Whom is a made up word


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For fans of the game Balderdash, a board game that combines fibbing and the formation of new words, creating a new word of your own may seem like a breeze. For others, making your mark on the English language probably feels a bit daunting or downright challicult (challenging + difficult). However, you will be surprised to learn that with a bit of inspiration and a lot of fun, you will be on your way to creating a brifect (brilliant + perfect) word in no time!

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    Start with a portmanteau. If you’ve tried your hand at creating a word from scratch but haven’t had much luck, you may want to consider a portmanteau. A portmanteau is a word or morpheme whose form and meaning are derived from a blending of two or more distinct forms (as smog from smoke and fog) [1]
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    • Write down some of your favorite words on a piece of paper. Spend some time mixing and matching the words together. You’ll be surprised by all of the wonderful words you come up with.
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    Borrow from other languages. There are a plenty of words to choose from when you expand your search to those found in other languages. Loanwords, or borrowings, are words that are adopted into a native language from a different source language. Such borrowings have shaped the English language almost from its beginnings [2]

    • Buy or borrow a Spanish, French, German or Italian dictionary. Highlight some of your favorite words and then write them down on a sheet of paper. You’ll want to modify the words slightly, as the intention isn’t to use the same word but to create your own.
    • Rent a movie in a different language. Don’t use the captions and listen as the actors speak. Have a pen and paper on hand and write down what you think the words are that are being spoken.

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    Turn an object into a verb. «Google (it)» has quite literally been transformed from a company name, into a verb. There is no shortage of objects or nouns that can also be repurposed with a bit of imagination.[3]

    • To start, try spotting objects around your house and use them in a sentence as a verb. Don’t expect everything to catch on, but over time, you may find one that will be a hit.
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    Take suggestions from a small child. Inspiration for new words can be found in surprising places. One such place is in your own family. Young children, who are learning how to speak, often don’t get it right on the first try. They create their own language as they navigate the English language.

    • Ask your young child what their favorite word is. If they are able to write, have them write it down. Otherwise, do your best to spell out what they are saying.
    • Listen to the babbling of your baby. You’ll be surprised how many words you come up with in a short amount of time.
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    Understand how words are created. This will give you a basis for making up your own word. English words are formed in several ways. Although one way is to create them from scratch, other words have been formed by imitating sounds. Similarly, there are many more words, often in quite common use, that have arisen over time because someone has not heard the word correctly. [4]

    • Next time you don’t understand someone correctly, turn a potentially embarrassing situation, into a learning opportunity by creating a new word.
    • Find inspiration at home. Listen to sounds naturally found around your home. You may be surprised by how many words you can come up with just by turning off the TV and listening to the environment. Open up your window and let in the sounds from outside.
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    Hyphenate two word phrases (think of «see you,» which became, «cya!»). You may need to do a bit of tweaking to the spelling, as was done with «cya,» but try to think of phrases you can combine in to one word.[5]

    • Write down some of your favorite two or even three word phrases. See if you can create one word.
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    Have fun brainstorming! More than anything, creating a made up word is supposed to be fun. Don’t worry about taking yourself too seriously. If you discover a great new word, share it with your friends and family and have fun using the word together.

    • To spread the word (pun intended), try using the word in a sentence, but be consistent.
    • Your new word will also need a definition, so have one on hand in case others ask you about it. This will help them understand how to use the word as it was intended.
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Word Help

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  • Question

    Is it easy to make a new word?

    Community Answer

    It’s easy to make up a word if you want, but it’s not going to be easy to get it into the dictionary.

  • Question

    How many words can you make?

    Community Answer

    As many as your heart desires.

  • Question

    Where can you submit it?

    Greenycric

    Greenycric

    Community Answer

    You could send it to Oxford Dictionary or another dictionary. They will tell you if it’s suitable.

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  • Once your word has been created, don’t use it too much. Use it when it makes sense, and explain it if someone asks what it means. The more you use it in the right scenario, the more you will notice your friends using it!

  • If you are going to create many monikers, then make up your own dictionary of made-up words. You never know, one of your words may appear in a real one one day!

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  • Don’t worry about skipping steps; the point is just to have fun.

  • Most scholarly dictionaries consider words to be neologisms or protologisms unless they are in widespread use over some period of time. Don’t submit made-up words where they’re not wanted.

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About This Article

Article SummaryX

To create your own made-up word, try combining 2 words which already exist to create a word with a new meaning. Use words in your native language or combine words from different languages. You can even get inspiration from young children, who often make up their own words. If you’re still having trouble, try coming up with the meaning of the word first, then make up a sound that seems to fit that definition. Read on to learn how to turn an object into a verb!

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The Simpsons has used and coined many neologisms for humorous effect, many of which are only used once. The most famous example is Homer Simpson’s signature annoyed grunt, «D’oh!».

Few of the following made-up words would qualify as neologisms from a strict lexicological perspective due to their extremely limited uses outside of the show. For those that have found their way into regular and common use, the route passes through the considerable fan-base where use of these words carries the prestige of pop-culture literacy among those who catch the references, just as among other cultural groups a clever parallel to a well-known phrase from the literary or rhetorical canon would be acknowledged.

The following is presented, then, as a glossary of words or phrases invented by the show which one or more characters use in regular speech, as though intended as real terms. This does not include names of characters, locations, or products.

Letters: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

A

Absotively notarino

A jokey way of saying «definitely not». «Absotively» is a portmanteau of «absolutely» and «positively». Possibly a variation on the spoonerized phrase «absotively posilutely».

In «Hurricane Neddy», Dr. Foster asks a younger Ned Flanders if he feels angry, to which the younger Ned replies uncertainly, «Absotively notarino».

Adultivity

The state or condition of being an adult.

In «Much Apu About Nothing,» Kearney believes that his fake «Charles Norwood» ID will confirm this for him, thus allowing him to buy beer and cheap cigars.

Al-kee-hol

Marge’s pronunciation of «alcohol» in «There’s No Disgrace Like Home» and «The War of the Simpsons».

Marge: I don’t want to alarm anyone, but there’s a little al-kee-hol in this punch.

America Junior

A term for Canada coined by Homer in «The Bart Wants What It Wants».

Homer: Why should we leave America to visit America Junior?

America’s Wang

A term coined by Homer in reference to Florida’s shape, compared to the rest of the United States, resembling a flaccid penis.

Homer: Florida?! But that’s America’s Wang!
Psychiatrist: They prefer «The Sunshine State».

Anti-booze

A serum featured in «The Last Barfighter». It causes anyone who drinks alcohol to develop a severe headache, sweat abundantly, break out in horns all over the body, and finally throw up. There is an antidote that can be taken as an injection.

Annual Gift Man

The fictitious translation of Santa Claus’s supposed name in Japanese. In Japan he is supposedly thought to live on the Moon. John (voiced by guest star John Waters) mentions the name in the episode «Homer’s Phobia».

Anyhoo / Anywho

Alternative term for ‘anyway’ or ‘anyhow’. Used by multiple characters, particularly Homer and Flanders. Heard in multiple episodes, including (but not necessarily limited to) «So It’s Come to This: A Simpsons Clip Show», «Homer’s Triple Bypass», «Sweet Seymour Skinner’s Baadasssss Song», «Secrets of a Successful Marriage», «And Maggie Makes Three», «Homer the Smithers», «Summer of 4 Ft. 2», «Treehouse of Horror IX», «Viva Ned Flanders», «Beyond Blunderdome», «Kill the Alligator and Run», «Insane Clown Poppy», «The Great Money Caper», «Simple Simpson», «My Big Fat Geek Wedding», «The Way We Weren’t», and «Simpsons Christmas Stories».

Appling

The process of using Photoshop to add rosy «apples» to someone’s cheeks and make them more attractive. Waylon Smithers apples Mr. Burns’ face to make him appear more benevolent on the cover of a newspaper. Seen in «Fraudcast News».

Askaroonie

A joke version of the word «ask».

In Flanders’ Book of Faith, the Q&A section is called «Askaroonie the Nedster».

Assal Horizontology

A term for a medical procedure coined by Dr. Nick Riviera in «King-Size Homer.»

Homer Simpson tries to gain weight to get on workers’ compensation. While prescribing a diet consisting of a steady gorging process for Homer, Dr. Nick suggests that it be combined with assal horizontology. Presumably, he means lying down — or more likely, sitting on your ass in an almost horizontal position. It is also possible that he means to gain so much weight that it causes Homer’s ass to expand horizontally.

Avoision

Kent Brockman’s conflation of the words avoidance and evasion in «Bart the Fink.»

When corrected through his earpiece, Brockman responds to them on-air: «I don’t say evasion, I say avoision.» This is a reference to a William Shatner outtake where he argues with his director over the pronunciation of the word «sabotage»: «You say sab-oh-TAHGE. I say sab-oh-TAGE» (rhyming with the word badge).

The term avoision originated in the literature of the anti-taxation movement in the U.S. in the 1970s; it was coined to get around laws against advocating or providing advice relating to tax evasion.

B

Bagzooka

A bazooka that fires beanbags, as used by Lou in Lisa the Tree Hugger.

Banjologist

An expert in banjo based musical styles.

In the episode «Home Away from Homer», Lisa listens to a radio program on obscure music, and hears the host refer to a guest as a banjologist, using «-ology» as the suffix for the study of a subject (or sometimes the subject itself, although this is technically incorrect).

Bartesque

An invented French word that means «being like Bart» (i.e., mischievous).

Bart: But it involves being a bit underhanded, a bit devious, a bit, as the French say, «Bartesque«.

Basegame

A variant of baseball, but without a ball, offered at Springfield Elementary while the school’s only ball was being repaired. Used by Principal Skinner in «My Big Fat Geek Wedding.»

Bathiola

Mr. Burns’s name for a bath, possibly from «Victrola».

Mr. Burns: I’m going to take a bathiola, and when I get back, one of you better be laughing.

