0
Anonymous Posted 20 years ago
Vocabulary

Need help with a word...

For the life of me I can't remember what the word that has the following definition is:

"Using a broad term to describe something specific, or vice versa"

Thanks for your help
  

Top answer

over-generalize? generalize? speak generically?

— BarbaraPA

  • over-generalize?
  • generalize?
  • speak generically?
  • Paint with a broad brush?
Free · every Monday

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

New words, one handy idiom, and a 2-minute quiz — delivered to your inbox to keep your streak alive.

6 Answers
0
over-generalize?

generalize?

speak generically?

Paint with a broad brush?
0
0
0
I was pretty sure there was a litterary term used to describe it, I guess I'm being kind of vague.

And example is using "The Law" to refer to a police officer, (Broad representing specific) or "The Drink" refering to a body of water (specific representing broad)
0
0
The Law ... Auxesis? Reference to something with a name disproportionately greater than its nature (a kind of hyberbole).

The Drink ... Meiosis? Reference to something with a name disproportionately lesser than its nature (a kind of litotes)

Google "figures of speech" You may find what you need.

CJ

0
0
Synecdoche, perhaps, which can mean both "the less general for the more general" (e.g. "To be a comrade with the wolf and owl"), and the more general for the less general (e.g. "a thing of shreds and patches").

Cf. also metonymy, where a significant adjunct stands for the thing, e.g. "the Crown", "red tape".

MrP
0
0
Synecdoche, that was it thank you very much!!
0

Related Questions