Find cases of semantic change based on hyperbole, litotes and irony.
How clever it is! (= stupid); Scores of times did I tell you …; clear as mud; not bad (= so so); haven’t seen you for ages; "He was so tall that I was not sure he had a face." (O. Henry); I hate to ask him; not slow (= quick); a killing girl; to split hairs; heaps of time; not small (= great); it’s a nightmare; not half as important; I’ve burnt the meal. That’s just brilliant!; You are so clever, you are. I don’t know how you kept it secret so long; They treated him to a handsome drubbing.
9. What semantic processes have taken place in the following words in the course of their development? Find for each word its original meaning as given in the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (CD-ROM, Word Origin) or at www.etymonline.com:
spinster, lord, earl, woman, wife, husband, king, queen, meat, hound, starve, sly, stake, revolution, challenge, citizen, clerk, fly, boor, baron, sale, season, marshal?
10. Guess about reasons for the following euphemistic transfers:
liquidation = ‘murder’; military operations = ‘war’; servicing the target = ‘killing the enemy’; refuse collector = ‘dustbin man’; vegetable executive = ‘greengrocer’; mail carrier = ‘postman’; lay off, workforce management, employee transaction, stuff reduction, optimizing, selecting out = ‘discharge / dismissal from office / fire’; senior, mature, middlescence, third age, chronologically gifted = ‘old, elderly’; low-income, the socially deprived, the underprivileged, the disadvantages, economically / financially-challenged, economically exploited, differently advantaged = ‘poor, needy’; hair disadvantaged = ‘bald’; visually challenged = ‘blind’; Native Americans, indigenous person = ‘Red Indians’; to be in a family way / to expect a baby / to be in a delicate condition = ‘pregnant’; headteacher = ‘headmistress’; supervisor = ‘foreman’; correctional facilities = ‘prison’; correctional officers, custodial officers = ‘prison guards’; clients of correctional system, guests, people enjoying temporarily hospitality from the state = ‘prisoners’; animal companions = ‘pets’; botanical companions = ‘house plants’.
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