Bazongas

Large Marge 39.JPG

A term for large breasts used by Marge in «Large Marge», after she accidentally got given a boob job. She said to the doctors, «What on Earth have you done?! My maguppies became bazongas

Beginualize

A mixture of «actualize» and «begin», used by a counsellor teaching Marge and Maggie the C.R.I.E. method of baby independence when Maggie becomes too clingy. Episode: «Midnight Towboy».

Counsellor: «Now her childhood can beginualize

Beginulate

Used by Professor John Frink as part of his pseudo-scientific jargon, merely as a more complicated verb form of «begin».

Its use appears in the «Treehouse of Horror XV» short In the Belly of the Boss:

Frink: «Let the commencement… beginulate

Beheadbumped

Bumped on the head. Used in «The Wettest Stories Ever Told,» when Ned Flanders is knocked unconscious by hitting his head on the support beams of the ship’s steerage.

Reverend Lovejoy: Our captain’s Beheadbumped!

Bembarassed

A mispronunciation of «embarrassed» spoken by Ralph Wiggum in «Smart and Smarter».

Bemusement Park

An amusement park that bemuses instead of amuses. Coined by Ned Flanders in «I’m Goin’ to Praiseland.»

Ned: Oh, Maude, I’ve turned your dream of a Christian amusement park into a be-musement park.
Homer: Don’t say that, Ned!
Ned: It is! It’s a bemusement park!

The phrase might also be intended as a play on letter grading from A-musement to B-musement (as in B-movie). Whereas «B-musement» suggests the park is second rate and explains his strong spoken emphasis of the letter «b», «bemusement» suggests the attendees simply fail to understand the religious park’s message.

Betsy Bleedingheart

A person or organization who tries to get sympathy with the public, after the epithet «bleeding-heart liberal».

Mr. Burns: A non-profit organization with oil; I won’t allow it! An oil well doesn’t belong in the hands of some Betsy Bleedingheart or Maynard G. Muskievote!

Blim-blam-blame

A goofy way of saying «blame».

In the Q&A section of Flanders’ Book of Faith, Ned asks, «And who’s to blim-blam-blame for our sins?».

Blingwad

Unclassified transformed matter. Possibly a wad of bling.

Krusty the Clown: I oughta replace it right now with that Chinese cartoon with the robots that turn into… blingwads! But I’m a lazy, lazy man.

(From the episode «The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show».)

Blubber-in-law

This is a term used by Patty and Selma to denigrate Homer. It is a play on «brother-in-law», and the fact that Homer is fat.

Blurst

A word typed by Mr. Burns’ monkeys when they were sitting at typewriters attempting to write a book. They typed «It was the best of times, it was the blurst of times» to the disappointment of Mr. Burns.

Bolognium

An element on a highly inaccurate periodic table at Springfield Elementary. Due to their inability to afford an accurate table, they have to make do with a promotional one from meat company Oscar Mayer, which advertises their product in the information. The atomic weight of Bolognium is known to be either «delicious» or «snacktacular». The real element in that space in the periodic table is molybdenum and the atomic weight is 95.95. The name is presumably derived from polonium, element 84.

Bonus Eruptus

Okay, now the symptoms you describe point to ‘bonus eruptus.’

A medical condition coined by Dr. Nick Riviera that is described as «a terrible condition where the skeleton tries to leap out of the mouth and escape the body» in «22 Short Films About Springfield».

The term came to be when a frantic Abe Simpson demanded to see a quack. Abe’s symptoms included being «edgy», having «ants in his pants» and being «discombobulated». Dr. Nick also warned Grandpa that if he didn’t calm down to receive treatment, Grandpa would give himself skin failure. Dr. Nick’s prescribed treatment for Bonus Eruptus was «Trans-dental Electromicide,» which called for a golf-cart motor and a 1000-volt «capacimator». High voltage is applied to the patient’s teeth, presumably until they are either cured or dead.

This is a reference to the common cartoon trope of a skeleton escaping a character’s mouth in fright, and possibly a reference to the Ray Bradbury short story «Skeleton».

Boostafazoo

Physical punishment or comeuppance.

Bart: Burns needs some serious boostafazoo, right, Dad?

Boo-urns

What Smithers tells Burns the angry movie audience is saying after a screening of his film «A Burns for All Seasons».

During the episode «A Star is Burns», Mr. Burns asks his faithful assistant Waylon Smithers if the crowd is booing his blatantly egotistical motion picture. Smithers, ever the yes-man, replies that they are saying «boo-urns» (i.e. «Burns»), and not «boo». When Burns asks for clarification, the crowd replies that they are indeed saying «boo», and not «boo-urns». After the crowd replies, Hans Moleman says that, in fact, he was saying «boo-urns».

Hans Moleman: I was saying «boo-urns…»
note: Has been heard chanted in UCLA’s Paulley Pavilion, cynically, when the basketball team is performing below expectations.

Bovine University

A term for a slaughterhouse used by Troy McClure in a vintage pro-meat/pro-slaughter documentary shown to Lisa’s class from the episode «Lisa the Vegetarian».

Ralph Wiggum: [unclear on the meaning] When I grow up, I’m going to Bovine University!

Brassafrax

Presumably an extremely antiquated cry of submission (as in «Uncle!») used by Montgomery Burns’s mother in the episode «Homer the Smithers». When Smithers wants to regain Burns’s trust, he tells Homer to call Burns’s mother and transfer the call to his office. Smithers’s plan is to rush in and rescue Burns from what will certainly be an awkward phone conversation.

Smithers: Hello, Mrs. Burns? This is Waylon Smithers. I have your son Montgomery on the line…
Mrs. Burns: That improvident lackwit? Always too busy stridin’ about his atom mill to call his own mother. I’ll give him what-fors till he cries brassafrax!

Bumbled-bee

One of Mr. Burns’ seemingly antiquated alternative expressions referring to an existing term (similar to «iced cream», the original name for ice cream). In episode 12 of Season 16, Burns tells Selma, who is in the process of lowering the soft top on his roadster, «Stop that you want-wit! I could get stung by a bumbled-bee!»

C

California Cheeseburger

A sandwich with a baby in the middle, first seen in «The Secret War of Lisa Simpson.»

Chief Wiggum shows a group of touring kids a museum display of a hippie couple who are getting stoned and ready to take a bite of the «California Cheeseburger.»

Capdabbler

A word made up by Mr. Burns in «Last Exit to Springfield» for a song parodying Dr. Seuss’s «The Grinch»:

«Look at them all, through the darkness I’m bringing
They’re not sad at all. They’re actually singing!
They sing without juicers
They sing without blenders
They sing without flungers, capdabblers and smendlers!»

Car Hole

A common man’s term for garage, coined by Moe Szyslak in «The Springfield Connection».

While «Car Hole» appears only twice in the series itself, it is often used by fans to jokingly refer to a garage, or garage-like structure. The phrase first appears in a conversation between Moe Szyslak and Homer Simpson, wherein Moe ridicules Homer for his use of the overly formal word, «garage».

Homer: Hmm. I wonder why he’s so eager to go to the garage?
Moe: The «garage»? Hey fellas, the «garage»! Well, ooh la di da, Mr. French Man.
Homer: Well what do you call it?
Moe: A car hole!

The phrase appears once more as Homer expresses his shock upon discovering a counterfeit jeans outfit has (inexplicably) taken up operation in his garage.

Homer: [gasps] A counterfeit jeans ring operating out of my car hole!

Chazwazer

A fictitious Australian name for the bullfrog.

As the Simpsons depart from Australia, an Australian equivalent of Squeaky-Voiced Teen asks what the strange creature infesting his home country is called. Upon receiving its proper name, he responds, «What? That’s an odd name. I’d have called them chazwazers

Cheese-eating surrender monkey

A satirical and insulting phrase, referring to the collaborationist Vichy France regime’s surrender in World War II.

Groundskeeper Willy (teaching French class): «Bonjourrrrrr, you cheese-eating surrender monkeys

Chestal

Of, or relating to, the chest.

Bart: I’m all tense through the chestal area!

The word «chestal,» in this sense, first became popular in the 1960s when Woody Allen used it in one of his stand-up comedy routines. It then appeared in the episode «Bart’s Girlfriend».

Also used: «neckal» and «scalpal».

Chester A. Arthuritis

A condition resulting from excitement over studying President Chester A. Arthur. Upon discovering Jebediah Springfield’s past as Hans Sprungfeld, Lisa nervously jokes about having just gotten over her «Chester A. Arthuritis» before coming down with «Jebeditis».

Professor Hurlbut: «Looks like you’ve come down with a serious case of Jebeditis.»
Lisa: «Just as I was getting over my Chester A. Arthuritis
Professor Hurlbut: «Heh heh… y-you had arthritis?»

Chimpan-A

An ape. In a musical based on The Planet of the Apes, Troy McClure’s character claimed that he hated all apes from «chimpan-A to chimpanzee», as a pun on chimpanzee and the phrase «A to Z».

Chocotastic

One of the three neglected food groups, along with the Whipped group and the Congealed group, that Homer must concentrate on eating more of in «King-Size Homer».

This word has made its way into international culture, as there are Pop-Tarts available in The Netherlands and elsewhere in Europe with the flavor of Chocotastic. (Coincidentally, in the episode, Dr. Nick recommends that Homer use Pop-Tarts to replace bread in sandwiches.)

Clouseauesque

A combination of excessive clumsiness and ridiculously bad luck, in the manner of Peter Sellers’ hapless Inspector Jacques Clouseau. From the episode «The Boy Who Knew Too Much».

The French waiter, who accused Freddy Quimby of attacking him, says in the court room, «This is an outrage! I am not a clumsy clouseauesque waiter!» He then falls out of the window into an open truck of rat traps.

Cohuhtage Cheese

Bart’s mispronunciation of «cottage cheese» in «The Heartbroke Kid». Bart was unaware of many healthy foods such as this when he was forced to live a less unhealthy lifestyle, and he consequently had no idea how to pronounce the food.

Commie-Nazi

Fictional villains Rainier Wolfcastle faces in one of his McBain movies.

