Stylistic use of phraseology
Phraseological units can be classified according to the degree of motivation of their meaning. This classification was suggested by acad. V.V. Vinogradov for Russian phraseological units. He pointed out three types of phraseological units:a) fusions where the degree of motivation is very low, we cannot guess the meaning of the whole from the meanings of its components, they are highly idiomatic and cannot be translated word for word into other languages, e.g. on Shank’s mare - (on foot), at sixes and sevens - (in a mess) etc;b) unities where the meaning of the whole can be guessed from the meanings of its components, but it is transferred (metaphorical or metonymical), e.g. to play the first fiddle (to be a leader in something), old salt (experienced sailor) etc;c) collocations where words are combined in their original meaning but their combinations are different in different languages, e.g. cash and carry - (self-service shop), in a big way (in great degree) etc.
Set phrases possess certain properties of individual words.
Some of them are elevated: an earthly paradise; Some are subneutral:
to rain cats and dogs; to be in one's cups (= to be drunk);
Among the elevated phrases we can discern the same groups as among the elevated words:
a) archaisms — the iron in one's soul ('permanent embitterment');
Mahomet's coffin ('between good and evil'); to play upon advantage ('to swindle');
b) bookish phrases — to go to Canossa ('to submit'); the debt of nature ('death'); the knight of the quill ('writer'); gordian knot ('a complicated problem');
c) foreign phrases — a propos de bottes ('unconnected with the preceding remark'); mot juste ('the exact word').
Subneutral phrases can also be divided into:
a) colloquial phrases — alive and kicking ('safe and sound'); a pretty kettle offish ('muddle');
b) jargon phrases — a loss leader ('an article sold below cost to attract customers');
c) old slang phrases — to be nuts about ('to be extremely fond of);
to shoot one's grandmother ('to say a non-sensical or commonplace thing'); to keep in the pin ('to abstain from drinking'); to kick the bucket, to hop the twig ('to die').
Even what might be called neutral phrases produce a certain stylistic effect as opposed to their non-phrasal semantic equivalents (to complete absence of phrases in the whole text)r Correct English and good English are most certainly not identical from the viewpoint of stylistics. Idioms and set expressions impart local colouring to the text;
Absence of set phrases makes speech poor and in a way unnatural: something like a foreigner's English. On the other hand, excessive use of idioms offends the sense of the appropriate.
A very effective stylistic device often used by writers consists in intentionally violating the traditional norms of the use of set phrases.
Often the key-words of well-known phrases are purposely replaced. Thus, unmasking the inhuman 'philosophy of facts' in his novel Hard Times, Dickens ironically exclaims Fact forbid! instead of God forbid!.
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Mark Twain replaces the epithet in the expression The Golden Age, naming satirically his contemporary epoch The Gilded Age. A number of curious instances of distorting 'literalizing', combining mid opposing phraseological expressions to achieve stylistic effects are adduced by L. A. Barkova, who studied commercial advertising.
8. The expression is obviously derived from the internationally known phrase the other side of the medal.
Changes in spelling (attaining a new meaning and at the same time preserving the phonetical form of the original set expression) are also resorted to. The well-known precept Waste not, want not (the idea of which nis 'wasting will make one suffer from want of what has been wasted', or to put it shorter, 'wasting brings suffering') is used by the producer of dietary foods, hinting in his advertisement at the disadvantage of being fat: Waist not, want not.
A furniture shop praises its sofas: Sofa, So Good! (from so far, so good).
A special device is the interaction of set phrases in an ad for a new cookbook: The last word in French cookbooks by the first lady of French cooking. The phrases last word and first lady make an antithesis, thus enhancing the expressive force of the statement.
Sometimes allusions are made use of. The ad recommending Smirnoff's Silver (a famous brand of whisky) says that it is for people who want a silver lining without the cloud (the allusion is to the proverb Every cloud has a silver lining, i.e. 'everything that is bad has a good side to it'). The advertiser's assertion without the cloud could be a hint that the consumer will have no hang-over afterwards.
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Colloquial styles
The colloquial style is a peculiar subsystem of the English language. On the one hand, its major field of application is found in the spoken variety of language; on the other hand, elements of this style penetrate the written varieties such as the BLS, the PS and NS.
When written, the colloquial style's function is to render the specificity of everyday conversation. Underlying many of its specific features are the following factors: 1) the spontaneous character of communication; 2) the private character of communication; 3) face-to-faceness.
Four tendencies may explain the peculiarities of the colloquial style:
1) prefabrication and 2) creativity, 3)compression and 4) redundancy.
1) The colloquial style has a great amount of ready-made formulae, cliches, all kinds of prefabricated patterns. Spontaneous conversation is facilitated by using stereotyped units – social phrases such as greetings (hello), thanks and responses (not at all...) 2) Creativity is also a result of spontaneous speech production. We make our conversation as we go along. We have no time to polish it deliberately, but one can do corrections, thus there are many hesitations, false starts, loose ends in grammar and syntax. 3) Compression tends to make speech more economical and laconic. It is reflected in the use of the following language phenomena: a)Shortened forms and clipped words (nouns: fridge, lab, math; verbs: am -'m,. is-'s, are-'re, have-'ve, etc.). b)Words of broad semantics (thing, one). c) Ellipsis is usual in face-to-face communication as the situation (context) easily supplies the missing part (Same time, same place?). d) Simplicity of syntax. Long sentences are seldom used in colloquial informal communication, for a simple reason that the speaker doesn't want: lose the thread of his own thought 4) Redundancy reflects another aspect of unprepared speech production. Among the elements reflecting this tendency are: a) time-fillers (you know, I say, let me tee, sort of). b) the pleonastic use of pronouns (John, he is late). c) senseless repetition of words and phrases. (Liza: I'm a good girl, I am.)
The vocabulary of the literary colloquial style comprises neutral, bookish and literary words, though exotic words and colloquialisms are no exception. It is devoid of vulgar, slangy and dialectal lexical units. Sentences are short and elliptical, with clauses connected asyndeticall
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