― He has got less than a passing grade for a few major courses. ― I’m sorry to find him an underachiever for some major courses. The student is lazy.
― I’m afraid he has to exert himself in his study.
― Probably he has to devote himself more diligently to his studies. ― He is sure to go far if he can use his resources fully. ― He’ll get somewhere if he is highly motivated. ― He needs to raise his ambition level a bit. ― He’d better take his lessons more seriously. The student is noisy.
― He needs to develop quieter habits of communication.
The student is a bully. He is quarrelsome and often browbeats, frightens or hurts smaller or weaker
pupils.
― He needs help in learning to use his leadership qualities democratically. He lies.
― He is likely to embroider the truth a bit.
― He may occasionally fall into terminological inexactitude. ― He can be categorically inaccurate sometimes.
― He has difficulty in distinguishing between imaginary and factual information. The student cheats.
― He needs to learn how helpful in learning to adhere to rules and standard of fair play. The student must mend his ways.
― He needs to be brought back into the mainstream.
与委婉语同时并存的，当代还有一种对立的倾向。按其程度和取向，似乎可以分为直言化和粗俗化两个层次。
直言化 (Call a Spade a Spade), 即：直言不讳，崇尚求实，这是现代人的思维特点。自从卢梭 (Jean Jacques Rousseau, 1712 ― 1778) 提出返朴归真 (Return to nature) 以后，人们深受影响，言语上无所隐晦 (Return to plain speaking) 也就成了继承卢梭的一个方面：
conjugal infidelity adultery lady of easy virtue whore answer nature’s call pass urine
The Pentagon is looking for a cheap, quick kill.
Below are the euphemistic expressions of “pregnancy”: She has cancelled all her social engagements. (1856) She is in an interesting condition. (1880) She is in a delicate condition. (1895) She is knitting little booties. (1910) She is in a family way. (1920) She is expecting. (1935) She is pregnant. (1956)
(日本学者：国弘正雄)
从中可以看出一条历史性的语体变化规律：与委婉倾向同时并存的还有直言倾向。这两种倾向相互依存，相互补充，在一定条件下相互转化，但不能相互替代。
粗俗化 (Dysphemism) 是与委婉语截然相反的 (diametrically opposed) 倾向。有时，甚
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至很多受过高等教育、有很体面的社会地位的人也喜欢说些有伤大雅的亵渎话 (profanities) 或粗俗话(vulgarities):
The journalist has a sexy way of treating a tedious story.
(sexy = a way to make sth. interesting) This big job is really going to be a bitch.
(bitch = not desirable)
A dishonest salesman truly fucked me over.
(fuck/screw = cheat)
That story he told us was a lot of shit.
(shit = not true)
In 1972, Richard Nixon remarked, “I don’t give a shit about lira.” Tell the Soviets that I [Ronald Reagan] was one stubborn S.O.B.
7. Irony
Irony is a figure of speech in which the surface meaning of words is different from, sometimes opposite to their underlying, intended meaning:
You’ve got us into a nice mess! (“nice” means “bad”, “unsatisfactory”) Food in the Soviet Union is fine, if you like pork tartare.
Blessed are the young, for they shall inherit the national debt. A new broom sweeps clean. (A bride is diligent for three days.) The pot calls the kettle black. There is honor among thieves.
cf. Dog does not eat dog.
(Even robbers have a code of conduct.)
8. Overstatement and Understatement
Overstatement is a figure of speech in which the diction exaggerates the subject, and understatement one in which the words play down the magnitude or value of the subject. Overstatement is also called hyperbole.
My gray hair can make a long, long rope. I haven’t seen you for ages.
Having been elected monitor, he felt as if he were on the top of the world. I toiled along, never having a moment to rest.
I hurried to the classroom, looking at my watch a hundred times. His eyes fell on the page, but his mind was a million miles away. I’ll keep it a secret till the end of the world.
I will love you till the seas gone dry, the rocks melt with the sun. I am thirsty to death for the book. I’m the happiest man in the world. Shakespeare is universally well known. to be frightened out of one’s wits.
One’s hair stands on end. (...with anger, to be hot with anger) to spilt hairs: to pick bones from an egg
― to look for a flaw which doesn’t exist.
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A thousand years can not repair a moment’s loss of honor. (A single slip may cause lasting sorrow.
The error of a moment becomes the regret of a lifetime. One false step brings everlasting grief. One single slip brings eternal regret.)
For me, there is no one but my wife, and my wife is the world. It’s a crime to stay inside on such a beautiful day. It’s no crime to mispronounce a word.
I’m a bit angry. /I’m rather angry. /Scarcely am I so angry. I’ve spent a considerable amount of time reading. He is not a fool. He is no fool.
The face wasn’t a bad one; it had what they called charm. ― John Galsworthy If Saddam Hussein goes out of power, no tear is to be shed. Money is kind of tight.
My daughter got a passing grade for History, but her score could be better. cf. Her score leaves much to be desired. Her score is far from being satisfactory.
Her testing performance is well below par. She doesn’t apply herself to her study. The book reads dull, but its cover is not a bad one. She didn’t quite enjoy the best reputation. — “Are you OK?”
— “Nothing could be better.”
I must say some TV programs are interesting, but others should have been better. You should have been here earlier. 9.
Transferred Epithet
An epithet is an adjective or descriptive phrase that serves to characterize sb. or sth. A transferred epithet is one that is shifted from the noun it logically modifies to a word associated with that noun.
Happy New Year! a sleepless night
I’ll have a busy afternoon ― four classes! The crawling minutes seem to be everlasting.
I have mountainous difficulty in understanding Shakespeare’s works. sweet voice icy look sour remarks sharp cry oily-tongued
I had some cheerful wine at the party.
IBM has a quite handsome increase of productivity this year. Lazy clouds drifted across the sky.
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He was mortified by his humble scores at the examination. 10.
Oxymoron
Oxymoron is a figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms are combined to produce a special effect:
The interview lasted for an endless morning; I got quite exhausted.
He sat there and watched them, so changelessly changing, so bright and dark, so grave and
gay.
It was the best of times, it was the worst times; it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of
foolishness; it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity; it was the season of light, it was the season of Darkness; it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair; we had everything before us, we had nothing before us; we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way. cruel kindness cruel beauty
painful pleasure creative destruction
ugly beautiful love-hate relationship
old young man victorious defeat
wise fool a woman of devastating beauty loving hate
What he said is falsely true. No light, only darkness visible.
That was one of his bittersweet memories. It is a life-and-death struggle.
You are nothing but a walking dead.
“I have a last request to make of you, my friendly enemy,” said he. Soapy walked eastward through a street damaged by improvement. She nodded her head, with a touch of sorrowful gladness.
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Alliteration
Alliteration refers to the appearance of the same initial consonant sound in two or more words:
Speech is silver; silence is gold. Waste not, want not. Many men, many minds.
I kissed thee ere I killed thee. —— Othello The solitary reaper is singing a song. I spent a splendid spring there. May you get good grade! Money makes the mare to go.
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