While delivering UNICEF pennies to «the puny children who need them», McBain’s airplane is attacked. He picks up the radio and says, «McBain to base, under attack by Commie-Nazis.» These «Commie-Nazis» combine Communism and Nazi ideology, and use a mix of the Swastika and Hammer and Sickle on a red background as their standard.

This phrase has long precedent in the form of «Commu-Nazi» as used by Walter Winchell. However, many viewers believe that this is simply a combination of two over-used action movie villains.

It may also be a reference to the Superman comics during World War II pitting the superhero against the «Japanazis», a cross between America’s two principal enemies in the war.

Crantastic

A reference to an Ocean Spray advertising device, a portmanteau of cranberry and fantastic. Said by the squeaky-voiced teen as he is swept away by a tide of cranberry juice in «Homer and Apu».

Crap factory

Invented by Bart as a dysphemism for «stomach» after Nelson takes exception to his saying «tummy.»

Bart: «It’s my tummy!» (Nelson glares at him) «I mean stomach! Gut! Crap factory

Craptacular

A portmanteau of «crap» and «spectacular.»

«Craptacular» was used by Bart to describe the supposedly defective Christmas lights that Homer purchased in «Miracle on Evergreen Terrace». It is one of the more frequently used made-up words from The Simpsons, and, like a few others, was in use before The Simpsons popularized it. Currently used for a yearly contest on the Howard Stern show, where contestants eat and eat, then weigh their waste over 24 hours.

Crayola Oblongata

The procedure of putting a crayon into the brain via the nasal cavity, a portmanteau of crayon producing company Crayola and the part of the brainstem called the medulla oblongata.

Crisitunity

A portmanteau created by Homer when Lisa tells him that the Chinese have the same word for «crisis» and «opportunity». The actual Chinese words for those terms are different but share a common character (危機 for «crisis» and 機會 for «opportunity»).

From «Fear of Flying».

Cromulent

Lisa the Iconoclast 9.JPG

A word meaning valid or acceptable, coined by David X. Cohen for the Simpsons episode «Lisa the Iconoclast».

When schoolteacher Edna Krabappel hears the Springfield town motto «A noble spirit embiggens the smallest man,» she comments she’d never heard of the word embiggens before moving to Springfield. Miss Hoover replies, «I don’t know why; it’s a perfectly cromulent word».

Later in the same episode, while talking about Homer’s audition for the role of town crier, Principal Skinner states «He’s embiggened that role with his cromulent performance.»

Based on the context in which Miss Hoover uses the word cromulent, we can interpret that she intends it to mean «legitimate», «applicable» or «appropriate.» Principal Skinner seems to use it to mean «more than acceptable» or «more than adequate»; these usages would also (in an assumed lexical context) satisfy Miss Hoover’s use of the word. Perhaps both characters intend it to mean «authentic», which would validate both uses of the word (e.g. «it’s a perfectly authentic word» and «he embiggened that role with his authentic performance»). The word has a sort of recursive irony about it: as a made-up word it possesses none of the qualities that it describes.

Both «embiggen» and «cromulent» were quickly adopted and used by Simpsons fans. «Cromulent» has taken on an ironic meaning, to say that something is not at all legitimate and in fact spurious. Indeed, the DVD commentary for «Lisa the Iconoclast» makes a point of reinforcing that «embiggen» and «cromulent» are completely made up by the writers and have since taken on a life of their own via the Internet and other media.

In the 2005 Xbox game Jade Empire, the player meets a British-colonialist-styled outsider who uses made-up mispronounced words. When the player confronts the man with this, the man claims that one of the words he used was «cromulent».

«Cromulent» has since appeared in Webster’s New Millennium Dictionary of English (lookup via reference.com). Some sources have misheard the word as «promulent».

Crotch dot

The Dad Who Knew Too Little -217.png

A red dot that appears on one’s crotch, and is thought to be fatal (Chief Wiggum’s uncle died of Crotch Dot). Seymour Skinner was suspected of having this disease, although in reality, it was a laser pointer used as a prank by Bart. From «The Dad Who Knew Too Little». Compare to «crotch rot», a slang term for jock itch.

Chief Wiggum: «Hey, you better get that red dot checked out; my uncle died of crotch dot!»

D

Dash Hole

Another name for the cigarette lighter power socket.

This name was used by the automotive appliance salesman when asking Homer what he had plugged into his Dash Hole. From «Brake My Wife, Please.»

Dealie (dealy)

A word that can be used in place of any noun. Sometimes used as a placeholder for an object whose name does not immediately spring to mind.

Homer: «Marge, where’s that… metal… dealie… you use to… dig… food?»

Used in countless episodes throughout the series.

Debigulator

A device for shrinking a person to microscopic size.

A Professor Frink-like character uses the debigulator to shrink Lisa to microscopic size in «The Genesis Tub», one of the stories in «Treehouse of Horror VII».

Deceleratrix

The service brakes on a car.

Mr. Burns attempts to drive a car for the first time while proclaiming he is sure the owners’ manual will instruct him as to which lever is the velocitator and which one is the deceleratrix. The word is formed by changing the word «decelerator» from the Latin masculine to feminine. From «Homer the Smithers»

Dickety

Grandpa Simpson’s made-up word for the number twenty in the episode «Raging Abe Simpson and His Grumbling Grandson in «The Curse of the Flying Hellfish».»

Abe: Now, my story begins in nineteen-dickety-two. We had to say «dickety» ’cause the Kaiser had stolen our word «twenty». I chased that rascal to get it back, but gave up after dickety-six miles…

The word may have a faux «old timer» feel because of its similarity to the words «dicker» and lickety as in «lickety split.» «Dicker» is a word for «bargain» that’s sometimes associated with rural or antiquated settings.

In the Latin American Spanish dub the word used is «tijiri», which has no actual meaning or similarity to another word.

The German dub uses «zwickig», which also has no meaning, but sounds similar to «zwanzig» («twenty»).

The Italian dub used «ambarabà», which is a nonsense word found in a nursery rhyme.

The term pokes fun at the common habit of replacing words during the anti-German sentiment of World War I, such as the replacing of «Sauerkraut» with «Liberty Cabbage» (according to Grandpa, Liberty Cabbage was, in turn, known as «Super Slaw»).

Diddly

Hey-dilly-ho

(Also spelled diddily), Ned Flanders’ characteristic non-word.

Generally speaking, «diddly«, though not in itself a made-up word, is used by Ned Flanders in what linguists call a filled pause, a non-word which a speaker uses to take up time or space in a sentence, and which are sometimes used for emphasis. Flanders often uses «diddly» as an alliteration in his sentences, i.e. «What can I diddly-do you for?» or «Dee-diddly-lighted!» Flanders also seems to use filled pauses as a crutch to avoid swearing, as in «son of a diddly…», until he finally snaps in «Hurricane Neddy» when the inept townspeople of Springfield, in a disastrous attempt to rebuild his house, push him too far: «Calm down, Neddilly-diddily-diddily-diddily… They did their best… Shoddilly-iddily-iddily-diddly… Gotta be nice… hostility-ilitybilitydility… aaaw hell diddly ding dong crap! Can’t you morons do anything right?!»

Occasionally, Flanders will use «diddly» as a tmesis such as in the episode «Summer of 4 Ft. 2» in his note at the summer house to the Simpsons («Wel-diddly-elcome», to which Homer responds, «He actually wrote ‘diddly'»).

It was also used as a familial word when the ‘Flanders Clan’ has a reunion; José Flanders says when meeting Homer, «Buenos ding-dong-diddly días, señor» (although Lord Thistlewick Flanders has to be prompted to say it, and does so reluctantly).

In the Latin American Spanish dub, «diddly» is often translated as «-irijillo», an overly elaborate and ridiculous diminutive (e.g. «Perfectirijillo»).

Disease Box

A term for a box in which a contagious person sat and to which other people would come in order to try to contract the disease.

In «Milhouse of Sand and Fog», Maggie caught the chicken pox and Homer put her in a box so that the neighbourhood kids could catch it before they grew up.

He noted that «As with all disease boxes, results may vary.»

Doctorb

Homer, in need of a triple bypass, sees an infomercial showcasing the surgical «talents» of Dr. Nick. In the ad, Dr. Nick gives the (presumably) toll-free number as, «1-600-DOCTORB», going on to explain that «…The B is for ‘bargain’!» It is pronounced /ˈdɔkˌtoːɻb/.

Dodgerock

A game of dodgeball played with a rock instead of a ball. At least one (brief) match was played by Nelson Muntz and Milhouse.

Doggie Heaven

A supposed version of Heaven for dogs only. In «Dog of Death», when the Simpson family feared that Santa’s Little Helper would die from his stomach condition, Homer tried to console Bart and Lisa by telling them of this supposed afterlife. He described it as «the most wonderful place in the world», and stated that there are mountains of bones there, «you can’t turn around without sniffing another dog’s butt», and «all the best dogs are there», including the dog who portrayed Old Yeller, and eight dogs who portrayed Lassie.

Bart responded by asking if there was a Doggie Hell, and Homer responded in the affirmative, saying that a heaven couldn’t exist without a corresponding hell.

Doggie Hell

Allegedly, this is a dog-exclusive version of Hell. In «Dog of Death», when Homer told Bart and Lisa about «Doggie Heaven» in an attempt to reassure them when the family believed Santa’s Little Helper was dying, Bart asked if there was a Doggie Hell.

Homer replied in the affirmative, stating that a heaven couldn’t exist without a hell, and Bart asked who was in there. Homer had trouble thinking of an answer, but eventually decided on Hitler’s dog, Nixon’s dog, and a mean dog who portrayed Lassie but mauled Timmy’s actor.

D’oh!

An exclamation of annoyance often uttered by Homer.

In scripts and episode titles, D’oh is referred to as «annoyed grunt«1.

It may be argued that «D’oh» is not a Simpsons neologism, as actor Dan Castellaneta based the phrase on James Finlayson’s similar utterance in many Laurel & Hardy films; however, Finlayson did not exclaim the term as Castellaneta does, but used it as more of a muttered whine.

