Pars pro toto
Pars pro toto (/ˌpɑːrz
In the context of language, pars pro toto means that something is named after a part of it, or after a limited characteristic, in itself not necessarily representative for the whole. For example, "glasses" is a pars pro toto name for something that consists of more than just two pieces of glass. Examples of common pars pro toto usage in political geography include "Russia" or "Russians", for the entire former Russian Empire or former Soviet Union or its people, China for People's Republic of China, Holland for the Netherlands, and, particularly in languages other than English, using the translation of "England" in that language for "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland". Among English-speakers "Great Britain" or "Britain" is a common pars pro toto shorthand for the entire United Kingdom. Switzerland's name (in German Schweiz) comes from its central Canton of Schwyz.
The inverse of a pars pro toto is a totum pro parte, in which the whole is used to describe a part, such as widespread use of "America" (which originally named the entire western hemisphere to place it geographically, with alliteration, alongside Asia, Africa, "Europa", and ultimately Antarctica and Australia) in place of "United States of America", "United States" or "USA".[3] The term synecdoche is used for both, as well as similar metaphors, though in Greek it literally means "simultaneous understanding".
Geography
Certain place names are sometimes used as synecdoches to denote an area greater than that warranted by their strict meaning:
- "America" for the United States of America
- "Antigua" for Antigua and Barbuda
- "Austria" for the former Austro-Hungarian Empire or the Habsburg-ruled lands
- "The Balkans" to include historically-related parts of southeastern Europe as well as the Balkan Peninsula, or for the countries that made up the former Yugoslavia
- "Bohemia" for the former Czech lands, now the Czech Republic
- "Bosnia" for Bosnia and Herzegovina
- "Denmark" for the erstwhile Kingdom of Denmark–Norway
- "Great Britain" or simply as "Britain" for the United Kingdom
- "Hindustan" for India, especially north India[4]
- "Holland" for the Netherlands, see Netherlands (terminology)
- "Kosovo" for the Province of Kosovo and Metohija.
- "Mesopotamia" for the Middle East
- "Monte Carlo" for Monaco
- "Naples" for the former Kingdom of the Two Sicilies
- "Newfoundland" for what is now called Newfoundland and Labrador
- "Patagonia" for southern Chile and Argentina (sometimes mistaken for both countries)
- "Piedmont" or "Sardinia" for the former Kingdom of Sardinia
- "Poland" for the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
- "Prussia" for the former German Empire
- "Rome" for the Roman Empire and for Roman civilization in general
- in reference to Roman Catholic Church it is a different metonym, as the church is not a geographical entity of which Rome is a part
- "Russia" for the former Soviet Union
- "Saint Helena" for Saint Helena, Ascension, and Tristan da Cunha
- "Saint Vincent" for Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
- "Santo Domingo" for the Dominican Republic
- "São Tomé" for São Tomé and Príncipe
- "Scandinavia" for the Nordic countries
- "Serbia" for the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (made up of today's Serbia, Montenegro, and Kosovo) and its successor, Serbia and Montenegro.
- "South America" for partially overlapping term Latin America
- "Sweden" for the former Sweden-Norway.
- "Tahiti" for French Polynesia
- "Taiwan" for the (Free area of the) Republic of China, which consists of Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu, and the island of Taiwan
- "Trinidad" for Trinidad and Tobago
- "Turkey" for the former Ottoman Empire
- "Vietnam" for the former French Indochina
- The use of capitals to denote capital regions or even entire countries such as "Canberra" for the Australian Capital Territory, "Ancient Rome" for the Roman Empire, "Chinese Taipei" for the (Free area of the) Republic of China or Taiwan
Other examples
- Individual body parts may refer to an entire body. Examples:
- "Skin" or "hide" ("save your skin" or "skin in the game" or "the teacher will have my hide")
- "mouth" ("mouth to feed")
- "head" ("head count")
- "face" ("famous faces")
- "hand" ("all hands on deck")
- "eyeballs" (television audience)
- "guts" (to "hate someone's guts")
- "back" used to mean the entire human body in relation to clothing ("shirt off my back")
- or "back" or "neck" used to mean a person's entire self in relation to being bothered ("get off my back" or "we'll have the police on our necks").
- Also "back" meaning a person's whole self or physical being or physical life in the saying "to have someone's back", and "neck" meaning a person's life or physical being in the phrase "save one's neck".
- "ass" (crude; referring to a "butt hole") referring to the entire buttocks
- "butt" used to indicate a person's entire self or body ("get your butt on a plane" or "the boss fired my ass.")
- "body" for a person (for example, "the beach was "crowded with bodies" or a "warm body" or "what's a body to do", or the words "somebody," "anybody," "everybody," "nobody")
- similarly, "soul" for a person, (for example, "the poor soul" or "don't tell a soul.")
- using slang words for genitalia to indicate that particular gender, especially in terms of a sexual partner.
- similarly, "vagina" for the entire vulva.
- "hand" for a person, usually a woman, being considered as a marital partner, used in the phrases "hand in marriage" or "he asked her father for her hand."
- "bread" for food in general, as in "my job puts bread in my children's mouths"
- "Pork bellies" for commodities to be traded
- "hand" for applause, as in "let's have a great big hand for our guest"
- "bread" for livelihood/sustenance/a living, as in "earn your daily bread"
- "hand" for help, such as "lend a hand" or "give me a hand"
- "head" for individual farm animal, such as "twelve head of cattle" for "twelve cows, bulls, etc."
- "Big Ben" for Elizabeth Tower
- "motor" for automobile, as in the corporation General Motors or the word "Motors" used in the name of a car dealership
- similarly, "jet" for jet(-propelled) airplane, "sail" for sailing ship, "wheels" for automobile
- In the context of shooting, the term "gun" refers to the shooter as well as his firearm. (e.g., "he was a hired gun".)
- Chevrolet, Holden (in Oceania) or Opel (in Europe) to represent the entirety of General Motors, where using the most common GM brand in each region represents the entirety of General Motors
- Activision or Blizzard to refer to holding parent company Activision Blizzard
See also
References
- ↑ "pars pro toto | Definition of pars pro toto in English by Oxford Dictionaries". Oxford Dictionaries | English. Retrieved 2018-01-19.
- ↑ "pars pro toto - Definition from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary". Merriam-webster.com. 2012-08-31. Retrieved 2014-02-03.
- ↑ Blair Arts Ltd. "Online Dictionary of Language Terminology (ODLT) s.v. totum pro parte". ODLT. Retrieved 2014-02-03.
- ↑ "Hindustan: Definition". Thefreedictionary.com. Retrieved 2017-09-07.