Here's why:
* Juxtaposition: Placing two contrasting ideas, images, or concepts close together to highlight their differences and create a more complex understanding. "Sweet and sour" represents this contrast directly.
* Other literary devices: While other devices could be associated with "sweet and sour," they don't capture the core meaning as well:
* Oxymoron: A figure of speech combining contradictory terms (e.g., "living dead"). While "sweet and sour" are opposites, they aren't a single contradictory term.
* Metaphor: A comparison between two unlike things (e.g., "life is a journey"). "Sweet and sour" doesn't directly compare anything to something else.
* Symbolism: The use of symbols to represent abstract ideas. "Sweet and sour" could be symbolic, but it doesn't necessarily require a specific meaning.
Example:
In a story, a character might experience the joy of falling in love (sweet) alongside the pain of losing a loved one (sour). The author uses "sweet and sour" to convey the complex emotions the character is experiencing.