Dollareydoo

A term to describe Australian Dollars. In Bart vs. Australia, when the father of the Australian boy, whom Bart had called collect, saw the bill for 900 dollars, he exclaimed «900 Dollareydoos?!» and asked his son if he had accepted the call from America. When the Australian boy replies that he’d only accepted the charges because he thought it was urgent, the father confronts Bart over the phone, only to learn his son had fallen victim to a prank.

  • It is likely that the term «Dollareydoo» is a reference to the aboriginal instrument from Australia, the Didgeridoo or didgeridu.

Don’t have a cow, man!

Pocketbart.png

An exclamation and catchphrase of Bart that implies that the subject should calm down, or not get worked up about something. It was brought into pop culture mainly by merchandise, as is evidenced by the fact that it is only uttered by Bart on the show a handful of times in the first season («There’s No Disgrace Like Home» and «The Call of the Simpsons»), and therefore were not self-parodying uses.

In the third season’s «Bart the Murderer», Eat My Shorts and Don’t Have a Cow are horses in a race. It isn’t used again by Bart until the eighth season. In «The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show», in response to Homer’s cartoon debut, Lisa explains, «You can’t be cool just by spouting off a bunch of worn-out buzzwords.» Bart replies, «Don’t have a cow, Lis!» In «The Simpsons Spin-Off Showcase», Bart sings it along with «eat my shorts!» as part of his musical introduction in the variety show spin-off.

Occasionally, another character has uttered the line. In another self-parodying use, Apu, a vegetarian, shows off his t-shirt with the saying surrounding an actual cow in a no symbol in the seventh season’s «Lisa the Vegetarian». In the seventh season’s «Summer of 4 Ft. 2», After Bart’s complaining that Lisa is acting like him to get friends, Lisa is overheard to say «Don’t have a cow, man!» (and later «¡Ay, caramba!») to which Marge replies, «You haven’t said that in four years. Let Lisa have it.»

In the eighth season’s «Hurricane Neddy», Ned insultingly mocks «Don’t have a cow, man!» in front of Bart while he lashes out at at him after Bart stood up for Marge and told Ned to back off, which causes Bart to fearfully reply that he is “shocked and applaud”.

In the 19th season’s «Apocalypse Cow», after raising a young bull to adulthood and saving it from the slaughterhouse, Bart comments that he can finally say he «had a cow».

Don’ter

The opposite of a doer. Appeared in Lisa the Tree Hugger.

Bart: Hey, some people in this family are doers, and some [he looks at Lisa] are don’ters.

In the Czech dubbing it sounds like that: «Někteří z nás prostě vydělávaj a jiní se flákaj.» which is translated as: «Some of us are earning and others are messing about.»

Doobob

Mr. Burns’s word for a generic object that is mysterious to him.

Doodily

(Also spelled doodly), A Flanders word that is compatible with diddly.

Flanders [upon learning that Bart, Lisa and Maggie were never baptised]: Reverend…emergency! I… it’s the Simpson kids… eedily… I, uh, baptism… oodily… doodily doodily

Flanders is afraid to say the word «sex» even if kids aren’t around. Instead, he calls it «doodily«.

Dorkus Molorkus

Used by Bart, «Dorkus Molorkus» is supposedly a Latin phrase meaning «dork». Given as the reason Lisa was unaware of the National Grammar Rodeo.

Bart: You are, as they say in Latin, a Dorkus Molorkus.
Lisa: That’s not Latin…

Double-Bacon Geniusburger

A very intelligent person, used as an alternate lyric in Homer’s version of the Grinch song.

«You’re a Hero, Homer J. You’re as crafty as a skunk! They’ll thank you in the morning, for stealing Flanders’ junk, Homer JAAAY! You’re a double-bacon geniusburger, and just a little drunk!»

From the episode «‘Tis the Fifteenth Season».

Drunkening

The process of becoming drunk, a gerund form of the pseudo-verb «to drunken».

Moe tells Homer he’s late for his drunkening. From «Brake My Wife, Please».

Dumbening

The process of becoming dumber.

In the episode «Lisa the Simpson,» Lisa is writing in her diary after speaking to Grandpa about «the Simpson Gene», which supposedly makes every male in the Simpson family stupid.

Lisa: [writing] Dear log, can it be true? Does every Simpson go through a process of dumbening? Hey, that’s not how you spell ‘dumbening’. Wait a minute… ‘dumbening’ isn’t even a word!

Dumpster Buns

Cinnamon buns thrown out into a dumpster.

In the episode «Thank God It’s Doomsday», Homer wants to go to the mall to eat the day-old throwaways from Cinnabon. While at the mall, Bart and Lisa run into their father eating out of the dumpster.

Homer: Mmm… dumpster buns.

Dungeonarium

Mr. Burns’s word for a dungeon.

E

Eat my Shirt / Eat our Shirts

What Flanders thinks Bart says when he says Eat my Shorts.

Bart: Eat my shorts, Shelbyville.
Bart and Homer: Eat my shorts!
Flanders: Yes, eat all of our shirts.

Eat my Shorts

Bart’s favorite insult.

Bart: Eat my shorts, Shelbyville.
Bart and Homer: Eat my shorts!

Eddie Punch-clock

A dismissive phrase describing the common man, used by Mr. Burns.

Eedily

A variant of «doodily» used by Flanders when he’s nervous or screwing up his words.

Flanders [upon learning that Bart, Lisa and Maggie were never baptised]: Reverend…emergency! I… it’s the Simpson kids… eedily… I, uh, baptism… oodily… doodily doodily!

Electromicide

According to Dr. Nick Riviera, the only treatment for Bonus Eruptus.

Dr. Nick’s procedure is trans-dental electromicide, a process of introducing severe electrical currents into the body through the mouth. The word «electromicide» is possibly a conflation of the prefix electro- with «homicide».

El Fisa-chiatrist

In Havana Wild Weekend, Homer is eager to «put the Spanish [he] learned on I Love Lucy to use». He starts to improvise with «Lucy, you need to see el fisa-chiatrist», to which a Cuban guy responds, «Excuse me sir, we’re perfectly able to pronounce ‘psychiatrist’.»

Embiggen

To make something better. The opposite of «belittle».

From a famous saying by Jebediah Springfield/Hans Sprungfeld: «A Noble Spirit Embiggens the Smallest Man», evoking the manner in which its antonym, belittle, was coined by Thomas Jefferson. It is likely a creative conflation of big with the word embolden (to render bold; to hearten, to encourage). The quotation appears on the statue of Jebediah Springfield in front of City Hall.

American actor and writer Wil Wheaton frequently uses this word on his blog when he posts thumbnailed images.

Examples of use:

  • «He’s embiggened that role.»
  • «Patriots will embiggen America.»

On this wiki, the stub template mentions embiggening.

Esquilax

A legendary horse born with the head of a rabbit and the body of a rabbit.

In the season 6 episode Lisa’s Wedding, Chief Wiggum, performing as Renaissance actor ‘Friar Wiggum’, explains to Lisa, «And here, out of the mists of history, the legendary Esquilax! A horse with the head of a rabbit, and… the body of a rabbit. Oh, it’s galloping away!»

F

Fantastipotamus

An animal located in a «different» zoo that contains creatures that people like Homer have never heard of.

Ron Howard: Look, I’d love to help you out, Homer, but I’m taking my kids to the zoo.
Homer: That’s great. Even big stars take their kids to the zoo.
Ron Howard: Well, it’s a different zoo, containing animals you’ve never heard of.
Howard’s daughter: Daddy, we’re missing the fantastipotamus. She only sings twice a day.

A portmanteau of the words «fantastic» and «hippopotamus».

Farkbot

As in, «What the farkbot?» Said by a frustrated Bart Simpson during the opening scroll of Cosmic Wars.

Most likely one of the writers is a member of Fark.com. Commonly, submitters to the site replace choice words, including certain expletives, with «Fark» (as in «What the Fark?»).

Fartsy

Homer’s word for the less-than-intellectual subject of chili, as opposed to the «artsy» interests of Marge. Homer considers «fartsy» subjects more appealing. This word is heard in «El Viaje Misterioso de Nuestro Jomer (The Mysterious Voyage of Homer)».

Fatard

The ballet teacher’s name for Bart’s ballet outfit.

Conflation of the words «fat» and «leotard».

Faxtrola

What Burns calls a fax machine in «Raging Abe Simpson and His Grumbling Grandson in «The Curse of the Flying Hellfish».»

A portmanteau of the words «fax» and «Victrola».

Femail Carrier

According to Lisa in «Homer’s Night Out», this is the appropriate word for a woman who works as a mail carrier.

Femailman

A word for a woman in the mail delivery business, used by Bart in «Homer’s Night Out». Lisa corrects him, instead urging him to say femailperson.

Finded

An incorrect past tense of «find», as opposed to the correct «found». Used by Ralph Wiggum in «This Little Wiggy».

Firehose sweating

A condition characterised by excessive perspiration that spurted out in the manner of a firehose. It was one of the side effects of the anti-booze in «The Last Barfighter».

Fishbulb

Refers to the Mr. Sparkle logo, which was a combination of a fish logo and a lightbulb logo. This led to an appearance uncannily like Homer Simpson’s head. This has led Homer to be nicknamed «Fishbulb» by Bart.

Fishmas

Part of «Merry Fishmas!», shouted by Mr. Burns in «Homer vs. Dignity».

Flander-doodles

A term coined by Ned Flanders to refer to his testicles, coming from his habit of saying «doodle» and his last name (minus the S).

When a robot punched him in the crotch in «Treehouse of Horror», Ned said, «Ow, my Flander-doodles

Flanswered

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A combination of the words «Flanders» and «answered«.

Homer: Single women of Springfield, your prayers have been Flanswered. Ned Flanswered, that is.

It is also played as a word during Flanders’ lonely Scrabble game. From «Alone Again, Natura-Diddily».

