Common quotation sources

Chiefly for reference and accuracy, famous quotations are frequently collected in books that are sometimes called quotation dictionaries or treasuries. On the other hand, diaries and calendars often include quotations for entertainment or inspirational purposes, and small, dedicated sections in newspapers and weekly magazines – with recent quotations by leading personalities on current topics – have also become commonplace. Finally, chiefly through the World Wide Web, the Internet has become the world's main quotation repository.

5) Allusion is a stylistic device in which one refers covertly or indirectly to an object or circumstance that has occurred or existed in an external context. It is left to the reader or hearer to make the connection (Fowler). In the most traditional sense, allusion is a literary term, though the word also has come to encompass indirect references to any source, including film, art, or real events.

Allusion is an economical device, a figure of speech that draws upon the ready stock of ideas or emotion already associated with a topic in a relatively short space. Thus, an allusion is understandable only to those with prior knowledge of the reference in question.

It stimulates ideas, associations, and extra information in the reader’s mind with only a word or two. It means «reference». It relies on the reader being able to understand the allusion and being familiar with all of the meaning hidden behind the words.

The poetry of T.S. Eliot is often described as «allusive», because of his habit of referring to names, places or images that may only make sense in the light of prior knowledge. This technique can add to the experience, but for the uninitiated can make Eliot's work seem dense and hard to decipher.

Allusions in English are commonly made to the Bible, nursery rhymes, myths, famous fictional or historical characters or events, and Shakespeare. They can be used in prose and poetry.

E.g. Christy didn’t spend money. She as no Scrooge, but she seldom purchased anything except the bare necessities.

The name Scrooge should bring to mind an image of someone who «pinches pennies» and hoards money with a passion. But the allusion only works if the reader is familiar with Charles Dickens’ story «A Christmas Charol».

Re-evaluation of idioms is a very frequent phenomenon. The process can touch upon changes within the structure of the idiom (Decomposition of idioms) and semantic widening (additions to idioms).

a) Decomposition of idioms is a SD which consists in reviving the independent meanings which make up the component parts of the idiom. It makes each word of the combination acquire its literal meaning.

The fixed form of an idiom is sometimes broken by replacing one word for another, by altering the whole structure or by some other changes, e.g. «Don’t cry, the milk is spilt.» (there’s no need to cry over the spilt milk).

The semantic unity is violated by restoring primary meanings of the words in the phraseological unit, e.g. «You’re pulling my leg» - I’m not pulling your leg. Nothing would make me pull or even touch your beastly leg(to pull smb’s leg).

b) Additions to idioms are also very often introduced into a sentence with it. She was born with a silver spoon in the mouth, but judging by the size of her mouth it must have been a ladle.

Eg. It was raining cats and dogs, and two kittens and a puppy landed on a window-sill (Chesterton) the idiom to rain cats and dogs is freshened by the introduction of kittens and a puppy, which changes the unmotivated combination into a sustained metaphor.

ADDITIONAL NOTES

A paradox: «After all, the best part of a holiday is perhaps not so much to be resting yourself, as to see all the other fellows busy working.» – Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows, Ch. 1

Idioms are one of the most interesting and difficult parts of the English vocabulary. They are interesting because they are colourful and lively and because they are linguistic curiosities. At the same time, they are difficult because they have unpredictable meanings or collocations and grammar, and often have special connotations.

Idiomaticity can also be called phraseology. Gläser (1988, 265-266) clarifies as follows: This is the corresponding term among Soviet and Eastern European linguists when describing set expressions whose meaning cannot be derived from the meanings of their parts. However, the term phraseology is also used to describe «1) the inventory of phrases or set expressions, and not only idioms; 2) the linguistic sub discipline of lexicology which studies and classifies set expressions (phraseological units in the broadest sense)»

Weinreich (1972:89) sees «idiomaticity ... a phenomenon which may be described as the use of segmentally complex expressions whose semantic structure is not deducible jointly from their syntactic structure and the semantic structure of their components.»

According to the authors of the Oxford Dictionary of Current Idiomatic English, «Idiomaticity is largely, though not wholly, a question of meaning». That is to say, idioms are mainly characterized by their semantic unity and lack of motivation.

According to Hockett (1956: 222) «An idiom is a grammatical form – single morpheme or composite form the meaning of which is not deducible from its structure.»

Weinreich's article (1969:226). «Problems in the Analysis of Idioms' is an attempt to establish the criteria upon which to base the characteristic features of idiomatic phrases. Weinreich accepts as idioms only multiword expressions which have literal counterparts. Those expressions which cannot display this criterion are considered ill-formed and therefore disqualified as idioms. The reason he gives for not including units such as by and large is that they are merely stable and familiar. Weinreich gives his definition of an idiom as 'a phraseological unit that involves at least two polysemous constituents, and in which there is a reciprocal contextual selection of subsenses...»

Weinreich also claims that «the semantic difference between idioms and their literary counterparts is arbitrary» (1969:229, 260). This should mean that the relationship between the overall figurative meaning of idioms and their wording (i.e. the selection of words in an idiomatic string) is completely ad hoc. This claim cannot hold as it is very likely that «the figurative meanings of idioms are not arbitrary, but are partially determined by how people conceptualize the domains to which idioms refer». For example, the idiom «cold feet» which means according to the DEI If you get cold feet about something, you lose the courage to do it. This idiom is used in the following article in the Guardian newspaper dated March 25, 2006.

E.g. Iraq hostages «were saved by rift among kidnapper. Guards got cold feet after American was shot» - if people conceptualize «cold feet» as «a loss of the courage to do something», the way in which the word-string is selected will depend on the concepts of the «cold feet» which people hold. Since «cold feet» seems to symbolize loss of the courage.

As can be seen, Weinreich's assertion that idioms must have literal counterparts cannot hold in a large number of cases, as idioms are unique in terms of their semantics. Also, the arbitrary nature of the link between idioms and their literal counterparts is doubtful when we consider that the way in which people conceptualize the world around them is reflected in the language they use.