PROVERB

What are proverbs?

Every culture has a collection of wise sayings that offer advice about how to live your life. These sayings are called "proverbs".

How can you use proverbs to learn English?

It's good to know the really common English proverbs because you hear them come up in conversation all the time. Sometimes people say the entire proverb to give advice to a friend. More often, someone will say just part of a proverb like this:

You know what they say: when the going gets tough...

Learning proverbs can also help you to understand the way that people in English-speaking cultures think about the world.
Proverbs can also give you good example sentences which you can memorize and use as models for building your own sentences.

The most important English Proverbs

This is a list of some of the most important and well-known English proverbs. Below each one, there's a simple explanation.
The meanings of some of these phrases have shifted over the years, so a proverb might have originally had a different meaning than the one I explain.

1. "Two wrongs don't make a right." 

When someone has done something bad to you, trying to get revenge will only make things worse.

2.  "The pen is mightier than the sword." 

Trying to convince people with ideas and words is more effective than trying to force people to do what you want.

3. "When in Rome, do as the Romans."  

 Act the way that the people around you are acting. This phrase might come in handy when you're traveling abroad notice that people do things differently than you're used to.

4. "The squeaky wheel gets the grease." 

You can get better service if you complain about something. If you wait patiently, no one's going to help you.

6.  "When the going gets tough, the tough get going."

Strong people don't give up when they come across challenges. They just work harder.

More examples of Proverbs? Click Here

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POLYSEMY

A polyseme is a word or phrase with different, but related senses. Since the test for polysemy is the vague concept of relatedness, judgments of polysemy can be difficult to make. Because applying pre-existing words to new situations is a natural process of language change, looking at words' etymology is helpful in determining polysemy but not the only solution; as words become lost in etymology, what once was a useful distinction of meaning may no longer be so. Some apparently unrelated words share a common historical origin, however, so etymology is not an infallible test for polysemy, and dictionary writers also often defer to speakers' intuitions to judge polysemy in cases where it contradicts etymology. English has many words which are polysemous. For example, the verb "to get" can mean "procure" (I'll get the drinks), "become" (she got scared), "understand" (I get it) etc.

In vertical polysemy a word refers to a member of a subcategory (e.g., 'dog' for 'male dog'). A closely related idea is metonym, in which a word with one original meaning is used to refer to something else connected to it.

1. A word is polysemous if it can be used to express di erent meanings. The diff erence between the meanings can be obvious or subtle.  
2. Two or more words are homonyms if they either sound the same (homophones), have the same spelling (homographs), or both, but do not have related meanings.
3. In other words, if you hear (or read) two words that sound (or are written) the same but are not identical in meaning, you need to decide if it's really two words (homonyms), or if it is one word used in two di fferent ways (polysemy). 

Examples

Man

1. The human species (i.e., man vs. animal)
2. Males of the human species (i.e., man vs. woman)
3. Adult males of the human species (i.e., man vs. boy)

Mole

1. a small burrowing mammal
2. consequently, there are several different entities called moles (see the Mole disambiguation page). Although these refer to different things, their names derive from 1. :e.g. A Mole burrows for information hoping to go undetected.

Bank

1. a financial institution
2. the building where a financial institution offers services
3. a synonym for 'rely upon' (e.g. "I'm your friend, you can bank on me"). It is different, but related, as it derives from the theme of security initiated by 1.

However: a river bank is a homonym to 1 and 2, as they do not share etymologies. It is a completely different meaning. River bed, though, is polysemous with the beds on which people sleep.

Book

1. a bound collection of pages
2. a text reproduced and distributed (thus, someone who has read the same text on a computer has read the same book as someone who had the actual paper volume)
3. to make an action or event a matter of record (e.g. "Unable to book a hotel room, a man sneaked into a nearby private residence where police arrested him and later booked him for unlawful entry.")

Newspaper

1. a company that publishes written news.
2. a single physical item published by the company.
3. the newspaper as an edited work in a specific format (e.g. "They changed the layout of the newspaper's front page").