Floor Pie

A pie that is on the floor.

In the episode «Boy-Scoutz ‘n the Hood», Homer is lured into a trap set up by Bart in which the bait is a pie on the floor («Ooooh, floor pie!»). This saying has been adapted by some for various objects (e.g. «floor candy» or «floor clothes»). Floor [word] is a term used for an object which is on the floor when it probably shouldn’t be.

Swedish-American sculptor Claes Oldenburg also created a large sculpture of a piece of cake to be displayed on the floor of a gallery, entitled Floor Cake.

Flunjer

A word made up by Mr. Burns in «Last Exit to Springfield» for a song parodying Dr. Seuss’s «The Grinch»:

«Look at them all, through the darkness I’m bringing
They’re not sad at all. They’re actually singing!
They sing without juicers
They sing without blenders
They sing without flunjers, capdabblers and smendlers!»

Foodbag

A derogatory term in «Burns, Baby Burns» used by Mr. Burns to describe Homer. It is used while they are eating a lavish dinner together, thus it is likely referring to the amount of food Homer was eating at the time and/or his weight in general.

Burns: You, foodbag, do you have a son?

Foodrinkery

As seen on the sign for «TGI McScratchy’s Goodtime Foodrinkery» in the episode Itchy & Scratchy Land.

Forfty

A portmanteau of the words «forty» and «fifty». Possibly slang for «forty-five».

In the episode «Homer the Vigilante», Homer mentions the word as he responds to Kent Brockman about statistics.

Kent Brockman: Mr. Simpson, how do you respond to the charges that petty vandalism such as graffiti is down eighty percent, while heavy sack-beatings are up a shocking nine hundred percent?
Homer Simpson: Aw, people can come up with statistics to prove anything, Kent. Forfty percent of all people know that.

Oddly enough, the captions read «forty» or «fourteen».

Foundling-a-ding

Flanders’ euphemistic word for a foundling, or abandoned child (Home Sweet Homediddly-Dum-Doodily).

Frinkahedron

Professor Frink’s name for a cube (a.k.a. hexahedron).

In the Halloween episode «Treehouse of Horror VI», Professor Frink tries to explain Homer’s disappearance into the third dimension. A possible real-life analogue to the Frinkahedron is the tesseract.

Frink: (at chalkboard) Here is an ordinary square.
Chief Wiggum: Whoa, whoa, slow down, egghead!
Frink: But, suppose we extend the square beyond the two dimensions of our universe, along the hypothetical Z-axis there.
Marge, Lisa, Bart, Ned, Reverend Lovejoy, Chief Wiggum, Dr. Hibbert, Patty & Selma: [all gasp] (as Frink draws a cube)
Frink: This forms a three-dimensional object known as a cube or a Frinkahedron, in honor of its discoverer.
Homer: Help me! Are you helping me, or are you going on and on?
Frink: Oh, right. And, of course, within, we find the doomed individual.

Frinkiac 7

The name for a computer created by Professor Frink in «Much Apu About Nothing».

Frogurt

A phrase for frozen yogurt used by a shopkeeper in «Treehouse of Horror III». Attestation of the word pre-dates The Simpsons.

Fudrucker

A swear used by Marge during «The President Wore Pearls». When the police show up shortly after she says it, she thinks that they have come to arrest her for saying it. It may be a reference to the Fuddruckers chain of restaurants or alternatively a semi-concealed curse.

Führerific

A conflation of «führer» and «terrific».

This is how Bart describes what is claimed to be Hitler’s car in the episode «Bart Carny».

Bart: It’s Führerific.

G

Gamblor

The name Homer gives to the monstrous gambling vice that has metaphorically «enslaved» Marge in «$pringfield (Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Legalized Gambling).» The creature is purported to have neon claws.

Garbagewater

In «Trash of the Titans», Homer spills some detritus-laced liquid from the bottom of the garbage can on his slipper while taking out the trash and coins this word, as in, «eww! Garbagewater

Gibby Gabby

Marge’s name for the Albanian language, as uttered upon hearing the dialog from the movie «Kosovo Autumn». From the episode «Home Away from Homer».

Glavin

Professor Frink.png

A word used by Professor Frink when he’s muttering. In one episode while he’s shocked he says, «Great glavin in a glass!» or «Good glavin!» It is most often heard when Frink is in pain like «Oh, so much pain in the glavin!» (pronounced / ˈglejvn̩/) This is probably an adaptation of Jerry Lewis’s interjection «froyndleyven!», which, in turn, is presumed to be Yiddish semi-nonsense roughly meaning «happytime!» (cf. standard German «Freund», friend; «Freude», joy; «Leben», life). The similarity to Slavic words for ‘head’ (golova, glava, glowa) does not account for the vowels or ‘n’ and is probably coincidental. Lewis’s portrayal of the Nutty Professor is considered by many Simpsons fans to be partial inspiration for Frink’s character, and Lewis did a guest voice in one episode as Frink’s father.

Frink: That meteor is headed straight for us, with the fire, and the impact, and the hundred percent chance of pain!… Pain in the glavin!!

Alternate spelling: glaven or glayvin.

Groin-Grabbingly

A phrase used by Homer in the episode «Guess Who’s Coming to Criticize Dinner?».

Lisa: Hmm. What’s the English equivalent for [drools like Homer]? I’d say… transcendent.
Homer: How about groin-grabbingly transcendent?
Lisa: Uh… I don’t think so.
Homer: We make a good team. A groin-grabbingly good team.

Gyme

Homer’s mispronunciation of the word «gym» in «King of the Hill». Due to his lack of acquaintanceship with exercise culture, he was not aware of the proper pronunciation of the word.

H

Ha Ha!

A common laugh from Nelson Muntz when he takes note of one’s failure.

Heckhole

A euphemism for the term «hellhole», which comes from «heck», which is a euphemism for all meanings of «hell» except the place.

In «Cape Feare», Sideshow Bob refers to prison as a «dank, urine-soaked hellhole». The police replied, «We object to the term ‘urine-soaked hellhole’ when you could have said, ‘peepee-soaked heckhole.'»

Hey-dilly-ho

Ned Flanders’ favorite greeting. Variations include «Hi-dilly ho», «Hi-diddly-ho», and «Hi-dilly-hey».

Hi, everybody!

Dr. Nick’s characteristic greeting, adopted as a casual hello by fans.

Holy Flurking Schnit

A vulgar exclamation used by Kang.

Homerhol

While in rehab for drunk driving (framed by Homer), Marge realizes she doesn’t belong there, and exclaims, «I’m a Homer-holic!» Otto interjects, “Whoa, man, you’re drinkin’ Homerhol? I’ll take a swig!!!”

Homersexual

During a routine disciplinary visit to Principal Skinner’s office, Bart must call Moe’s Tavern looking for his father, Homer. But when Moe answers the phone, Bart preempts the original purpose of the call and substitutes one of his trademark prank-calls. Instead of asking for his father «Homer Simpson,» Bart asks for «Homer Sexual.» With the prank thus launched, Bart quickly hands the phone to the Principal, who is shocked and dismayed to hear Moe Szyslak’s resulting tirade.

Later, when Homer marks Skinner as a possible mate for Selma, an imaginary heads-up display seen from Homer’s point of view (a spoof of The Terminator movies) identifies Skinner as a possible «homer-sexual.»

Though not exactly the same, Homer proclaims it is time to «get Homererotic» when he is having himself photographed in suggestive poses for a gift portfolio for Marge.

More recently the term «homersexual» has been used as a parody antonym for the word «metrosexual» (which means a heterosexual with stereotypical gay habits); in this context, «homersexual» refers to a gay person with stereotypical straight habits.

Homer Tax

Homer’s phrase for a tax which he pays. Lisa corrects him by telling him he’s thinking of the homeowner tax.

Homer: Let the bears pay the bear tax, I pay the Homer Tax!

Hors Dovers

Homer’s mispronunciation of «hors d’oeuvres,» as heard in «The War of the Simpsons.»

Hoyvin-Mayvin

A secret project by the Motherloving Sugar Corporation to get the town of Springfield addicted to sugar in the episode «Sweets and Sour Marge.» The project was named after the vocal ramblings of its creator, Professor Frink. The Professor was also the project’s whistleblower.

Hypohemia

Mr. Burns’s rare blood disease, for which he needed a transfusion of Bart’s blood in the episode «Blood Feud.» The word stems from a combination of hypo (Greek prefix for «under» or «below») and hemia (Greek for «blood»). The proper term for lack of circulatory fluids, however, is hypovolemia.

Hurricane Vomiting

Supposedly a synonym for projectile vomiting. It was one of the effects of the «anti-booze» in «The Last Barfighter».

Hurty

A synonym for «painful» used by Ralph Wiggum in a few episodes, including «Skinner’s Sense of Snow».

I

Iddly

Sometimes spelled «iddily», this is another one of Ned Flanders’s words, similar to «diddly» and «doodly», though not used as often.

In «Hurricane Neddy», Ned uses the phrase «Shoddily-iddilyiddily-diddly.» while he is still trying to remain calm before he eventually explodes in a fit of pent-up rage in front of everybody after they crudely rebuild his house.

In «In the Name of the Grandfather», Ned murmured, «Iddly diddly» to himself over and over again while in the hot tub.

Immigant

Moe Szyslak’s mispronunciation of the word «immigrant». He used the word when complaining about immigrants’ poor understanding of English in «Much Apu About Nothing», ironically proving his English to be unrefined itself.

Introubulate

The act of getting someone into trouble. From «I’m with Cupid» where Kent Brockman reads a story about how Apu is giving his wife extravagant presents for Valentine’s Day, and the rest of the town’s wives are annoyed at their husbands for their comparative romantic lameness.

Brockman: One Springfield man is treating his wife to an extra-special Valentine’s Day this year, and introubulating the rest of us.

Perhaps related to Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard’s neologism enturbulate, meaning to bring into turbulent or troublesome conditions.

