Word or phrase for literally and figuratively?


Say, for example, you and a group of people were all sailing out in the ocean and something happens...then you say,


"I guess we are all in the same boat"


You are literally in the same boat with everyone else, and your current situation is the same as everyone else.


Now such a phrase can be applied literally and figuratively. I was wondering if there was a word that would mean both literally and figuratively. I know this is a tad bit of an oxymoron, but I was curious to see if there was such an "all encompassing" word for this.



Answer



It is a syllepsis:



Syllepsis Syl*lep"sis, n. [L., fr. Gr. sy`llhpsis a taking together, from ?. See {syllable}, n.] 1. (Rhet.) A figure of speech by which a word is used in a literal and metaphorical sense at the same time. [1913 Webster]



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