Which figure of speech is used in this text?
I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth . . . My parents would have about two hemorrhages apiece if I told anything pretty personal about them.
—J. D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye
paradox hyperbole
Figures of speech are words or phrases that use language in a nonliteral or unusual way. They can make writing more expressive.
A euphemism is a polite or indirect expression that is used to de-emphasize an unpleasant topic.
The head of Human Resources would never refer to firing people, only to laying them off.
Hyperbole is an obvious exaggeration that is not meant to be taken literally.
I ate so much that I think I might explode!
An oxymoron is a joining of two seemingly contradictory terms.
Some reviewers are calling this book a new classic.
A paradox is a statement that might at first appear to be contradictory, but that may in fact contain some truth.
Always expect the unexpected.
The text uses hyperbole, an obvious exaggeration that is not meant to be taken literally.
Would have about two hemorrhages apiece is an exaggeration, since the speaker's parents will not literally hemorrhage just because he talks about them.