Italian-American Sauce Bread

A phrase used to refer to pizza after the original word was somehow construed as politically incorrect. Seymour Skinner changed the item on Springfield Elementary School’s menu to this name in «I Am Furious (Yellow)», pleasing Luigi Risotto.

J

Japanimation

Bart’s term for Japanese anime, from «HOMЯ». When the Simpsons attend an animation festival, Bart watches an episode of the Transformazoids anime, which he calls «Japanimation».

Jebeditis

A condition resulting from excitement over Jebediah Springfield. When Hollis Hurlbut, curator of the Springfield Historical Society, returns to Lisa with Johnny Cakes, she is acting strangely having just found «The Secret Confessions of Jebediah Springfield» hidden in Springfield’s fife. Lisa attempts to disguise her behavior as «just the excitement of studying Jebediah,» which Hurlbut characterizes jokingly as «Jebeditis.»

Professor Hollis: «Looks like you’ve come down with a serious case of Jebeditis
Lisa: «Just as I was getting over my Chester A. Arthritis.»
Professor Hollis: «Heh heh… y-you had arthritis?»

Jebus

According to Matt Groening, The Simpsons writers have an ongoing competition to write a line that «most represents Homer at his singularly most stupid». Most likely the current champion is Homer’s faux term for Jesus, first mentioned in the episode «Missionary: Impossible.» When asked to be a missionary, Homer replies, «I’m no missionary, I don’t even believe in Jebus!». When the plane that is carrying Homer is taking off, he cries, «Save me Jebus!»

Later, in The Simpsons Movie, Homer says «Praise Jebus!» as the Simpson family goes to church in the middle of a sermon.

In popular usage on many discussion boards, such as Fark.com and Guardian Unlimited Talk, it is often deliberately used by posters as an implied «cut» or «chop» against Christians, particularly fundamentalist Christians from the Southern United States. Sometimes spelled «Jeebus» in this context.

«Jebus» has often been the Papua New Guinean patois for Jesus.

Jiminy Jillikers

A phrase used by Radioactive Man’s sidekick Fallout Boy, this phrase featured largely in the portion of the Radioactive Man film that was shot in Springfield. According to Radioactive Man, it is a form of profanity.

Johnny Come-not-lies

A phrase used by Principal Skinner, when the teachers didn’t show up for the last day before Christmas break.

Johnny Lunchpail

A dismissive phrase describing the common man, used by Mr. Burns in «Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish».

Juice Loosener

A type of juicer that Troy McClure advertised in «Marge in Chains» that was popular, despite its seemingly inefficient juicing abilities.

These were manufactured in Osaka, Japan, and a factory worker coughed into several boxes containing juice looseners that were then shipped to Springfield, starting the Osaka Flu epidemic.

Among the people who bought the looseners were Homer, Principal Skinner (to give to Agnes) and Patty and Selma (to give to each other for their birthday).

Jumping Box

Used by Mr. Burns when describing a television.

Mr. Burns: Jumping box, television, picto-cube, just crank it up!

Juzz

Bart’s mispronunciation of the word «jazz.» From the episode «Jazzy and the Pussycats».

Bart: «I need you to teach me all about the world of juzz
Lisa: «It’s jazz! Jazz! You don’t even know the name of the thing you’re stealing from me!»

K

Kancel

A deliberate misspelling of the word «cancel.» When Marge led a group opposed to the violence of The Itchy & Scratchy Show and Krusty the Clown’s showing of the series, a protester held a sign labelled «Kancel Krusty.» Later, when members of the group protested the nudity of Michelangelo’s David, the protester changed the sign to say «Kancel David.» Also featured in the title of the episode «Krusty Gets Kancelled».

Killbot Factory

Kent Brockman’s openly-declared «more alarmist» name for the United States Army, an institution Brockman shockingly describes as a place where «hundreds of men are given weapons and trained to kill!» The term «killbot» has gone on to be widely used in Futurama.

Klassic

A deliberately-misspelled version of the word «classic» seen in Krusty Komedy Klassic. It was misspelled to alliterate with Krusty’s name, but the audience booed and threw things at him because the initials were KKK (which is also the name of a white supremacist group). Krusty himself noticed the troublesome initials seconds before getting booed and noted to himself, «KKK? That’s no good!».

Knifey Spooney

A fictional Australian barroom game made in the episode «Bart vs. Australia», in a parody of a scene from the movie Crocodile Dundee, Bart is confronted by an Australian local who shows him a spoon and says «This is a knife!» Most often used in the phrase «I see you’ve played knifey-spooney before.»

Knifey Wifey

A name used by Chief Wiggum for any woman who is known to have attacked her husband with a knife.

Wiggum: Here we are, 123 Fake Street. Home of knifey wifey.

Knowitallism

Knowitallism (also Know-it-all-ism) is a fictitious word made up by the faculty of Springfield Elementary School to describe Lisa Simpson’s precocious personality. The students break into the school’s vault and find their permanent records and when Lisa reads that her teachers have labelled her as suffering from «knowitallism», she exclaims, «That’s not even a word!»

Knowledgeum

The Springfield Knowledgeum, a science museum «Where science is explained with brightly-colored balls», was visited by the Simpsons in the episode «This Little Wiggy».

Komedy

A deliberately-misspelled version of the word «comedy» seen in Krusty Komedy Klassic. It, like «Klassic», was misspelled to alliterate with Krusty’s name, but the audience booed and threw things at him because the initials were KKK (which is also the name of a white supremacist group). Krusty himself noticed the troublesome initials seconds before getting booed and noted to himself, «KKK? That’s no good!».

Krisis

A word used by Kent Brockman to assist in alliteratively describing the crisis that occurred at Kamp Krusty when it descended into a state of anarchy after a general revolt by abused campers.

Kwyjibo

Kwyjibo / ˈkwɪdʒiˌbo/ is a word made up by Bart during a game of Scrabble with his family. In the episode «Bart the Genius,» Bart puts «kwyjibo» on the board, scoring 116 points (22 points plus Triple Word Score plus 50 points for using all seven of his letters.) When Homer demands Bart say what a kwyjibo is, Bart replies, «A big, dumb, balding North American ape…with no chin.» Marge chimes in, «…and a short temper.» At this point, realizing it was about him, Homer chases Bart away, causing him to exclaim, «Uh-oh! Kwyjibo on the loose!»

‘Kwyjibo’ was used as one of the aliases of the creator of the Melissa worm, and is the name of a yo-yo string trick. ‘Kweejibo’ is a handmade clothing company in San Francisco.

Recently, Yahoo’s online version of Scrabble was advertised on the Yahoo home page with a visual representation of letter tiles spelling out K-W-Y-J-I-B-O. Kwyjibo is also the name of a puzzle involving a Scrabble board in The Simpsons Scene It.

On another James L. Brooks-produced animated series, The Critic, Duke Phillips also made up a fictional word in Scrabble: quyzbuk. Unlike Bart, Duke was able to immediately legitimize the word by contacting Noah Webster to have the word added to Webster’s Dictionary, defining it to mean «a big problem». When he found out no one was using his other word «Dukelicious», he sadly called the situation a «Duketastrophe.» This episode, as well as «Bart The Genius,» were written by Jon Vitti, which would explain the similarities.

A similar scene took place in the Dilbert animated series during a Scrabble match between Dilbert and the powerful supercomputer Comp-U-Comp. Comp-U-Comp’s first move was to lay down all its seven tiles randomly, spelling wipqozn; it then used its control of worldwide computer systems to immediately bring the word into circulation (in newscasts, for example). In meaning and usage, «wipqozn» seems roughly equivalent to «crap.»

L

Lamarella

A lame female (a pun on Cinderella).

Bart: Skanks for nothin’, Lamarella.

Land Cow

How an early Springfield settler describes a buffalo after seeing one for the first time, in the episode «Lisa the Iconoclast». In the film Young Jebediah Springfield, which relates the founding of Springfield, the group of migrants see a wild buffalo, with one of them proclaiming, «It’s some sort of land cow!» Presumably a reference to sea cows, a term for manatees.

In the video game The Simpsons: Hit and Run, when driving with Cletus Spuckler he will yell «Move it, Land Cow!» upon hitting something.

Land Monster

An alternative name for «groundhog», coined by an Adam-like Homer in the episode «Simpsons Bible Stories.»

Land of Chocolate

Germany, as described by one of the new owners of the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant in «Burns Verkaufen der Kraftwerk.»

Lard-ho

Yelled by the Sea Captain when he spots Homer.

Learnatorium

«The Grandma Simpson Peace Museum and Kid-teractive Learnatorium», the new name for Burns’ germ warfare laboratory.

Learnding

Ralph Wiggum’s mispronunciation of «learning», as heard in «Lisa Gets an «A»».

Liberty Log

«Liberty log», according to Abe Simpson, was the name given to sushi during the second World War, and no one ever heard of it. This is similar to the term «Freedom Fries».

Little Horse

A racing greyhound. The phrase started in Two Dozen and One Greyhounds on a banner outside the Springfield Dog track, which read: Just Think of Them as Little Horses. Homer adopts the phrase…

Homer: Come on, you little horse!

LSD

«Love for my son and daughters». In Home Sweet Homediddly-Dum-Doodily, Marge, apparently clueless about the drug that shares these initials, tells a social worker that LSD is the only thing she’s high on.

Lupper

When Bart and Lisa embarrass their parents while having brunch, Homer decides to leave and go to Moe’s, stating he will see them at «lupper» (a portmanteau of «lunch» and «supper»). This rather obvious parallel portmanteau has appeared before in Archie comics and in the television sitcom Seinfeld.

M

Magumba

A term for large breasts, coined by Krusty. It was also Stampy’s safety word.

Magguppies

Large Marge 37.JPG

A euphemism for breasts. In «Large Marge», Marge says to the doctors who gave her a boob job, «What on Earth have you done?! My maguppies became bazongas!».

