DENOTATION AND CONNOTATION

Call a woman a kitten, but never a cat;

You can call her a mouse, cannot call her a rat;
Call a woman a chicken, but never a hen;
Or you surely will not be her caller again.

You can call her a duck, cannot call her a goose;

You can call her a deer, but never a moose;
You can call her a lamb, but never a sheep;
Economic she likes, but you can’t call her cheap.

You can say she’s a vision, can’t say she a sight;

And no woman is skinny, she’s slender and slight;
If she should burn you up, say she sets you afire;
And you’ll always be welcome, you tricky old liar.
Decide from the context whether the italicised words
in the following sentences are being used denotatively
or connotatively.

1. The baby is asleep.

2. I wish you would not baby her so much.
3. She was wearing a red dress.
4. Such slander makes her see red.
5. My girl is always cold to me when I have a cold.
6. He used money to buy a car and he used his
friends to keep up the payments.
7. It was a dark night, and a night for dark deeds.
8. He is a wolf and his wife is a cat.
9. Who is that girl with Bill?
10. Who is that wench with Bill?