Lexical stylistics

Exercise 1. Differentiate between genuine and trite metaphor s. 1. Broken hearts stain pillows with bitter tears. 2. He stood there looking out over the darkening sea where the great waves were welling up high and white horses were riding against the wind with plumes of spray behind them as they went. 3.I suppose you are not barking up the wrong tree. 4.Here's a thought for every man who tries to understand what is in his hands. He walks along the open road of Love & Life, surviving if he can, bound with all the weight of all the words he tried to say, chained to all the places that he never wished to stay, and as faced the sun he cast no shadow. 5.How about playing the game with the cards face up?6.She’s the apple of her father’s eye. 7.Emotions are the sail and blind faith is the mast. Without the breath of real freedom we're getting nowhere fast. 8.No man is an Island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, part of the main. 9.Daily he came to think more of his clipped wings, of his exclusion from the world, and less of the fortuitous liberty he enjoyed. 10.I have never deemed Barbados the earthly mirror of heaven.

Exercise2. State the type of relations existing between the object named and the object implied in the following examples of metonymy: 1.In reality I was only an absurd puppet pushed to and fro by the will of those yellow faces behind. 2.Give us this day our daily bread. (Matthew) 3.The U.S. won three gold medals. 4. What a beautiful Easter egg! – Yes, it’s a Fabergé! 5.The cloth manufacturers were making khaki and navy and air force blue for Great Britain and her allies. 6.Sternly disapproving eyes considered him from a window opposite. 7.Her father – that same Colonel Bishop’s brother – had been a kindly, chivalrous gentle soul. 8.The door opened, and to Don Diego’s increasing mystification he saw his best suit of clothes step into the cabin. He knew each detail of it so well that it was impossible he could now be mistaken. The suit paused to close the door, and inside the suit came a tall, slender gentleman of about Don Diego’s own height and shape. 9. ‘This,’ the butler said, reaching out and touching one of the empty bottles lovingly with his fingers, ‘this is the last of the forty-fives. The twenty-nines have already been finished. But they were glorious wines. Monsieur Estragon and I enjoyed them immensely.” 10.The dictionary, a Collins, is the most reliable source of information for me. 11.Tonight Samantha wore well-tailored blue jeans, a white cotton shirt, a black gabardine blazer, and highly polished black Oxfords with white socks. 12.Here, at a table spread with snowy napery on which crystal and silver sparkled, sat three men. 13.He never plays with your heart, so you gladly give it to him. 14. If blood will flow when flesh and steel are one, drying in the colour of the evening sun, tomorrow's rain will wash the stains away. 15.The Spanish throne would be naturally against them not only because they were English, but, further, because they were in possession of a Spanish ship. 16. In addition to his ability as a navigator, this amiable young man appears to have wielded an indefatigable pen. 17.And it’s not to the honour of the flag of France.

Exercise3. Analyse the following cases of irony: 1.Don't eat Jessica's cooking. It's as wholesome as radioactive waste. 2.The whole world greeted his invention with ridicule. 3.Very good thing is weal pie, when you know the lady as made it, and are quite sure it ain't kittens; and after all though, where's the odds, when they're so like weal that the very piemen themselves don't know the difference? 4.”Don't ask me, impudence,” replied the cook, in a high state of delight. 5. I am worth precisely ten pounds. I know it because that is the sum your uncle paid for me. Not every man has the same opportunities of ascertaining his real value. 6.You were thinking what had happened? So it was – a miracle wrought by my genius, which is considerable. 7.Do you keep the receipts for the friends that you buy? 8.Huckleberry was filled with admiration of Tom’s facility in writing and the sublimity of his language. 9.President Bush is basically saying, “I’m a fair man and I would never abuse the war trial system I’ve advocates to unfairly prosecute, persecute or execute any terrorist.” President Adams would disagree with President Bush’s well-meaning declaration. 10.It was but the day before my arrival that one of them had been most grossly insulted in the pub. The barmaid had positively refused to draw him any more liquor; in return for which he had (merely in playfulness) drawn his bayonet, and wounded the girl in the shoulder. And yet this fine fellow was the very first to go down to the house next morning and express his readiness to overlook the matter, and forget what had occurred!

