Interjections and exclamatory words

All present life is but an interjection

An 'Oh' or 'Ah' of joy or misery,

Or a 'Ha! ha!' or 'Bah!'-a yawn or 'Pooh!'

Of which perhaps the latter is most true.

Epithet is an attributive word, phrase or even sentence employed to characterize an object by giving it subjective evaluation. A well-matched, fairly-balanced give-and-take couple. (Di­ckens)

Epithets are used singly, in pairs, in chains, in two-step structures, and in inverted constructions, also as phrase-attributes.

Pairs are represented by two epithets joined by a conjunction or asyndetically as in “wonderful and incomparable beauty” or “a tired old town”. Chains (also called strings) of epithets present a group of homogeneous attributes varying in number from three up to sometimes twenty and even more. E.g. “You’re a scolding, unjust, abusive, aggravating, bad old creature.”

Two-step epithets are so called because the process of qualifying seemingly passes two stages: the qualification of the object and the qualification of the qualification itself, as in “an unnaturally mild day”.

Phrase-epithets always produce an original impression: “the sunshine-in-the-breakfast-room smell”, or “a move-if-you-dare expression”.

A different linguistic mechanism is responsible for the emergence of one more structural type of epithets, namely, inverted epithets. They are based on the contradiction between the logical and the syntactical: “the giant of a man” (a gigantic man); “the prude of a woman” (a prudish woman), etc.

Oxymoron [ˌɔksɪˈmɔ:rɔn] is a combination of opposite meanings which exclude each other. Deafening silence; crowded loneliness; unanswerable reply.

D. The fourth group is based on the interaction of logical and nominal meanings and includes antonomasia.

Antonomasia [ˌᴂntənəˈmeɪzɪə] is the usage of a proper name for a common noun or the usage of common nouns or their parts as proper names. Mr. Facing-Both-Ways does not get very far in this world. (The Times) He would be a Napoleon of peace, or a Bismarck.

II. The principle for distinguishing the second big subdivision is based on the interaction between two lexical meanings simultaneous­ly materialized in the context. This kind of interaction helps to call special attention to a certain feature of the object described. To this subdivision belong: simile, periphrasis, euphemism, hyperbole, understatement and litotes.

Simile [ˈsɪməlɪ] is an explicit statement of partial identity (affinity, likeness, similarity) of two objects belonging to different semantic spheres. It is an explicit comparison recognizable by the use of formal markers: as, as…as, like, as though, as if, such as; and informal markers: to resemble, to remind, to seem, to have a look of, to resemble. Treacherous as a snake; faithful as a dog; slow as a tortoise.

Periphrasis is a roundabout way of speaking or writing, known also as circumlocution. A gentleman of the long robe (a lawyer); the fair sex (women); A young blood from Cambridge chanced to enter the inn at Chipping Norton, while Sterne was seated there. (R. Stevenson)

Euphemism [ˈju:fəmɪz(ə)m] is a variety of periphrasis which is used to replace an unpleasant word or expression by a conventionally more acceptable one. In private I should call him a liar. In the Press you should use the words: 'Reckless disregard for truth'. (J. Galsworthy)

Hyperbole [haɪˈpɜ:bəlɪ] is a purposeful overstatement or exaggeration of the truth to achieve intensity, or for dramatic or comic effect. The earth was made for Dombey and Son to trade in and the sun and the moon were made to give them light. (Dickens) ‘I loved Ophelia; forty thousand brothers could not, with all their quantity of love, make up my sum.’ (W. Shakespeare)

Understatement (meiosis) is a deliberate underestimation for emphasis. She wore a pink hat, the size of a button. (J. Reed) It will cost you a pretty penny.

Litotes [laɪˈtəuti:z] is a specific form of meiosis, not an independent trope. It presents a statement in the form of negation. He was no gentle lamb (London); Mr. Bardell was no deceiver. (Dickens) She liked money as well as most women, and accepted it with no little satisfaction. (K. Chopin)

Ш. The third subdivision comprises stable word combinations in their interaction with the context. To this subdivision belong: clichés, proverbs and sayings, epigrams, quotations, allusions and violations of phraseological units.

Cliché [ˈkliːʃeɪ] or [klɪˈʃeɪ] is an expression which has been overused to the point of losing its original meaning or effect, especially when at some earlier time it was considered meaningful or novel. Clockwork precision; crushing defeat; the whip and carrot policy.

Proverb is a simple and concrete saying popularly known and repeated, which expresses a truth, based on common sense or the practical experience of humanity. Come! he said, milk's spilt. (Galsworthy)

Epigram is a brief, interesting, memorable, and sometimes surprising or satirical statement.

A thing of beauty is a joy forever. (Keats)

All things pass

Love and mankind is grass. (Stevie Smith)

Quotation is the repetition of one expression as part of another one, particularly when the quoted expression is well-known or explicitly attributed by citation to its original source, and it is indicated by quotation marks. Ecclesiastes said, 'that all is vanity'. (Byron)

Allusion is an implied or indirect reference to a person, event, or thing or to a part of another text. The main sources of allusions in the English language are: literature, Shakespeare’s works, mythology, folklore, Bible, historical reminiscences, art, music, children’s verses etc.

Shakespeare talks of the herald Mercury. (Byron) They pressed behind the two Englishmen staring like those islands discovered by Captain Cook in the South Seas. (J. Conrad)

Violation of phraseological units is a stylistic figure in which the literal original meaning of the word is restored. “Little Jon was born with a silver spoon in his mouth which was rather curly and large.”(J. Galsworthy)