Лексикология английского языка. Practice Makes Perfect. Учебное пособие

7.Quite a lot of slang and low colloquial words end in “o”. Sometimes they are called O-words. Here are some examples: promo (promotion), limo (limousine). Give more examples of your own using dictionaries

8.Slang words are often used to show approval or disapproval towards what is being said. Write the given words into two columns: a) word denoting approval; b) words denoting disapproval

Swell, nuts, poppycock, nifty, bong, baloney, hogwash, cool, dizzy, balderdash, bum, duff, byzantine.

9.Slang words often appear in those spheres of communication that are important for people. The words “intelligent” and “stupid”, for example, have a lot of synonyms in slang. Read the words. How does each word differ from its neighbours?

Intelligent (intellectual): brainy, egghead, bookworm, double dome, smart ass.

Stupid (a fool): dumb, dodo, deadhead, bonehead, turkey, peabrained, jerk.

10.Translate the following English slang words and expressions into Russian using Russian slang. For example: a cool girl – клёвая девочка

1.kiddo; 2. a tough guy; 3. cranky; 4. cop; 5. cop-shop; 6. shit;

7.gormless; 8. Crickey! 9. A cool cat; 10. I don’t dig it.

11.Read some examples of words used in business (office) slang and their definitions. Speak about the main peculiarities of slang.

404 – clueless person; Alpha geek – the most knowledgeable person in office; dead tree addition – a paper version of a document also available in an electronic form; idea hamsters – creative people, idea generators; plug-and-play – an employee who does not require

training for his job; a seagull manager – a manager who flies in , makes a lot of noise and leaves; walking papers – documents an employee is given in case of being fired; an eager beaver – a person who is characterized by too much industry, initiative and enthusiasm; licensed to print money –an authorized activity that enables people to make a lot of money without much effort

12.Read some examples of cyber-slang. What linguistic terms can be used to describe the phenomenon?

To be uninstalled – to be dismissed; to indulge in nonlinear behavior – to act irrationally; meatspace – non-virtual world; dead tree editions – printed newspapers and magazines; screen-agers – teenagers who use computers; PONA (persons of no account) – individuals who are not online.

13.A well-known kind of slang is Cockney rhyming slang where an expression is used in place of the word it rhymes with. For example: Adam and Eve – believe. Read the expressions and try to guess the word

14.A lot of examples of current slang can be found in Electronic magazines called E-zines or Webzines. Give your own examples of slang taken from them

15.Some words and expressions which people use everyday in their conversations began their life as slang. The word “teenager”, for example, was an American slang word. Give more examples

of words which originated in slang. Why, do you think, the words managed to get into the basic vocabulary?

16.Substitute slang words by synonyms belonging to the basic vocabulary. What is the difference between them? All the words are nouns

A boffin, a buggy, a brig, a ballyhoo, a burb, an airhead, a bog, a broker, poppycock, a corker, dreck, a gob, a hole-in-the wall, a cabbage, a cakehole, a chestnut, a ciggy, a gaff, a pony, pictures of the Queen.

17.The language used by Alex, the main character of the novel: “A Clockwork Orange” by Anthony Burgess, is described as: “Odd bits of old rhyming slang and a bit of gipsy talk. But most of the roots are Slavonic.”(p. 163, 2004). Read the extract and explain the meaning of the quotation

There was me, that is Alex, and my three droogs, that is Pete, Georgie and Dim, Dim being really dim, and we sat in the Korova Milkbar making up our rassoodocks what to do with the evening, a flip dark chill winter bastard though dry… They had no licence for selling liquor, but there was no law yet against prodding some of the new veshches which the used to put into the old moloko… which would give you a nice quiet horrorshow fifteen minutes admiring Bog and All His Holy Angels (p. 5, 2004).

18.The Black Country is an industrial area in the West Midlands of England. People speak a special dialect there which is called Brummy. Guess the meaning of the underlined words. Speak about the peculiarities of the dialect

Willparr – I’m fat cause I jest ain’t got no willparr when it cums to eatin’.

Caw-fee – Want a cuppa cawfee afore supper? Dawg – Hesh, dawg! Quit thet howlin’ an’ barkin’!

Ex-tree – We wuz charged fer thet extree cuppa cawfee.

19.In English there are several ways of saying goodbye: Bye-bye, cheerio, see you later, ta-ta, ciao, farewell. What’s the difference between them?

20.Read some humorous excerpts from the Dictionary of Jewish Slang and the Dictionary of Aussie (Australian) Slang. What features of slang are the excerpts based on?

A.

1.Chutzpapa – a father who wakes up his wife at 4 a. m., so that she can change the baby’s diaper.

2.Meinstein – my son, the genius.

3.Kinderschlep – to transport other kids in your car besides yours.

B.

1.Software – wool slippers.

2.Cursor – the old bloke who swears a lot.

3.User – the neighbour who keeps borrowing things.

4.Online – when you get the laundry hung out.

5.Browser – shortened form for the favourite brown noser.

Words in Discourse:

Formal Register

1.Read the text. Write out the examples of terms. What terminological field do they belong to?