Exercise 4. Indicate the leading features of the personages characterized by the following “speaking names”: Sneerwell, Lovejoy, Teazler, Boastal, Golightly, Murdstone, Gradgrind, Mallard, Old Phenix, Augustus Pokewhistle.

Exercise 5. Analyse the following cases of antonomasia: 1. Rumor has it that you’re suffering from a terminal Don Juan complex. – It’s not such a bad reputation to have, when you think about it. After all, no man can be a Don Juan unless women are interested in him. 2.The best doctors are Dr. Diet, Dr. Quiet and Dr. Merryman. 3.She’s as eccentric as hell! And whenever I think of her, I think of scarves. She’s always worn masses of them, rain or shine, all kinds of weather. Gwenny is a regular Isadora Duncan, if you ask me. 4.We’ve run out of sugar. Ask Mrs. Helpful to lend us some. 5.You are like a Figaro. One minute here, another there. 6.‘A real gentleman,’ she went on. ‘Wealthy, too, otherwise he wouldn’t have had a silk umbrella. I shouldn’t be surprised if he isn’t a titled person. Sir Harry Goldsworthy or something like that.’ 7.They acquired a French chef called Monsieur Estragon. 8.Mr. Train Driver please, if you increase your speed every cent I have now will be yours. 9.I saw my lawyer, Mr. Good News; he got me joint custody and legal separation.

Exercise 6. Compare hyperbole and understatement: 1. My granny is so old,... – she showed us a yearbook from 1500 B.C.! she personally knew Shakespeare! she remembers the tragedy when the dinosaurs died! she's mentioned in the Old Testament. she taught cave men to start a fire. she edited the bible for mistakes! she claims that she invented the question mark! 2. The town where I grew up is so small and isolated,... – our theatre is still waiting to get Charlie Chaplin movies. I don't even know where it is! I am the only one there. 'paper, scissors, rock' is considered a high-tech game! if someone left they wouldn't be able to find their way back. even insects won't live there.

Exercise 7. State the nature of the exaggerated (underestimated) phenomenon (size, quality, emotion): 1.One could have imagined him thousands years old. 2.Italy is a never-ending voyage of discovery. 3.I think of you a million times a day. 4.The test was so hard, by the time I finished it I was 100 years old! 5. War is not healthy for children and other living things. 6.Saskatchewan is so flat, you can see your dog run away for 4 days! 7.It was so cold, even the polar bears were wearing jackets. 8.He was every inch a gentleman. 9. A word to the wise is enough. 10.This will be the death of her when she hears it. 11.Now there's a million years between my fantasies and fears. I feel love. 12. You feel you're older than time. 13. I'll give you half the world if that's enough. 14. Everybody laughed till they were blue. 15.The fellow is not worth the gunpowder it would cost to have him shot. 16.To have you with me I would swim the seven seas. 17.They were reasonably merry, saving Hagthorpe, who was fathoms deep in preoccupation. 18.His eyes threaten to drop from his flushed, angry face. 19.“I have a husband, sir, I thank God. You shall answer to him for that.” 20.“Sure and I’ll answer to all the husbands in the world,” he called after her, and laughed. 21.My husband is very forgetful. I sometimes remind him what his name is! 22. He never goes shopping. He says it takes three days just to get to the grocery store!

Exercise 8. Distribute the following periphrases into logical, figurative and euphemistic. State if there are some traditional periphrases: 1.There were weavers, brewers, carpenters, smiths, masons, bricklayers, cobbles, representatives of every other of the trades of peace among these improvised men of war. 2. At sight of him Nuttall returned thanks aloud to his Maker. 3.All was happiness and festivity, until the mysterious disappearance of both the poor relations beneath the table, warned the party that it was time to adjourn. 4.“Oh, but I would smile anyway, even if it wasn’t a rule.’ At this Mary greets a scowling customer with a full set of perfect teeth. 5. He’s so critical, and you don’t like to be judged. Give ‘two thumbs-down’ to this relationship. 6.How can I save my little boy from Oppenheimer's deadly toy? 7. He came upon the lady of his dreams walking in the garden. 8.What aggravates me, is to see them wasting all their time and labour in making clothes for copper-coloured people that don't want them, and taking no notice of flesh-coloured Christians that do. 9.We call it a smile, and attach tremendous significance to the enigmatic gesture. 10. “So you’re a pickpocket,” said I.“I don’t like the word,” he answered. “It’s a coarse and vulgar word. Pickpockets are coarse and vulgar people who only do easy little amateur jobs. They lift money from blind old ladies.” “What do you call yourself, then?” “Me? I’m a fingersmith. I’m a professional fingersmith. 11.Andrew gave him the only possible answer. He had shown him the door.