Malonga Gilderchuck

A fictitious Australian word, used in describing how the bullfrogs are all over the place; presumably it is a generic term for an arbitrary, but common, location. Lisa and Marge are in the general store, and the shopkeeper is sweeping away all the bullfrogs, remarking, «These bloody things are everywhere. They’re in the lift, in the lorry, in the bond wizard, and all over the malonga gilderchuck.»

Malparkage

Homer's car trapped.jpg

The state or condition of being illegally parked. In «The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson» Barney had left Homer’s car illegally parked on the plaza at the World Trade Center. Homer then received a letter regarding this violation:

«Dear motorist, your vehicle is illegally parked in the borough of Manhattan. If you do not remedy this malparkage within 72 hours, your car will be thrown into the East River at your expense.»

This could be a reference to George Orwell’s Newspeak, featured in his book 1984, where mal is a prefix for mistake, bad, or wrong. The following is a bureaucratic jargon quote (not actually Newspeak, but using Newspeak prefixing) from 1984 asking the protagonist to fix an error in Big Brother’s speech on Africa:

«times 17.3.84 bb speech malreported Africa rectify»

(Translated into standard English: «There is an error in the reporting of Big Brother’s speech in the Times of 17 March 1984 with regards to Africa; it needs to be rectified.»)

«Mal-» is also a Latin root word meaning «bad,» and is used in several English words such as «malfunction,» «malignant,» and «maladjusted.»

It could also be a play on the legal term «malpractice» in medical language.

Mazuma

Money, cash; from Yiddish, mezumán.

Megacide

The murder of a giant. Used by Eddie in «Simpsons Bible Stories», when he arrests King David (Bart) after killing Goliath’s son, Goliath II.

Meh

An interjection used to indicate indifference or boredom. Used frequently, usually by Bart or Lisa.

Although the word existed before its usage on The Simpsons, and may have origins in Yiddish, it was brought into the awareness of the general population after its use on The Simpsons.

Menapplause

Applause specifically directed toward menopause. Coined by guest star Robert Wagner (or his writers; he says «menapplause? I’m not saying that») in the episode «Goo Goo Gai Pan».

A boy who skillfully distributes menus from a restaurant in order to advertise it. The owner of Springfield restaurant You Thai Now employed Bart as a menu boy in Lisa the Tree Hugger.

Microcalifragilistics

A field of science apparently made up (and studied) by Professor Frink.

This is a spoof of the term «supercalifragilisticexpialidocious» from the movie Mary Poppins.

Milhousing

A word used when someone is making another person look like Milhouse, e.g.: «Stop Milhousing your sister!»

Mobilomobile

Mr. Burns’s name for a car.

Money Fight

This is like a snowball fight, only with wads of cash in place of snowballs. It can be done with two or more people within close range of each other. Mr. Burns and Mr. Smithers decide to have a money fight in the middle of a difficult conversation concerning the power plant’s safety budget.

N

Neglecterino

Ned Flanders’ typically cuddly and innocent term for a neglected child. The line was originally pitched by Matt Groening to be «abuserino», but was dismissed as sounding too harsh.

Neighborino

A Ned-Flanderized version of the word «neighbor.» Possibly inspired by comedian Louis Nye on the Steve Allen Comedy Hour (1967), whose character Gordon Hathaway greeted Allen by saying «Hi, ho, Steve-a-reeno.»

May also be inspired by Kimmy Gibbler’s «Hola, Tanneritos» from the sitcom Full House.

Nervous Pervis

Mrs. Bellamy’s word for a nervous or scared person from the episode «The Frying Game». Also used by Flanders in The Simpsons Movie.

Flanders: Uh, Homer? I don’t mean to be a nervous pervis, but if he falls, couldn’t that make your son a paraplegiarino?

This term may have originated with «Never Nervous» Pervis Ellison, a basketball player who played for the University of Louisville Cardinals from 1985-1989.

No-breath

A person who cannot create condensation very well on glass with their breath.

[Jimbo breathes on the glass of the freezer at the Kwik-E-Mart, then writes «BITE ME» in the condensation.]
Dolph: Hah! Some ice cream guy’s going to see that, and it’ll blow his mind.
Bart: Let me try. [He tries to form condensation on the glass by breathing, but it fails.]
Jimbo: Way to breathe, no-breath.

Non-giving-up school guy

A determined, male member of a school faculty. In «The Boy Who Knew Too Much», Bart played hooky from school, and Skinner relentlessly pursued him. Bart was surprised at Skinner’s determination, and said, «He’s like some kind of non-giving-up school guy!».

Non-Jesus-y

Not resembling something related to Jesus. In «Black-Eyed, Please», Ned Flanders had a nightmare in which he was sent to a personalised version of Hell, which included, among other things, «non-Jesus-y beards».

Nuclear Whipping Boy (NWB)

In the episode «Worst Episode Ever», it is revealed, in a film that Bart and Milhouse find in Comic Book Guy’s stash of illegal films hidden in his basement, that Springfield is classified Nuclear Whipping Boy in case of an emergency and will be bombed at will by all allies to calibrate their missiles. The general who is divulging this information then terminates the cameraman.

Nucleon

Homer’s stated place of work; mispronunciation of «nuclear power plant».

Miss work? But my life would be nothing without the nucleon plant!
―Homer Simpson[src]

A nucleon is actually a term for the particles of matter within a nucleus.

Nuisancefon

Mock German, meaning a phone which causes annoyance.

In the episode «Bart vs. Australia», Bart dials several Southern Hemisphere countries attempting to discover in which direction their toilets flush. One of those countries is Argentina, where Bart winds up dialing a man who appears to be Adolf Hitler. When the man can’t answer his phone in time, he laments, «Ach! Das Beinfon ist ein… Nuisancefon!»

Nulecule

According to Homer, the mother of all atomic particles.

In «Day of the Jackanapes», Moe is a contestant on the Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?-parodied show Me Wantee! and as his lifeline, calls Homer for help on which of «electron», «neutron», «proton» or «bonbon», is not a subatomic particle. Homer begins a diatribe, «Well, it all starts when a nulecule comes out of its nest…» then Lisa grabs the phone and tells Moe that the correct answer is «bonbon». Moe follows Lisa’s advice and wins $500,000. Moe then passes on the million dollar question and the Millionaire babes burn the other half of the million dollars in a wheelbarrow.

The true essence of a nulecule and how it gets pregnant (and who or what gets it pregnant) and gives birth to atomic particles has not yet been explained.

Numbskullery

Burns’ insult to an assassin who can’t do the job of killing Grampa Simpson.

Assassin: [after failing to kill Grampa] D’oh! Not again!
Burns: I can’t take much more of your blundering numbskullery.

From the episode «Raging Abe Simpson and His Grumbling Grandson in «The Curse of the Flying Hellfish»».

Nutty Fudgekins

A euphemistic exclamation Marge uses when something bad happens.

Marge: Aaah, nutty fudgekins!

Ny Mets

A phrase uttered by Apu Nahasapeemapetilon when he was pretending to be an American. He attempted to refer to the New York Mets, but failed to understand that «NY» is an acronym so instead spoke it as if it was a word.

O

Oh, mercy!

What Skinner says when he finds something funny.

Skinner: Oh, ho ho, that place must be falling apart. Oh, mercy!

Okely Dokely

Ned Flanders’ version of the phrase, «Okie Dokie.»

Another variation is «Okely-dokely-do.»

The Old Fork in the Eye

Moe’s trick of stabbing people in the eye when they least suspect it.

One Way Passage to the Boneyard

The Sea Captain’s term for an upcoming doom.

The Sea Captain: Arr, Burns, your scurvy schemes will earn ya a one way passage to the boneyard.

Onetuplet

Pronounced /wɐntɐplɪt/ or «one-tuplit», a child not born as part of a multiple-birth pregnancy. Specifically, what Homer laments his children are compared to the free gift-receiving octuplets of Apu and Manjula.

On-purpose baby

A baby who was conceived on purpose. In «Adventures in Baby-Getting», Marge expressed a desire to have a baby, and Homer was surprised at the idea of having an «on-purpose» baby because all of their current children were conceived unintentionally.

Oodily

A variant of doodily used by Flanders when he’s nervous or screwing up his words.

Flanders [upon learning that Bart, Lisa and Maggie were never baptised]: Reverend…emergency! I… it’s the Simpson kids… eedily… I, uh, baptism… oodily… doodily doodily!

Osaka Flu

A variation on influenza, that originated in Osaka, Japan, hence the name.

In «Marge in Chains», a factory worker in Osaka came down with it, but showed up to work anyway. He then coughed a visible cloud of germs into a box, which was sent to Springfield, along with several other contaminated boxes, starting a town-wide epidemic that infected many citizens including Homer, Bart, Patty, Selma, Principal Skinner, Chief Wiggum, and Todd Flanders.

Its main symptoms are fever and coughing, but it can also cause lethargy, loss of consciousness (such as with Skinner) and delirium (such as with Todd).

Several citizens tried to protect themselves from the Osaka flu, such as Mayor Quimby who secretly left town to go to the beach, and Mr. Burns who tried to seal himself in a dome, only for Homer to already be there.

A crowd of infected people demanded a cure from Dr. Hibbert, but he told them that the only cure was bed rest and anything else would be a placebo. They ransacked his van to search for «placebos» and released a swarm of killer bees, one of which a man ate. He thought it had cured him, but then it stung him.

Ovulicious

A portmanteau of «ovulation» and «delicious.» (See sacrilicious.)

When Apu’s wife Manjula gives birth to octuplets, Apu confesses to secretly giving his wife fertility drugs. Several of the Simpsons admit that they had done the same, and Homer says «Mine tasted like strawberry.» He pops one of the pills into his mouth, moaning «Mmm… ovulicious!».

P

Paraplegiarino

Flanders’ euphemism for a paraplegic. From The Simpsons Movie.

Flanders: Uh, Homer? I don’t mean to be a nervous pervis, but if he falls, couldn’t that make your son a paraplegiarino?

Pasghetti

Homer’s mispronunciation and misspelling of «spaghetti». (Guess Who’s Coming to Criticize Dinner?).