Q: What is a laser?

A: Laser is a new kind of light source. The principle of operation is very similar to the operation of the radio generator and quite different from the principle of common light source.

Q: What do you require lasers for?

A: As I mentioned above the main problem is obtaining very powerful light beams. Lasers give us unique possibility to create megawatt and gigawatt light beams.

Q: What is the difference between a maser and a laser?

A: Maser is molecular oscillator in the microwave range. In electromagnetic spectrum different ranges differ one from another with wave length. Microwave range corresponds to wave length of order of several centimeters.

2.Here are some difficult words that appear most frequently on the GRE (Graduate Record Examination, an examination done by students in the US who have completed a first degree and want to go to a graduate school). Explain the meaning of the words. Use the dictionary if necessary. What can be said about their stylistic characteristics?

Equivocal, tractable, to engender, garrulous, laconic, to venerate, misanthrope, to corroborate, to buttress, banal, antipathy, pedantic, eulogy, to fawn, heresy.

3. Read the text. Prove that it belongs to formal style

These instructions give you basic guidelines for preparing cameraready papers. Do not exceed the allowed limit of 3 pages. Use computer desktop publishing software with several type sizes. All submissions must be actual size. Define all symbols used in the abstract. Do not cite references in the abstract.

Your goal is to stimulate, as closely as possible, the usual appearance of typeset papers in regular journals. One difference is that the author’s affiliations should appear immediately following their names. For items not addressed in these instructions, please refer to a recent issue of regular journal.

4.Read the letter. Find the examples of officialese in it. Discuss the peculiarities of formal style

Dear Sirs,

In respect to the above Addendum it is understood that there are some questions as to whether this order will actually materialize and that you will let us know within the next 30 days (not later than October 31st in any event), as we do not intend to place the orders with the subcontractors until we are advised that the order is actual.

After October 31, 2006 we cannot guarantee the prices in Addendum 1, if we have not received the signed Addendum by that date. Delivery for this Addendum to Contract 543 will be during next year.

Kindly have the enclosures dated and signed as soon as possible. Thanking you for this opportunity of continuing service to you, we remain,

Sincerely yours, Hartley Enterprises, Inc.

Enclosure: Addendum 1 to Contract 543 (3 copies).

5.Read an extract from the article published in the “Daily Mail”. Find the examples of terms in it and write them out. Give your own definition of terms. Find the definitions of the terms in dictionaries. What’s the difference between your definition and the definition given in a dictionary? Speak about the phenomenon of determinologization

Remember the hole in the ozone layer? It was going to kill us all before we heard about global warming.

Like the current dreaded climate change, this was an environmental catastrophe of our own making. Thanks to our profligacy with certain chemicals, we were punching a hole, 19 miles up, in the layer of the atmosphere that protects us from deadly ultraviolet radiation.

Chlorinated fluorocarbons – CFCs – used in fridges and air conditioners were rising into the stratosphere where, under the catalyst of sunlight, they entered into a chemical reaction with ozone, decomposing the gas.

The result? A hole, centred over the high southern latitudes. The predictions were grim: the hole would inevitably grow, eventually covering the whole Earth.

Within a few decades, sunbathing would be impossible. By 2050 or so, going out without factor 100 sunscreen and welder’s goggles would mean you would be blinded and fried to a crisp in minutes.

In short, the hole in the ozone layer was a harbinger of the end of the world.

Well, it didn’t happen. This week scientists have confirmed that measures, put in place after the hole was identified, have worked.

The Montreal Protocol banning the use of CFCs, which came into effect in 1987, has successfully prevented any further damage to the ozone layer.

Furthermore, the hole is healing itself. Sometime this century, the ozone layer will be back in its pristine state.

B.Shut about town like a supermodel with a gorgeous Chloe handbag. Leather bags are the only ones to be seen with this summer.

C.I swear by almighty God that the evidence I shall give to the court will be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

D.What’ll it be, Sue? Orange juice or mineral water?

E.Hello, this is Linda. I’m afraid I can’t speak to you now, but if you record your message after the tone, I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.

F.Dear sir, I am puzzled. A new greeting is common in Hampshire. Is it localized or does it extend nationwide? And how did it start?

G.Dear Becky, I’m writing this letter in bed, I’ve got blue!

H.It will be a dry day across Greece with plenty of spells of sunshine across all parts of the country and only a few patches of cloud bubbling up.

I.A devoted father was shot dead in front of his family after taking a stand against thugs terrorising his neighbourhood.

J.8.00 Fear of flying. Neuro-linguistic practitioner Lawrence Leyton attempts to help 40 members of the public overcome their phobia of flying.

9.Compare newspaper headlines with radio news headlines. What’s the difference?

A.US arms sales hit record levels.---The War on Terror has helped to push US military sales to foreign governments to their highest level.

B.Rabbit Flu Death.---A young farmer From East Anglia has died after being infected with rabbit flu.

C.German Rail Plot Arrest.--- A Lebanese Student was arrested by German police on suspicion of trying to paralyze the railway network. The student had a bomb hidden in his suitcase.