if a poet says of someone that he has sea eyes, he is meaning that he has light eyes , if he says that he has hair the color of the night, he is saying that his hair is of a thick black and if it says it's gold, it's blonde.
The creation of metaphors
It is worth clarifying at this point that figurative language is used above all to create metaphors , that is, to name or qualify one thing according to its similarity to another, but without naming said analogy.
If the poet says " he had hair red like fire " it is not figurative language since he is mentioning both objects that are compared: hair and fire, on the other hand if he says " he had hair of fire " it is It is a metaphor , it is saying that that hair and fire are similar in color, but it is not saying it directly , it is therefore a figurative language. Having said this, it is only enough to add that in a comparison both objects and the analogy that exists between them must be mentioned.
Another example of the use of this poetic resource can be found in the following verses by Octavio Paz . Says:
« A glass willow, a poplar of water / a tall fountain that the wind arches «. This figurative message refers to a source.