Quote: “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.”