Exercise 9. Make up familiar similes (Model: As easy as pie/ABC.):

as fat as… as cold as … as blind as…as plump as…as quiet as…as silent as …as tough as … as soft as… as black as … as greedy as … as free as… as cunning as… as dead as… as thick…

the grave, a lamb, a bat, a doornail, a fox, a bird, a pig, as thieves, charity, pitch, a partridge, leather, soot, butter

Exercise 10. Discuss the structure of the following epithets. Speak about their semantic characteristics. Pick out figurative epithets: 1.Over the emerald water that sparkled in the morning sunlight, in a boat rowed by four moistly gleaming Negroes, came Mr. Geoffrey Court. 2. Maxim was not a nine-to-five man. 3. I lay in my crib at the close of that eventful day and lived over the joys it had brought me, and for the first time longed for a new day to come. 4. I heard the devilish roar of glee that went up from the crowd. 5. The crowd yelled with hideous laughter. 6. There in slanting golden light of the new-risen sun stood a breathless wild-eyed man and a steaming horse. 7. These three pearl buildings to the entrance of Venice were turning golden, in the late afternoon light. 8. She made an excuse-me face. 9. The horses started, and receded into the sapphire starlit night. 10. My mother gave me a triumphant look. 10. You need a together-forever bond. 11. He accepted her words with a heavy heart. 12. She gave me a bored, nothing-to-do-with-me shrug. 13. Mrs. Reynolds was a tall, striking woman in her late forties, with blond hair and a typical pink English complexion. 14. I must ask you to keep it a dead secret. 15. Bella is staring at her and her father with impassive hatred. 15. Fatty came over to Lanny’s table. A fat, cheerful Greek with laughing wrinkles at the sides of his eyes. 16. Sternly disapproving eyes considered him from a window opposite. 17. He behaved in an I-don’t-care attitude. 18. She spotted the first woman and walked over to her, treading the deck in the deliberate, military fashion of all spinsters. 19. I have an English butler called Tibbs, wildly expensive. 20. He pays astronomical bills for these wines. 21. A ghost of a smile played over his keen, lean, sun-tanned face. 22.One day towards the end of May there crawled into Carlisle bay a wounded, battered English ship.

Exercise 11. Discuss the structure of the following oxymora. Detect original and trite oxymora: 1.“Light! Give me light!” was the wordless cry of my soul, and the light of love shone on me in that very hour. 2. Have you ever been at see in a dense fog, when it seemed as if a tangible white darkness shut you in, and the great ship, tense and anxious, groped her way toward the shore with plummet and sounding-line, and you waited with beating heart for something to happen? 3. At the second shoot he didn’t collapse but climbed with desperate slowness to his feet and stood weakly upright. 4. Festina lente (make haste slowly). 5. O miserable abundance, O beggarly riches! 6. I do here make humbly bold to present them with a short account of themselves. 7.He was now sufficiently composed to order a funeral of modest magnificence... 8.O anything of nothing first create! 9. O heavy lightness, serious vanity! Misshapen chaos of well-seeming forms! Feather of lead, bright smoke, cold fire, sick health! (Shakespeare) 10. In America a person may be casually assaulted by a thousand happy smiles a day. 11. When Robin saw the length of the English test, she gave a silent scream. 12. Amanda always remembered her childhood with a feeling of bittersweet nostalgia.