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HYPERBOLE

  

Hyperbole emphasizes, evokes strong feelings, and creates strong impressions. As a figure of speech, it is usually not meant to be taken literally. Hyperbole may also be used for instances of such exaggerations for emphasis or effect. Hyperboles are often used in casual speech as intensifiers, such as saying "the bag weighed a ton". Hyperbole makes the point that the speaker found the bag to be extremely heavy, although it was nothing like a literal ton. Understanding hyperboles and their use in context can further one's ability to understand the messages being sent from the speaker. It has been established that use of hyperboles relays emotions. Hyperbole can be used in a form of humour, excitement, distress, and many other emotions, all depending on the context in which the speaker uses it.

A hyperbole is an extreme exaggeration used to make a point. It is like the opposite of “understatement.” It is from a Greek word meaning “excess.”

Examples:

It was so cold I saw polar bears wearing jackets.
I am so hungry I could eat a horse.
I had a ton of chores to do.

Hyperbole Poem

In a house the size of a postage stamp
lived a man as big as a barge.
His mouth could drink the entire river
You could say it was rather large
For dinner he would eat a trillion beans
And a silo full of grain,
Washed it down with a tanker of milk
As if he were a drain.

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METONYMY & SYNECDOCHE

Let's talk about synecdoche and metonymy, two very particular types of metaphorical expression in which one word is representative for another word or concept.

1. METONYMY

Metonymies are frequently used in literature and in everyday speech. A metonymy is a word or phrase that is used to stand in for another word. Sometimes a metonymy is chosen because it is a well-known characteristic of the word.   

A Word Functioning as a Metonymy:

Understanding the context of a metonymy is important. For example, the word "pen" is not always standing in for the written word; often, it just refers to the physical object of a pen.

The examples below include both the metonymy and the possible words for which the metonymy would fill in:

• Crown - in place of a royal person
• The White House - in place of the President or others who work there
• The suits - in place of business people
• Dish - for an entire plate of food
• Cup - for a mug
• The Pentagon - to refer to the staff
• The restaurant - to refer to the staff
• Ears - for giving attention ("Lend me your ears!" from Mark Antony in Julius Caesar)
• Eyes - for sight
• The library - for the staff or the books
• Pen - for the written word
• Sword - for military might
• Silver fox - for an attractive older man
• Hand - for help
• The name of a country - used in place of the government, economy, etc.
• The name of a church - used in place of its individual members
• The name of a sports team - used in place of its individual members

While these word examples provide a good example of what a metonymy is and how it functions, sentence examples will further help to explain the use of this figure of speech.

Sentences Using a Metonymy:

These sentences will further enhance your appreciation and understanding of metonymies. The metonymy is underlined.

• We must wait to hear from the crown until we make any further decisions.
• The White House will be announcing the decision around noon today.
• If we do not fill out the forms properly, the suits will be after us shortly.
• She's planning to serve the dish early in the evening.
• The cup is quite tasty.
• The Pentagon will be revealing the decision later on in the morning.
• The restaurant has been acting quite rude lately.
• Learn how to use your eyes properly!
• The library has been very helpful to the students this morning.
• That individual is quite the silver fox.
• Can you please give me a hand carrying this box up the stairs?
• The United States will be delivering the new product to us very soon.
• Saint Thomas will be coming to the soup kitchen to help out next Sunday after Mass.
• The Yankees have been throwing the ball really well, and they have been hitting better than they have been in the past few seasons.

2. SYNECDOCHE

Synecdoche is a figure of speech in which a whole is represented by a part of it. Synecdoche is different from metonymy. In synechdoche, the part that is used to represent the whole is actually a part of the whole. With metonymy, the thing that is used to represent the whole is not a part of the whole.

In synecdoche, a part of something is used to refer to the whole entity, or a whole entity is used to refer to part of something. Some examples? This happens every time usage is when someone asks for your number. You know what they are really asking you for is your phone number and not just a collection of random digits. Here are a couple more examples:

• 'Hey man, nice threads.' Threads, here, refers to clothes (part of something referring to the whole).
• 'The stage was nearly set up, but the conductor didn't have enough space for the strings.' Here, 'strings' is synecdoche for a single unit: the 'string section.'

