simile:明喻
定义：A figure of speech in which two essentially unlike things are compared.明喻是一种修辞手法，把两种基本不相像的东西进行比较.
例子：
1.He looked as if he had just stepped out of my book of fairytales and had assed me like a spirit.他看上去好像刚从我的童话故事书中走出来，像幽灵一样从我身旁走过去。
2.He is something of a political chameleon.他有点象政治上的变色龙。
metaphor：隐喻
定义：A figure of speech in which a word or phrase that ordinarily designates one thing is used to designate another, thus making an implicit comparison.用一个词来指代与该词所指事物有相似特点的另外一个事物
例子：
1.The diamond department was the heart and center of the store
2.He has a heart of stone. 他有一颗铁石心肠
Understatement：陈述
定义：A figure of speech which contains an understatement of emphasis, and therefore the opposite of hyperbole. Often used in everyday speech and usually with laconic or ironic intentions.这种修辞格是故意使用有节制的措辞来陈述事实，故意轻描淡写，借低调与弱化语言形式来表示强调。
例子：
1.I know he is honest, and I wish I could add he were capable.我知道他是诚实的，我还希望我能说他是能干的。
此句也是用虚拟语气来体现understatement，I could add he were capable其实是在说“但他不够能干”。
2.The face wasn’t a bad one; it had what they called charm.面孔不算难看，有一般人所称的妩媚。
此句不是冲淡她的魅力，而是采用低调渲染，意即The face was sweet; her charm conquered everybody. 明似贬抑，实则褒扬.
其他常见的修辞手法
antithesis 对照
sarcasm 讽刺
innuendo 暗讽
metonymy 转喻
onomatopoeia 拟声
analogy 类比
irony 反语
Pun / Wordplay 双关语
alliteration 头韵 (在一句话中采用连续几个词相同首字母或声韵的技巧)
climax 渐进/顶点 (逐层加强词义的渐进法)
personification 拟人
syllepsis 一语双叙
apostrophe 顿呼(在文章或演说中用第二人称称呼在场或不在场的人或拟人的事物)
anti-climax / bathos 突降 (在写作或说话中从庄重到平淡内容的突然转变)
zeugma 轭式搭配
transferred Epithet 转类形容词
oxymoron 矛盾修饰
paradox 似非而是的论点, 悖论
epigram 警句, 隽语