Language

1. bathos: anticlimax; triteness or triviality in style; sentimentality. Bathos is also used to denote an insincere pathos, an evocation of pity or compassion.

2. malapropism: ridiculous misuse of words, especially by confusion of words that are similar in sound. Mrs. Malaprop, a character in Sheridan’s famous Restoration play. The Rivals, is noted for her misapplication of words

3. metaphor: the application of a word or phrase to an object or concept that it does not literally denote, in order to suggest a comparison with another object or concept. The use of metaphors may help to clarify or ennoble an idea, but one must not mix metaphors. This practice results in humorous effects, such as “We must put our noses to the grindstone and push.”

4. metonymy: the use of the name of one object or concept for that of another to which it is related, or of which it is a part, as “the bottle” for strong drink.

5. onomatopoeia: formation of words in imitation of natural sounds; the use of words whose sound suggests the sense. The “bow-wow theory” of language maintains the language that originated in imitation of natural sounds; the use of words whose sound suggest the sense. By contrast, the “pooh-pooh theory” says language originated in interjections that gradually acquired meaning.

6. oxymoron: a figure of speech by which a particular phrasing of words produces an effect by seeing self-contradiction, as in “cruel kindness” or “laborious idleness.” The Greek meaning is “pointed foolishness”

7. panegyric: an oration, discourse, or writing in praise of a person or thing; eulogy

8. paradigm: example or pattern; a set of forms in grammar all of which contain a particular element, especially the set of all inflected forms based on a single stem (as in verb declensions)

9. paralipsis: the suggestion, by deliberately concise treatment of a topic; that much significant material is being omitted, as in the use of the phrase “not to mention other faults.” Another name for paralipsis is preterition.

10. pleonasm: the use of more words than necessary to express an idea; redundancy; superfluity. It is derived form the Greek word for “to be or have more than enough”

11. polyglot: knowing many or several languages; containing, composed of, or in several languages; a confusion of languages; a person with a speaking or reading knowledge of a number of languages; a book, especially a Bible, containing the same text in several languages.

12. semantics: the study of meaning; the study of linguistic development by classifying and examining changes in meaning and form. Semantics is also called significi, a branch of semiotics (signs and symbols) dealing with the relationship between signs and what they denote. General semantics is an educational discipline concerning the relationships between symbols and reality and with improving the adjustment of people to each other and to the environment.

13. simile: a figure of speech in which two unlike things are explicitly compared using the words “like” or “as” as in “she is like a rose”

14. synecdoche: a figure of speech in which a part is used for a while or the whole for a part, the special for the general or the general for the special, as in “ten sail” for “ten ships” or a Croesus for a “rich man” or the name of the material for the thing made (“willow” for “bat”)

15. threnody: a poem, speech, or slang of lamentation, especially of the dead; dirge; funeral song.


Exercises

Which Word Comes to Mind?

In each of the following read the statement then circle the word that comes to mind.

1. She was too young to die
(polyglot, simile, threnody)
2. The allegories on the banks of the Nile
(malapropism, metonymy, synecodoche)
3. Snap! Crackle! Pop!
(paradigm, oxymoron, onomatopoeia)
4. A true fact
(bathos, pleonasm, semantics)
5. The least of his crimes is his complicity with drugs
(metaphor, panegyric, paralipsis)
6. Jack answered the insult by saying, “I resemble that remark”
(bathos, malapropism, oxymoron)
7. Napoleon is credited with saying “From the sublime to the ridiculous it is but one step”
(panegyric, metonymy, bathos)
8. He was a lion in battle
(smile, metaphor, paralipsis)
9. Our guest spoke seven languages
(paradigm, pleonasm, polyglot)
10. The pot calling the kettle black
(semantics, synecdoche, threnody)

II. True or False?
In the space provided, indicate whether each statement is true or false.

____ 1. Both metaphor and smile use forms of comparison
____ 2. Synecdoche and metonymy are similar figures of speech in which an object or idea is describing reference to only a part of it.
____ 3. A polyglot is a person with a taste for exotic foods
____ 4. Semantics is concerned with the syntax of a language.
____ 5. A panegyric is a test devised to determine the linguistic level of a speaker.
____ 6. Paradigm and paragon both refer to an example.
____ 7. Every simile uses the words “like” or “as”
____ 8. Onomatopoeia refers to a group of words beginning with the same consonant
____ 9. Bathos is the sudden change in style producing a ludicrous effect
____ 10. This sentence illustrates, demonstrates, and exemplifies a pleonasm.

III. Find the Imposter
Find and circle the one word on each line that is not related to the other three.

1. metaphor simile literary comparative
2. threnody legacy elegy dirge
3. encomium panegyric panorama accolade
4. paradox paradigm paragon touchstone
5. insinuation intuition innuendo paralipsis

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