Is there a specific word for when you take well known sayings and you switch some of the words like if I changed "he had a heart of stone" to "he had a heart of wood". I know anastrophe means you change the order of a saying but is there a word when you actually change the content of a saying slightly such that it is still recognisable?
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Are you looking for a formal term or would a simple “play on a well-known saying” suffice? Or even more informal *riff*. – Jim Aug 15 '21 at 22:28
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@Jim I'm looking for a formal term that I can use in an essay – Pen and Paper Aug 15 '21 at 23:10
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What kind of essay? An English language writing assignment or some academic/scholarly essay? Just cuz you’re going to turn it in doesn’t mean it can’t contain everyday speech. In fact some essays depend on it. – Jim Aug 15 '21 at 23:45
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@Jim Some high-school analytical essay on the poetry of Yeats, I need something really specific that I can use cos high school teachers really want you to use a formal term whenever you analyse something. – Pen and Paper Aug 15 '21 at 23:49
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It’s called metalepsis.
Metalepsis (from Greek: μετάληψις) is a figure of speech in which a word or a phrase from figurative speech is used in a new context. -wikipedia
They give the following example as a metalepsis of “the early bird catches the worm”.
I've got to catch the worm tomorrow.
Lawrence
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