While it's a term that most people understand, it's more commonly used in academic and literary contexts. In casual conversation, people might use more informal terms like "saying" or "phrase" to refer to figurative language.
Here's a simple comparison:
* Formal: "The author uses a figure of speech called a metaphor to compare the city to a jungle."
* Informal: "That's a cool saying! You're saying the city is like a jungle."
So, while the concept of figurative language is universal, the term "figure of speech" itself leans towards formal English.