Periphrasis and euphemism
Periphrasis is the re-naming of an object by a phrase that brings out some particular feature of the object. The essence of the device is that it is decipherable only in context. If a periphrastic locution is understandable outside the context, it is not a stylistic device but merely a synonymous expression. Such easily decipherable periphrases are also called traditional, dictionary or language periphrases. The others are speech periphrases. Most periphrastic synonyms are strongly associated with the sphere of their application and the epoch they were used in. Feudalism. Traditional, language or dictionary periphrases and the words they stand for are synonyms by nature, the periphrasis being expressed by a word combination. Periphrasis as a stylistic device is a new, genuine nomination of an object, a process which realizes the power of language to coin new names for objects by disclosing some quality of the object, even though it may be transitory, and making it alone represent the object, but at the same time preserving in the mind the ordinary name of the concept.
There is a variety of periphrasis which we shall call euphemism. Euphemism, as is known, is a word or phrase used to replace an unpleasant word or expression by a conventionally more acceptable one. The origin of the term euphemism discloses the aim of the device very clearly, i. e. speaking well (from Greek - eu = well +-pheme = speaking). In the vocabulary of any language, synonyms can be found that soften an otherwise coarse or unpleasant idea. Euphemism is sometimes figuratively called "a whitewashing device". The linguistic peculiarity of euphemism lies in the fact that every euphemism must call up a definite synonym in the mind of the reader or listener. This synonym, or dominant in a group of synonyms,, as it is often called, must follow the euphemism like a shadow, as to possess a vivid imagination, or to tell stories in the proper context will call up the unpleasant verb to lie. The euphemistic synonyms given above are part of the language-as-a-system. They have not been freshly invented. They are expressive means of the language and are to be found in all good dictionaries. They cannot be regarded as stylistic devices because they do not call to mind the key-word or dominant of the group; in other words, they refer the mind to the concept directly, not through the medium of another word.
Hyperbole
Hyperbole is deliberate overstatement or exaggeration, the aim of which is to intensify one of the features of the object in question to such a degree as will show its utter absurdity. Like many stylistic devices, hyperbole may lose its quality as a stylistic device through frequent repetition and become a unit of the language-as-a-system, reproduced in speech in its unaltered form. Hyperbole differs from mere exaggeration in that it is intended to be understood as an exaggeration. In this connection the following quotations deserve a passing note:
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"Hyperbole is the result of a kind of intoxication by emotion, which prevents a person from seeing things in their true dimensions... If the reader (listener) is not carried away by the emotion of the writer (speaker), hyperbole becomes a mere lie. Hyperbole is a device which sharpens the reader's ability to make a logical assessment of the utterance. This is achieved, as is the case with other devices, by awakening the dichotomy of thought and feeling where thought takes the upper hand though not to the detriment of feeling.
The cliché
A clich éis generally defined as an expression that has become hackneyed and trite. It has lost its precise meaning by constant reiteration; in other words it has become stereotyped. This definition lacks one point that should be emphasized; that is,"^ a cliché strives after originality, whereas it has lost the aesthetic generating power it once had. There is always a contradiction between what is aimed at and what is actually attained. Definitions taken from various dictionaries show that cliché is a derogatory term and it is therefore necessary to avoid anything that may be called by that name. But the fact is that most of the widely-recognized word combinations which have been adopted by the language are unjustly classified as clichés. The aversion for clichés has gone so far that most of the lexical units based on simile (See p. 164) are brand-, ed as clichés. In an interesting article entitled "Great Clichè Debate" published in the New York Times Magazine"^ we can read the pros and cons concerning clichés. This article is revealing on one main point. It illustrates the fact that an uncertain or vague term will lead to various and even conflicting interpretations of the idea embodied in the term
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