Exercise12. Discuss the nature of the following perceived oxymora: Found missing, Genuine imitation, Same difference, Almost exactly, Legally drunk, British fashion, Small crowd, New classic, Christian Scientists, Clearly misunderstood, Peace force, Extinct Life, Tight slacks, Diet ice cream, Rap music, A failed saint, Soft rock, Taped live, Synthetic natural gas, Plastic glass, Working vacation, Definite maybe, Act naturally, Sanitary landfill

Exercise 13. Classify the following into zeugmas and semantically false chains: 1.She was especially suspicious of two things - strange men and boiled eggs. 2. Medora took heart, a cheap hall room, and two art lessons a week from Professor Angelini. 3. I could do with a motorcar, maybe a Jaguar, maybe a plane, or a day of fame. 4.All the girls were in tears and white muslin, except a select two or three, who were being honoured with a private view of the bride and bridesmaids, upstairs. 4. Coke, tarhoon and globalization. 5.Nevertheless, everybody still associates a Ford automobile with America, apple pie and, well, uh, Chevrolet. 6.There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics. 7. At noon Mrs. Turpin would get out of bed and humour, put on kimono, and the water to boil for coffee. 8. Father Brown’s short legs were not adapted to jumping, but his temper was more adapted than most people’s - to falling with a splash into very muddy water. 9.First the door locked, and then his jaw. 10. I’ve managed to stop smoking; now I’m trying to stop nuclear power. 11. Never give your car to anyone to whom you have given birth. 12. She can change her mind like she changes her sweaters. 13. By such means you no doubt grow rich in gold, but still richer in dishonour. 14. He struck off his pension and his head together. 15. She possessed two false teeth and a sympathetic heart. 16. Mrs. Pearch (to Liza). Don’t cry, you silly girl. Sit down. Nobody is going to touch your money. Higgins. Somebody is going to touch you with a broomstick, if you don’t stop sniveling.

Exercise 14. Indicate cases when pun is homophonic, ideophonic or homographic: 1. A bicycle can't stand alone because it is two-tired. 2. Had Cleopatra’s nose been shorter, the whole face of the world would have changed. 3. Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana. 4. A backward poet writes inverse. 5. In democracy it's your vote that counts; in feudalism it's your count that votes. 6.She had a boyfriend with a wooden leg, but broke it off. 7.With her marriage she got a new name and a dress. 8. Show me a piano falling down a mineshaft and I'll show you A-flat minor. 9. He often broke into song because he couldn't find the key.10.He had a photographic memory which was never developed. 11. The short fortune teller who escaped from prison was a small medium at large. 12. When you've seen one shopping center you've seen a mall. 13. Those who jump off a Paris bridge are in Seine. 14. When an actress saw her first strands of gray hair she thought she'd dye. 15. Santa's helpers are subordinate Clauses. 15. The difference between a man and a boy is that a man’s toys cost a lot more. 16. Keep him in check and he’s a keeper.

Exercise 15. Discuss the manner in which a set phrase is violated: 1.Panhandlers: to give or not to give? (a newspaper headline) 2. My Grandmother was a true original. Strong of character, she truly ruled our family with an iron hand. In a velvet glove, of cause. 3. You sound like a scared little church mouse. 4. I fell blindly, madly, irrevocably in love with him. 5. “Bronte Village Fears Wuthering Blight” (newspaper headline) 6. Perhaps, she and Velma Kelley decided that one young murderess was fine but two were better. 7. The only man to call a spade a spade is a gardener. 8. Early to rise, early to bed will make you healthy, wealthy and dead. 9. It is not human to be wise. It’s much human to err, though perhaps exceptional to err on the side of mercy. We’ll be exceptional. 10. To be free or not to be. 11. The question was on the tip of her chatty tongue. 12. If you see light at the end of the tunnel, it’s the light of the oncoming train. 13. She said “ Good morning!”, and she meant it. 14. “Skid-talk is more than a slip of the tongue. It is a slip of the whole mind. 15. If George Washington were alive today, he would turn over in his grave. 16. Mr. Stiggins added: “It makes a vessel's heart bleed!” Mr. Weller was overheard by his son to murmur something relative to making a vessel's nose bleed; but Mr. Stiggins heard him not. 17. It was so dark you couldn’t see your face in front of you. 18. Darling, that was the best dinner I ever had in my whole mouth. 19. She grew fearful that we might disturb the neighbours. “Don’t make so much noise! Remember, this isn’t the only house we are in.” 20. Take care of the sense, and the sounds will take care of themselves.

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