The Longman Vocabulary Test

Hello, my lexicology 3-rd year students!
Please follow the link of The Longman Vocabulary Website,http://wps.ablongman.com/long_licklider_vocabulary_2/4/1104/282760.cw/index.html
take an intermediate level test on synonyms and antonyms and e-mail me your results!
NO dictionary or supporting materials (or a smarty-pants nearby)!
Good luck!

The history of English lexicography

Lexicography 2011

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Word formation

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MY NEW DICTIONARY CAT

NEOLOGISMS

Neologism is a term which refers to any new lexical unit the novelty of which is still felt.

Here are some examples of neologisms which might be interesting for you to know:

Carpocalypse

n. The financial devastation being wreaked upon the global automotive industry.

"I don't think General Motors will survive the carpocalypse."

(David M. Ewalt. New Words For 2009)

Dixie-Chicked
a. to suffer economic loss by alienating a constituency "We don't want to get dixie-chicked. We've invested millions of dollars in the movie."
(Dreamworks executive, 2003)

Little Red Riding Hood - A Politically Correct Fairy Tale

A politically correct fairy tale by Jim Garner – another bit on political correctness:

Little Red Riding Hood - A Politically Correct Fairy Tale

 

There once was a young person named Red Riding Hood who lived with her mother on the edge of a large wood. One day her mother asked her to take a basket of fresh fruit and mineral water to her grandmother's house -- not because this was womyn's work, mind you, but because the deed was generous and helped engender a feeling of community. Furthermore, her grandmother was not sick, but rather was in full physical and mental health and was fully capable of taking care of herself as a mature adult.

EUPHEMISMS AND POLITICAL CORRECTNESS

1.      Read the following theoretical passage on euphemisms:

EUPHEMISMS

A source of synonymy also well worthy of note is the so-called euphemism in which by a shift of meaning a word of more or less ‘pleasant or at least inoffensive connotation becomes synonymous to one that is harsh, obscene, indelicate or otherwise unpleasant. The euphemistic expression merry fully coincides in denotation with the word drunk it substitutes, but the connotations of the latter fade out and so the utterance on the whole is milder, less offensive. The effect is achieved, because the periphrastic expression is not so harsh, sometimes jocular and usually motivated according to some secondary feature of the notion: naked : : in one’s birthday suit] pregnant : : in the family way. Very often a learned word which sounds less familiar is therefore less offensive, as in drunkenness : : intoxication; sweat : : perspiration.

English Lexicology for Students and All

This blog is about lexicology – the branch of linguistics dealing with English words, vocabulary, its subdivisions and main features. EFL students taking the course on English lexicology are cordially invited, as well as all those who would like to get some information about English word-building, semantics, synonyms and antonyms, archaisms and neologisms, phraseology, lexicography, the etymology of English words, and many other interesting topics.

I’m a teacher and words are my best friends. The more you learn about words the more you want to explore their power. What I like about lexicology is that you get to know the “inner mechanisms” that help you master the language, understand the logics (or illogicality!) of word building, and how the communication system works.

So, if you want to know what “prehensible” is, tell the difference between a pot-flower and a flower-pot, and why a hamburger is more about a German city that food, join in!  

Welcome to read, study and share!