Figures of Speech in English Advertisement and its Translation

For the ultimate purpose of publicizing the product, English advertisement writers often use figures of speech such as simile, metaphor, personification, pun, rhyme, etc., to make the language vivid, powerful and expressive. The translation of figures of speech can be flexibly processed by employing literal approach, free approach and complementary approach due to the differences between English and Chinese language and culture. This paper also emphasizes that translation of figures of speech in English advertisement involves not only the knowledge of linguistics, sociology and aesthetics, but also commercial psychology, marketing strategy as well as the translator's imagination and artistic creativity.