Linas Selmistraitis SeminarS in engliSh lexicology. SemanticS

st/ of time.

2.   You’re not /

ə

la

ʊ

d/ to talk during the exam.

3.   If your /sa

ɪ

t/ is poor, you should not drive a car.

4.   The meeting will have to /we

ɪ

t/ until tomorrow, because I’m 

too busy now.

5.   You got three answers /ra

ɪ

t/ and two wrong.

6.   There’s /s

ə

m/ cake in the kitchen if you’d like it.

7.   He gathered some /w

ʊ

d/ to build a fire.

8.   Let us /pre

ɪ

/ for the victims of this terrible disaster.

exeRCIse 65.

Choose the correct homophone from given in brackets.  

1.   My (sole, soul) is dark – Oh! Quickly string

      The harp, (eye, I) yet can brook (too, to, two) (here, hear);

      And let thy gentle fingers fling

      Its melting murmurs (o’er, oar, or) mine ear. 

      If in this (heart, hart) a hope (bee, be) (deer, dear), 

      That sound shall charm it forth again;

4

  The  exercise  is  prepared  and  submitted  with  a  kind  permission  of  an  MA  student 

(2010) of English Philology Vaiva Bernatonytė.   

Part .3

---

– 1 –

      If in these eyes (their, there) lurk a (tier, tear),

      ‘Twill (flow, floe), and cease to burn my brain (G.G.B.).

2.   I bring fresh showers (four, fore, for) the thirsting (flowers, 

flours),

     From the (seas, seize) and the streams;

      I (bare, bear) light shade for leaves when (laid, lade) 

      In their noonday dreams (P.B.S.).

3.   Oh, why don’t you (pray, prey)

      To the Good Lord for (bread, bred)?

      How can I (pray, prey)

      To a God that is dead!

4.   In a (weak, week) another order followed (no, know) (won, 

one)  was  (aloud,  allowed)  to  walk  down  the  (main,  mane) 

(isle, aisle) coming to or from work (F.S.). 

exeRCIse 66. 

Explain the following puns.



1.  What did the Cyclops say when she was getting married?

      Eye do, eye do.

2.  What did the boat captain say to his friend?

       I sea you! 

3.  What did the gymnast say after the competition?

       I one!

5

  The  exercise  is  prepared  and  submitted  with  a  kind  permission  of  an  MA  student 

(2010) of English Philology Rita Laurinaitytė.   

Systenatic .Character .of .the .Vocabulary: .Synonyms, .Antonyms, .Homonums

---

–  –

4.  What comment did the lady make to the guy working out 

about his waist?

      What a waste!

5.  Why was the man putting a sail over his garage? 

      Because he wanted to have a garage sale.

6.  What did the sailor say when he wanted to sell his boat?

      This boat is for sail.

7.  What did the pair of monkeys say to Noah on the ark?

      Can we come two?

8.  What did the peacemaker say to the baker?

      Can I have a peace of pie?

9.  What did the little man say to his tall wife? 

      High there! 

10. The nurse looked at me and said: “Wait!” 

      I said, “Sixty-five pounds”.

exeRCIse 67.

Read the following jokes. What linguistic phenomena are they 

based on? Use the dictionary when in doubt.

6

 

1.  Proctor (exceedingly angry): So you confess that this unfortu-

nate freshman was carried to this frog pond and drenched. 

Now what part did you take in this disgraceful affair?

 

Sophomore: The right leg, sir.

2.  Booking clerk (at a small village station): You’ll have to change 

twice before you get to York. 

 

Villager (unused to travelling): Goodness me! And I’ve only 

brought the clothes I’m wearing. 

6

 Materials for this exercise are borrowed from Antrushina G.B., et al. English Lexicol-

ogy. Moscow.

Part .3

---

–  –

.  Child: Papa, what kind of robber is a page?

 

Father: A what?

 

Child: It says here that two pages held up the bride’s train. 

.  Peggy: I want to help you, Dad. I shall get the dress-maker to 

teach me to cut out gowns.

 

Dad: I don’t want you to go that far, Peg, but you might cut 

out cigarettes, and taxi bills.

5.  Man (on the telephone: I want a box for two.

 

Voice (at the other end): Sorry, but we don’t have boxes for 

two.

 

Man: But aren’t you the box office of the theatre?

 

Voice: No, we are the undertakers.

6.  Husband and wife were enjoying a quiet evening, he deep in 

a book, she in a crossword puzzle. Suddenly she questioned 

him:

 

“Darling, what is a female sheep?”

 

“Ewe”,  he  replied.  His  further  explanation  hardly  soothed 

her.

7.  Boy: I got sick last night eating eggs.

 

Girl: Too bad.

 

Boy: No, only one. 

8.  Officer (to driver in parked car): Don’t you see that sign “Fine 

for parking”.

 

Driver: Yes, officer. I see and agree.  

9.  An observing man claims to have discovered the colour of 

the wind. He says he went out and found it blew. 

10. The difference between a cat and a comma is that a cat has 

its claws at the end of its paws, and a comma has its pause 

at the end of a clause. 

11. Policeman (holding up his hand): Stop!

 

Visitor: What’s the matter?

 

P.: Why are you driving on the right side of the road?

