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9.7. Euphemisms

Another source of synonymy is euphemism: merry :: drunk; naked :: in one’s birthday suit; pregnant :: in the family way; drunkenness :: intoxication; sweat :: perspiration. A definite set of notions:

a) death, madness, stupidity, drunkenness, physiological processes, crimes: die :: be no more :: be gone :: lose one’s life :: breathe one’s last :: join the silent majority :: go the way of all flesh :: pass away :: be gathered to one’s fathers.

b) interjections & swearing addressed to God: For goodness sake! Goodness gracious! Goodness knows! By Jove! Good Lord! By Gum!

c) names for the devil (deuce, Old Nick).

Euphemisms = source of new Syn formations ← after a short period of use the new term becomes closely connected with the notion, turns into a W as unpleasant as the earlier Syn.

9.8. Lexical variants & paronyms

Lexical variants = examples of free variation in language, not conditioned by contextual environment, optional with the individual speaker: northward / norward; whoever / whosoever. The variation can concern morphological / phonological features / spelling: weazen / weazened ‘shrivelled & dried in appearance’; directly [di'rektli] / [dai'rektli]; whisky / whiskey. Lexical variants ≠ Syns ← similarity in phonetical / spelling form & identity of meaning & distribution.

The cases of identity of stems, similarity of form & meaning combined with a difference in distribution = Syns. Ws belonging to the same part of speech, containing identical stems & synonymical affixes, but not permitting free variation. They provoke mistakes even with native speakers. Luxurious & luxuriant are synonymous when meaning ‘characterised by luxury’. Luxuriant is restricted to the expression of abundance (about hair, leaves, flowers). Luxurious is the Adj expressing human luxury & indulgence (about tastes, habits, food, mansions). Economic & economical are interchangeable under certain conditions, more often economic is a technical term associated with economics (an economic agreement). Economical is an everyday W associated with economy: economical stove, economical method, be economical of one’s money.

Syns of this type ≠ paronyms, Ws kindred in origin, sound form & meaning, liable to be mixed but different in meaning & usage & only mistakenly interchanged. The term comes from the Gr. para ‘beside’ & onoma ‘name’. Various definitions: a) Ws of the same root; b) Ws having the same sound form, equalising them with W-families / Homs.

Ingenious (‘clever’ of man & of his inventions & doings: an ingenious craftsman, an ingenious device) & ingenuous (‘frank’, ‘artless’, as an ingenuous smile). The likeness may be accidental: affect ‘to influence’ & effect ‘to produce’ coming from different Lat. Vs. Due to a common source: alternate ‘succeeding each other’ & alternative ‘providing a choice’; consequent ‘resulting’ & consequential ‘important’; continuance ‘an uninterrupted succession’ & continuation ‘beginning again’ & ‘sequel’ as the continuation of a novel.