New Airport Activity: The Face Toss
Friday, August 11, 2006 at 08:30AM
Figaro

facetoss.jpgQuote:  “I’m throwing away my whole face.”  Traveler Julie Beasley in the New York Times.

Figure of Speech:  synecdoche (syn-EC-do-kee), the scale-changing figure.

Liquids, including cosmetics, are verboten on commercial flights following the announcement of a foiled terrorist plot.  So 31-year-old Julie Beasley finds herself tossing her Chanel lip gloss and lipstick into a trash barrel at the Phoenix airport.

She describes the act with a synecdoche (“to take one thing with another”), a figure that swaps parts for a whole or vice versa.  Bluehairs seem even more fond of “putting their face on,” substituting a body part for an arsenal of cosmetics.

Maybe the airlines should include makeup along with their peanuts.  Consider it a face-saving measure.

Snappy Answer:  “Then I’m not going near that trash can.”

Article originally appeared on Figures of Speech (http://inpraiseofargument.com/).
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