TASK 4

Activity 1

Metaphor, metonymy, or synecdoche, and other figures of speech are found in ordinary

language usage. Academic writers very commonly make use of figurative senses. Look at these

sentences below and indicate which figures of speech have been used and try to explain why they have

been used:

(1) Running through this whole discussion of productivity are various threads which we

can now attempt to disentangle. [Bauer 2005: 330]

-’Run through a discussion of productivity’: metaphor

This figure of speech is used to refer to the discussion of productivity in general, as a whole, without

giving any relevance to a particular point.

-’disentangle threads’: metaphor

In this case, you cannot disentangle threads because they are are abstract ideas, thus, you cannot touch

them but this verb is used to emphasize the purpose of the transmitter.

(2) The purpose of this chapter is not primarily theoretical. Rather here we turn the spotlight on

English and look at the ways in which these theoretical developments have enriched our knowledge of

word formation in English. [Lieber 2005: 375]

-’the purpose of a chapter’: metaphor

A chapter also refers to an abstract notion and does not have a mind, it cannot have any purpose but

this expression is used to refer about its main ideas.

-’turn the spotlight’: metaphor

In this case, turn the spotlight is an expression which means to give attention to something but instead

of using verbs such as give attention or highlight, this expression seems to emphasize the meaning of

itself.

-’on English’ and ‘in English’: synecdoche

Here, English is referring to the language as a whole, as a totality.

-developments have enriched our knowledge: metaphor

Here again, a development, an abrastract idea cannot enrich something but this is used to emphasize

that it has our improvement in something has provided us knowledge.

Activity 2

Here are some conceptual metaphors mentioned by Lakoff and Johnson (1980: 25-8) where

TIME IS MONEY and THE MIND IS A MACHINE are the metaphor fields. Try to find five more

authentic examples for each one:

TIME IS MONEY

You’re wasting my time.

This gadget will save your hours.

How do you spend your time these days?

You’re running out of time.

That flat tire cost me one hour

I’ve invested a lot of time in her

I don’t have enough time to spare for that

You need to budget your time

You don’t use your time profitably

THE MIND IS A MACHINE

My mind just isn’t operating today.

Boy, the wheels are turning now!

I’m a little rusty today.

He broke down

We are still trying to grind out the solution of this equation

We’ve been working on this problem all day and now we’re running out of steam

He churns out ideas

He slipped a cog

He has a screw loose

Activity 3

The English words mortician, pregnant and lavatory have been later replaced by euphemisms

(Waldron 1967: 93). Explain what meaning areas were considered to be offensive in each case in

English (or even Western cultures), and the substitutes which replaced them. Note that in some cases

there may be more than one lexical replacement.

-mortician:

In fact, the word ‘mortician’ is already an euphemism of the term ‘undertaker’ but nowadays instead

of using ‘mortician’ we usually use ‘funeral director’. I believe that ‘undertaker’ and also ‘mortician’

may sound a little bit violent as in our society death is a delicate matter and many people struggle with

it. Therefore, using technical terms is very useful when it comes to talk about themes regarding social

issues so you do not hurt anybody’s feelings.

-pregnant:

In this case we can find several lexical replacements such as ‘to be in the pudding club’, ‘to have a

bun in the oven’, ‘to be eating for two’ or ‘to be up the pole’, among many others. I consider that we

do not like the term ‘pregnant’ because it seems to be very ‘raw’ in the sense that a woman is pregnant

when the sperm of a man enters into her egg and the process of a baby to be born starts. Nonetheless,
for humans, pregnancy is just not a biological process but a very emotional and happy time in the life

of someone. Thus, it we prefer to use expressions that sound funny or cute and that also involve the

baby that is about to come.

-lavatory:

The euphemism of this word is ‘powder room’. I think that the word ‘lavatory’ might sound a little bit

unadequate in the sense that it is better to say that you go to a room where you put some make up or

you check yourself in the mirror than ‘lavatory’.

Activity 4

Languages contain calques or loan-translations, like the ones listed below. Try to find out if it is

possible to determine their origin and how they entered Spanish or English:

Spanish English

1.cara a cara face-to-face

2.cheque en blanco blank check

3.fin de semana weekend

4.luna de miel honeymoon

5.desayuno breakfast

6.tirar la toalla throw the towel

7.torre de marfil ivory tower

1. This expression comes from the French ‘face-à-face’ which comes at the same time from

Latin.
 2. This expression comes from the French ‘carte blanche’ which means blank slate.

3. This expression originally comes from a Northern word that referred to the period from

Saturday noon to Monday morning. It seems to be first introduced into the English lexicon

and later on in the Spanish lexicon and orthographically adapted.

4. ‘Luna de miel’ is a calque of the English ‘honeymoon’ but its writing has been adapted.

5. They are apparently not related as ‘desayunar’ comes from Latin and ‘breakfast’ comes from

Old English. Therefore, their origins are completely different.

6. This expression clearly comes from English and it is related with a signal that the staff of

boxing players made to inform the player that he could not continue anymore.

7. This expression comes from the French ‘tour d’ivoire’ and I suppose that it first was

introduced into Spanish.

Activity 5

Altenberg & Granger (2002a: 22) remark that different languages develop “complex patterns of

partially overlapping polysemy.” Language contact has a major role in this cross-linguistic meaning

overlap as we have seen. Find out why there are meaning similarities between these words for the

senses mentioned between Spanish and English. We recommend that you use the Oxford English

Dictionary:

DOCTOR: English doctor and Spanish doctor:

‘a person whose job is to treat ill people’

The term ‘doctor’ comes from French and, therefore, from Latin. In both English and Spanish it has

the meaning of ‘teacher’.

PATIENT: English patient and Spanish paciente:

‘a person who receives medical treatment’

In this case, ‘paciente’ comes from Latin but in English it first comes from French which obviously

comes from Latin too. Hence, we can say their origin are quite similar.
ACCIDENT: English accident and Spanish accidente:

‘unfortunate and unforeseen event involving damage’

Here again, ‘accidente’ in Spanish comes from Latin and ‘accident’ in English comes from French

and, thus, Latin.

SOPHISTICATED: English sophisticated and Spanish sofisticado:

‘experienced, subtle, worldly-wise person’

In this case, we find that ‘sophisticated’ in English comes from Latin but ‘sofisticado’ in Spanish

comes from Greek.

References

“Extended and Transferred Meaning :Metaphor and Metonymy - Ppt Video Online Download.”

SlidePlayer, https://slideplayer.com/slide/4814490/.

Jamet, Denis. “Euphemisms for Death: Reinventing Reality through Words?” Université Jean

Moulin Lyon 3, Presses Universitaires Du Languedoc Et De La Méditerranée, 10 Nov. 2016,

https://hal-univ-lyon3.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01395036.

“Nguyen Ngoc Vu Nguyen Thi Thu Van - Ppt Download.” SlidePlayer,

https://slideplayer.com/slide/2509690/.

The Swaddle. “A Brief History of Pregnancy Euphemisms.” The Swaddle, 7 Apr. 2017,

https://theswaddle.com/pregnancy-euphemisms/.

“What Is a Blank Check?” Writing Explained,

https://writingexplained.org/idiom-dictionary/blank-check.

“Wiktionary, The Free Dictionary.” Wiktionary, the Free Dictionary,

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Wiktionary:Main_Page.