Systenatic .Character .of .the .Vocabulary: .Synonyms, .Antonyms, .Homonums

---

–  –

 

V.: Do you want me to ride on the wrong side?

 

P.: You are driving on the wrong side.

 

V.: But you said that I was driving on the right side.

 

P.: That’s right. You are on the right, and that’s wrong. 

 

V.: A strange country! If right is wrong. I’m right when I’m on 

the wrong side. So why did you stop me? 

 

P.: My dear sir, you must keep to the left. The right side is 

left.

 

V.: It’s like a looking glass! I’ll try to remember. Well, I want 

to go to Bellwood. Will you kindly tell me the way?

 

P.: Certainly. At the end of this road, turn left. 

 

V.: Now let me think. Turn left! In England left is right, and 

right is wrong. Am I right?

 

P.: You’ll be right if you turn left. But if you turn right, you’ll 

be wrong.

 

V.: Thank you. It’s as clear as daylight.    

exeRCIse 68.

For each of the following groups of words formulate the princi-

ples that group the words into a set.

1.  Dawdle, meander, saunter, stroll, swan, tootle, wander.

2.  Speak, speaking, speaks, spoke, spoken.

3.  Answer, dial, directory, engaged, number, ring, telephone.

4.  Affluent, loaded, rich, wealthy, well-heeled, well-off.

5.  Are, be, been, being, is, were.

6.  Bonnet,  engine,  indicator,  seat,  tyre,  wheel,  windscreen, 

wipers.

7.  Itinerant,  mobile,  portable,  transportable,  travelling,  un-

fixed.   

 

Part .3

---

–  –

PARt 4

AMeRICAnIsMs

---

–  –

exeRCIse 69.

Give American English equivalents of the following British English 

words.

Aubergine, draughts, eraser, fortnight, full stop, interval, lady-

bird, parcel, porridge, post, roundabout, queue, tin, waistcoat. 

exeRCIse 70.

Give British English equivalents of

 

the following American English 

words.

First  floor,  French  fries,  garbage,  gear  shift,  pitcher,  sidewalk, 

sneakers, trashcan. 

exeRCIse 71.

Divide the words into two groups: a) American English, b) British 

English.  

Airplane, cookie, faucet, gas, highway, knickers, lift, lorry, mail-

man,  motorway,  pants,  petrol,  streetcar,  store,  subway,  tram, 

truck, tube, vacation, wireless.

exeRCIse 72.

Spell the following words according to British English norms of 

spelling.

Acknowledgment, behavior, catalog, center, color, favor, gram, 

harbor,  humor,  jewelry,  judgment,  labor,  marvelous,  odor,  of-

fense, pajamas, program, theater, traveling, woolen.

Part .4

---

–  –

exeRCIse 73.

In the following sentences, find American English words and di-

vide  them  into    groups:  a)  proper  Americanisms;  b)  historical 

Americanisms; c) words borrowed by American English.      

Apartment, automobile, banjo, canyon, corn, coyote, fall, faucet, 

guess, hammock, moccasin, mosquito, racoon, railroad, ranch, 

toboggan, truck, wigwam.   

exeRCIse 74.

Read the following extract. Find American English words and ex-

plain their meanings.

7

  

In the USA just as in Great Britain, you see the same shops with 

the same boards and windows in every town and village.

Shopping, however, is an art of its own and you have to learn 

slowly where to buy various things. If you are ill, you go to the 

chemist’s. A chemist’s shop is called a drugstore in the USA. In 

the larger drugstores you buy drugs, but here you also can get 

also other types of goods, for example cosmetics. Business in de-

partment stores consists in selling stationery, candies, toys, brac-

es, belts, fountain pens, furniture, jewellery, etc. You must be ex-

tremely careful concerning the names of certain articles. If you 

ask for suspenders in a man’s shop, you receive a pair of braces, 

if you ask for a pair of pants, you receive a pair of trousers and 

should you ask for a pair of braces, you receive a queer look.

7

 Materials for this exercise are borrowed from Antrushina G.B., et al. English Lexicol-

ogy. Moscow.

Americanisms

---

–  –

I should like to mention that although a lift is called an elevator 

in the USA, when hitch-hiking you do not ask for an elevator, you 

ask for a lift. There’s some confusion about the word flat. A flat 

in America is called an apartment; what they call a flat is a punc-

ture in your tire. Consequently the notice: “Flats Fixed” does not 

indicate an estate agent where they are going to fix you up with a 

flat, but a garage where they are equipped to mend a puncture.        

exeRCIse 75.

Fill in the crossword. 



Across. Words given below are British English. Fill in the cross-

word with their American English equivalents.

1.  Holiday

2.  Railway

3.  Timetable

4.  Football

5.  Trainers

6.  Engine

7.  Torch

8.  Icing

9.  Accumulator

10. Catapult 

Down. Words given below are American English. Fill in the cross-

word with British English equivalents.

1.  Windshield

2.  Pants



  The  exercise  is  prepared  and  submitted  with  a  kind  permission  of  an  MA  student 

(2010) of English Philology Rita Laurinaitytė.   

Part .4

---

–  –

1. Windshield 

2. Pants

3. Raincoat

4. Sweater

5. Blender

6. Mailman 

7. Garbage

8. Hood

9. Diaper

10.

Stove.