Task 96

Not only words, but set expressions as well, can be grouped into synonymic pairs or even sets. Match the syn­onymic phraseological units.

1. to harbour malice a) to give somebody his due

2. to harbour a suspicion b) to be in good spirits

3. to do justice (to) c) to smell a rat

4. to be in Queer Street d) to be in a jam

5. to be on Easy Street e) to nurse a grudge

6. to be in high feather f) to be in funds

7. to be in the soup g) to be as poor as a church mouse

Task 97

Identify the type of these synonyms:

a) absolute;

b) ideographic;

c) stylistic.

1. brainy - intelligent

2. fog-mist

3. to begin - to commence

4. wet- humid

5. a fag - a cigarette

6. to tremble - to shiver

7. breathed (consonants) - voiceless (consonants)

8. a border - a margin

9. nearly - approximately

10. to mend - to repair - to patch

11. a patella - a kneecap

12. lean - lanky

13. to end - to terminate

Task 98

Establish the sources of synonymy:

a) borrowing from other languages;

b) borrowing from the dialects and variants of English;

c) affixation;

d) conversion;

e) shortening;

f) postpositivation.

1. to ask - to question - to interrogate

2. to postpone - to put off

3. a wireless - a radio

4. a professor - a prof

5. a fiddle - a violin

6. laugh - laughter

7. to lift - to pick up

8. to rise - to mount - to ascend

9. effectivity - effectiveness

10. a tube - a subway - an underground

11. an examination - an exam

12. a belly - a stomach - an abdomen

Task 99

Is the word in bold type a) a synonymic dominant or b) a generic term (hypernym)?

1. colour, tint, hue, shade, dye, paint

2. disease, flue, pneumonia, rheumatism, chickenpox, mumps

3. mistake, error, blunder, slip, inaccuracy, fault

4. spice, curry, cinnamon, ginger, pepper, mustard

5. aim, target, goal, mark, destination, objective

Task 100

Find for these words such euphemisms, which would cor­respond to the following descriptions.

1. A comical slangy euphemism for drunk, in which the first letter is s and the fourth letter is k (6 letters).

2. A euphemism for foolish, in which the third letter is w and there is a negative prefix (6 letters).

3. A euphemism for lavatory that consists of 8 letters, the first letter being r.

4. A funny euphemism for trousers spelt with a hyphen (8 letters).

5. A euphemism for pregnant ending in ing (9 letters).

6. A euphemism that is a learned word, which sounds less familiar, hence less offensive than over-eating (11 letters). Its fifth letter is g.

7. A euphemism for sweat beginning with per (12 letters).

Antonymy Task 103

Like synonyms, antonyms occupy an important place in the phraseological fund of the English vocabulary, e.g.: more or less

back and forth

flux and reflux

likes and dislikes

blow hot and cold

the pros and cons

be bought and sold

more dead than alive

through thick and thin

fair without, false within

a big frog in a little pond

penny wise and pound foolish

catch a shadow and lose a substance.

What other phraseological units of this type do you know?