Lecture 4 Lexico-synatctical stylistic devices

‘Reckless disregard for truth’ and in Parliament – that you regret he ‘should have 
been so misinformed’.”
(John Galsworthy)
 
Function of Euphemism. Euphemism helps writers to convey those ideas 
which have become a social taboo and are too embarrassing to mention directly. 
Writers skillfully choose appropriate words to refer to and discuss a subject 
indirectly which otherwise are not published due to strict social censorship e.g. 
religious fanaticism, political theories, sexuality, death etc. Thus, euphemism is a 
useful tool that allows writers to write figuratively about the libelous issues.
Antithesis
originates from a Greek word 
antithesis
which means ‘setting 
opposite’. It is a rhetorical device in which two opposite ideas are put together in a 
sentence to achieve a contrasting effect. Antithesis emphasizes the idea of contrast 
by parallel structures of the contrasted phrases or clauses, i.e. the structures of 
phrases and clauses are similar in order to draw the attention of the listeners or 
readers.
We must distinguish between logical and stylistic opposition. 
Logicalopposition implies the use of dictionary antonyms – words that are contrary 
in meaning to another: white-black, day- night, long – short. Stylistic opposition is 
based on the relative opposition which arises out of the use of contextual antonyms. 
Let’s see the following examples:
We are young, friend, like the flowers,  
 
You are old friend like the tree, 
 
What concern have you with ours? 
 
You are dying, we’re to be 
 
It is very true, I’m dying, 
 
You are roses still in bud… 
In this poem antithesis is based on the following oppositions: young – old, 
Flowers – trees, dying – to be: only the first opposition “young - old” may be 
considered as dictionary antonyms, the rest are contextual antonyms and bring the 
emphasis to the whole poem. The use of antithesis built on the contextual antonyms 
is clearly seen in the next example: 

---

“I 
had walked
into the reading – room 
a happy, healthy man.
I 
crawled out a 
decrepit wreck
.” (Jerome K. Jerome) In this sentence such word – combinations as 
“walked into” and “crawled out” and “a happy healthy man” and “a decrepit wreck” 
are used as contextual antonyms. 
Function of Antithesis. Antithesis uses words to convey ideas in different ways 
from the common words and expressions of daily life. Thus, it conveys meaning 
more vividly than ordinary speech. When contrasting ideas are brought together, the 
idea is expressed more emphatically. As a literary device, antithesis makes contrasts 
in order to examine pros and cons of a subject under discussion and helps to bring 
forth judgment on that particular subject.
Litotes
is derived from the Greek word 
litos
meaning ‘plain, small or meager’. 
It is an utterance where an affirmative meaning is expressed in the negative form. It 
is used to diminish the positive meaning instead of
“He is a clever man” 
we say
 
“He is not a silly man”.
In this case we have intentional restrain which produces a 
stylistic effect. 
In litotes the negative particle “not” stands before the word with a negative 
meaning: 
“Her figure was evidently not bad” 
means
“it was good”, “She is not