literalise

/'litərəlaiz/ Cách viết khác : (literalise) /'litərəlaiz/

Thân thiện

The poet chose to literalise the metaphor "heart of stone" in his drawing.

Definition

1. Verb:
   • To make literal: To interpret or express something in a strictly literal, factual, or concrete way, often removing its figurative, metaphorical, or symbolic meaning.
   • To render in a literal form: To convert an abstract idea, figure of speech, or artistic concept into a direct, non-figurative representation.

Examples of Usage

• Verb:
  • The director's decision to literalise the metaphor of a "broken heart" with an actual cracking sound was controversial.
  • Some readers tend to literalise poetic language, missing its deeper symbolic meaning.
  • The instruction was ambiguous, so he chose to literalise it and followed the steps exactly as written.

Advanced Usage

• In literary criticism: The act of interpreting a text without allowing for allegory or symbolism.
  • To fully appreciate the parable, one must avoid the temptation to literalise every detail.
• In translation or adaptation: The process of converting an idiom or culturally specific phrase into a direct, word-for-word equivalent in another language, which can sometimes cause confusion.
  • The software's attempt to literalise the idiom "it's raining cats and dogs" resulted in a nonsensical translation.

Variants and Related Words

• Literalize (verb): The primary spelling variant, especially in American English. It has the same meaning as 'literalise'.
• Literal (adjective): Taking words in their usual or most basic sense without metaphor or allegory.
  • A literal interpretation of the law.
• Literalism (noun): The interpretation of words in their literal sense; adherence to the explicit substance of an idea or text.
  • Biblical literalism.
• Literalist (noun): A person who interprets words literally.

Synonyms

• Concretize: To make concrete or specific.
• Actualize: To make actual or real.
• Interpret literally: To understand according to the strict, primary meaning of words.

Antonyms

• Metaphorize: To describe or represent something through metaphor.
• Symbolize: To represent by means of symbols.
• Allegorize: To interpret or represent in an allegorical way.

Related Phrases

• To take something literally: To understand words in their most basic sense, not figuratively. (This is a common phrase from which the verb 'literalise' is derived).
  • He has a tendency to take everything I say literally.

Học thuật

Verb

1. make literal
   • literalize metaphors

Từ đồng nghĩa

• literalize