Examples of Synecdoche:

1. Referring to a car as "wheels".

2. Referring to a helper as a "hand."

3. Referring to the alphabet as the "ABCs."

4. Referring to cows as "heads" of cattle.

5. Referring to a gossip as a "wagging tongue."

There are several types of synecdoche:
Pars pro toto - Using part of something to refer to the whole thing.

• England is often used by foreigners to refer to the United Kingdom. England is a country that's a part of the UK.
• Untuk bisa masuk ke pasar malam, perkepala hanya ditarif biaya sekitar Rp. 10.000 saja.
• Ayah membeli satu ekor kambing untuk disembelih dan dijadikan gulai.
• Setelah dilakukan eksekusi oleh kejaksaan, Pak Amir terpaksa angkat kaki dari rumahnya sendiri.

Totem pro parte - This is the opposite of pars pro toto; the whole is used to refer to part of the thing.

• The Internet is often used to mean the "World Wide Web". The Internet is a system of connected computer networks, while the "World Wide Web" is a network of connected documents that you can access via the Internet, to put it very simply!
• Barcelona mencetak gol kemenangannya pada menit ke 80.
• Menonton TV memberikan dampak negatif pada perkembangan anak.
• Polri berhasil meringkus kawanan  begal yang sering beraksi di daerah Lampung Utara.
• Kejaksaan telah mengeksekusi aset koruptor yang didapatkan dari hasil korupsi.

Sources: 
http://www.kelasindonesia.com/2015/03/pengertian-dan-contoh-majas-sinekdoke-pars-pro-toto-dan-totem-pro-parie.html
http://kakakpintar.com/pengertian-dan-25-contoh-majas-pars-pro-toto/
http://study.com/academy/lesson/synecdoche-vs-metonymy-definitions-examples.html

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COLLOCATION

When you start learning English you actually try to find many new methods that might help you to learn it faster. While doing so, you might come across some general tips to improve English, such as, reading books, watching English movies, reading newspaper, writing blogs etc. English as a language has many components to learn, namely, grammar, sentence structure etc. Before you start writing, you must understand what words actually pair with each other. This makes it easy to maintain the flow of writing. Have you ever wondered what are these words called?

These words are called as collocations. Let us know them in a better way. When a group of two or more words go together they are called collocations. A good way to learn collocations is to look at the words and try to match them. For a beginner, there are no specific rules to learn collocation. Since native speakers are good with their vocabulary, it makes them easy to combine words.

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SYNONYM, ANTONYM, HYPONYM

A synonym is a word or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word or phrase in the same language. Words that are synonyms are said to be synonymous, and the state of being a synonym is called synonymy.

Synonyms can be any part of speech (such as nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs or prepositions), as long as both words belong to the same part of speech. Examples: 

Antonym is a word that has the opposite meaning of another word. It refers to a word that is completely different from another one. They also are called opposites. The opposite of a antonym is a synonym. Hot and cold are antonyms, whereas hot and torrid are synonyms. For instance, the antonym of 'hot' may be 'cold.'

Hyponymy is a relation of inclusion. In the words of Lyons (1968, 453), "...the meaning of tulip [or rose or geranium] is said to be 'included' in the meaning of flower." To take another example from Lyons (1968, 453), "the 'meaning' of scarlet is said to be 'included' in the 'meaning' of red." When represented hierarchically, "The 'upper' term is the superordinate and the 'lower' term the hyponym" (Palmer: 1981, 85). Therefore, the term tulip is a hyponym with respect to flower, while tulip, rose and geranium are co-hyponyms, i.e. hyponyms of the same superordinate term. Looking at this from the opposite angle, flower is the superordinate with respect to tulip, rose and geranium. (It should be noted that the designation of a term as a superordinate or hyponym is relative, not absolute. For example, tulip is hyponym of flower, but in turn would be a superordinate of parrot tulip).

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