Picto-cube

Used by Mr. Burns when describing a television.

Mr. Burns: Jumping box, television, picto-cube, just crank it up!

Pointy kitty

Ralph Wiggum’s description of a rat, when he and Bart are looking for a lost key to the electric chair of Morningwood Penetentiary in the episode «This Little Wiggy».

Ralph: There’s the key! [A rat takes the key] Aagh! The pointy kitty took it!

Pollutinest

Most polluted. Used by the Rich Texan in conjunction with «rootinest tootinest».

Popsticle

Ralph Wiggum’s mispronunciation of the word «popsicle».

Posturologist

Scientists who study the field of posture. Mrs. Krabappel informs her students that their oddly curved chairs were designed by such scientists in «The Boy Who Knew Too Much.» Possibly just a marketing term used to sell the uncomfortable chairs.

Edna Krabappel: Well, children, our new ultra-hard Posturefect chairs have arrived. They’ve been designed by eminent posturologists to eliminate slouching by the year 3000.

Pox Box

A term for a box in which somebody afflicted with chicken pox sat and other people would come and try to contract it.

In «Milhouse of Sand and Fog», Maggie caught the chicken pox and the Simpsons threw a «pox party» so that the neighbourhood kids would catch chicken pox before they were grown.

Homer put Maggie in a box and said, «Introducing the Pox Box!«.

Presbylutheran

Formally The Western Branch of American Reform Presbylutheranism, it is the Protestant church attended by the Simpson family. Presbylutheranism was formed as a result of a schism with the Presbyterian and Lutheran churches over the right for worshippers to attend church with wet hair (a tenet the Presbylutheran church has since abandoned). A group of Presbylutheran ministers were also responsible for the approval of the stop-motion animated series Gravey and Jobriath (a parody of Davey and Goliath, possibly referring to the singer Jobriath); we see one episode in which Gravey builds a pipe bomb to blow up a Planned Parenthood. See Western Branch of American Reform Presbylutheranism.

Pretzeled Bread

Mr. Burns’ word for pretzels.

Pricetaggery

«To spoil the fun of buying something by noticing the exorbitant price»; when Mr. Burns decides to make amends for his ingratitude after receiving the gift of life from Bart’s blood, he takes Smithers shopping and then berates him for his pricetaggery.

Prudissitude

One of the cardinal virtues in Presbylutheran ethics, prudissitude is the disposition to be shocked or embarrassed by matters relating to sex or nudity. Expressions of prudissitude are commonly made out of concern «for the children». In the episode, «In Marge We Trust», Marge raises her concerns about Rvd. Lovejoy’s ministry, telling him that «Sermons about Constancy and Prudissitude are all very well and good, but the church could be doing so much more to reach people.»

Pull a Homer

«To succeed despite idiocy», or rather, to have great amounts of dumb luck. After Homer does so in the episode «Homer Defined», this phrase becomes a temporary fad in the Simpsonverse.

Q

Quantum Tunnel

A tunnel (that will be invented in the future) which does not physically exist, but traffic may pass through, by some quirk of physics. Future Homer drives his hovercar through the Quantum Tunnel on his way to Moe’s Bar. It may be that the Quantum Tunnel replaced the Warren G. Harding Memorial Throughhole.

The name is a reference to the real phenomenon of quantum tunneling.

Quetzalzacatenango

During the episode «El Viaje Misterioso de Nuestro Jomer (The Mysterious Voyage of Homer)», Homer samples many different chilis proudly served by Springfield residents at the annual chili cook-off. Chief Wiggum prepares an especially spicy concoction for Homer containing, «The merciless insanity peppers of Quetzlzacatenango… grown deep in the jungle primeval by the inmates of a Guatemalan insane asylum.» «Quetzal» is a Central American bird and the currency of Guatemala. «Tenango» means «land of» in K’iche. Acatenango is a volcano in Guatemala. «Quetzaltenango», also known as «Xela», is the second largest city in Guatemala. «Quetzalcoatl» was an Aztec deity.

R

Rageohol(ic)

A fictitious substance that creates rage. From the episode «I Am Furious (Yellow)», in which Homer admits: «I’m a rageoholic! I just can’t live without rageohol

Like workaholic, the word is based on «alcoholic», using «-oholic» as a suffix for «addicted to.»

Rastafy

To make more Rastafarian. Used by an animation executive designing Poochie, the unpopular character added to Itchy and Scratchy, as a byword for coolness. «Rastafy» was previously used by hip-hop artist The D.O.C. in his song ‘It’s Funky Enough’.

Raytheist

Disbelief in the existence of Ray. Used by Ned Flanders during an episode where Ray Romano guest stars (as Ray Magini) and everyone believes that Ray is a figment of Homer’s imagination.

Rear Admiral

Fully, The Dreaded Rear Admiral: a fictitious school bully prank mentioned by Milhouse.

Rebigulator

In the «Genesis Tub» part of the episode «Treehouse of Horror VII», Lisa asks if she will ever be able to become normal size after Professor Frink uses the Debigulator on her. In response Frink says, «Why, that would require some sort of rebigulator!».

Re-Dorkulated

In «The Blunder Years», a hypnotist turns Professor Frink into a suave ladies man, which suggests strongly that Frink’s character is modeled on Jerry Lewis’s Nutty Professor/Buddy Love very closely. When the spell wears off Frink says, «Oh dear, I’ve redorkulated.» Literally, the word means, «to become dorky again.»

Re-Neducation

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When Ned Flanders gains control of the world in «Treehouse of Horror V», this phrase is used to refer to the process of «fixing» those who have escaped Ned’s control. The process involves mechanically forcing clients to smile and performing frontal lobotomies.

Retirony

In the episode «Homer vs. Dignity», Chief Wiggum explains to a financial planner that retirony means he’ll get shot three days before retirement. Seemingly a portmanteau of ‘retire’ and ‘irony’.

Based on a common cliché in crime and action films, examples of retirony are one of the show’s longest-lasting running gags, as illustrated by these instances:

  • «Saturdays of Thunder» — Homer watches a McBain movie, where McBain’s doomed partner (an analogue to Danny Glover in Lethal Weapon) is killed right before retirement.
  • «Homer and Apu» — When Homer smashes the hidden camera hat used to spy on Apu, Kent Brockman tells him that the hat had one day left until retirement.
  • «The Two Mrs. Nahasapeemapetilons» — a man writes on a billboard «Today: Bachelor Auction. Tomorrow: I Retire, Ya Bastards!». After finishing up with the exclamation point, the man topples off the ladder and falls to the ground.
  • «Natural Born Kissers» — When a police dog sniffs a pair of Homer’s underwear, it runs away, prompting Wiggum to say that the dog had one day left until retirement.
  • «Homer to the Max» — A tree falls onto a police car, destroying it. Wiggum notes that the car had one day left until retirement.
  • «Marge Simpson in: «Screaming Yellow Honkers»» — Marge crashes into a prison, freeing some inmates, and Wiggum tells her «Those prisoners were one day away from being completely rehabilitated.»

Reverse Vampire

Vampires which come out during the day only and sleep at night. First mockingly suggested by Lisa in the episode «Grampa vs. Sexual Inadequacy» as to the reason why parents were going to bed early. Later added to Bart’s Grand Conspiracy Theory diagram along with the Saucer People and the Rand Corporation. («We’re through the looking glass, people,» comments Milhouse, quoting a line from the film JFK).

In the Aqua Teen Hunger Force episode «Bus of the Undead,» Master Shake refers to a supposedly vampiritic bus as a reverse vampire.

Reversifying Glass

According to Cletus’s wife (and sister), Brandine, «mirror» is just «a big city word for Reversifying Glass» (From the episode «The Seven-Beer Snitch»).

Rhinoceros pox

A condition resulting in horns growing all over the body. It was seen as an effect of the «anti-booze» serum in «The Last Barfighter». The name is likely a parody of the actual disease «chickenpox».

Riding the Midnight Train to Slab City

Moe Szyslak’s euphemism for death. (Lisa the Tree Hugger).

Rock and/or Roll

Reverend Lovejoy’s bizarre term for rock ‘n’ roll.

Reverend Lovejoy: Wait a minute… This sounds like rock and/or roll.

S

Sacrilicious

Homer’s description of his act after eating a waffle that Bart threw on the ceiling, which he was praying to as if it were God. In the episode’s DVD commentary, the writers stated that it was related to a disgusting candy on the ceiling of the writing room. The word is a portmanteau of the words sacrilegious and delicious. From the episode «Homer Loves Flanders».

Sally Housecoat

C. Montgomery Burns’ condescending dismissal of ordinary, middle or working-class women. Used along with «Johnny Lunchpail». From the episode «Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish».

Sandal-wearing goldfish tender

The Japanese, as described by Mr. Burns’ grandfather in «Last Exit to Springfield».

Saxamaphone

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Homer’s word for Lisa’s favorite instrument.

He also seems to be unable to pronounce the names of several other instruments. In «Lisa’s Sax» where Homer tells Lisa the story of how she got her sax, he suggests a few other potential instruments: oboe-ma-bo, vio-mo-lin and tuba-ma-ba.

This is an example of Mytacism, or «Too frequent use of the letter m, or of the sound represented by it.»

During Lisa’s absence in «Home Sweet Homediddly-Dum-Doodily», Homer attempted to «play» Lisa’s baritone saxophone in her memory by singing «Saxamaphone» to the tune of the initial motif from Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony into the instrument.

Scalpal

Relating to the scalp. See also chestal.

Skinner: What kind of parents would allow such a lapse in scalpal hygiene?

Science Pole

A long pole, usually made of metal, used for scientific purposes.

Scientist: Frink, are you mad?! Put down that science pole!

Scientician

An incorrect name for a scientist. From the «educational film» Meat and You — Partners in Freedom featured in «Lisa the Vegetarian»:

Jimmy: Uhh, Mr. McClure? I have a crazy friend who says it’s wrong to eat meat. Is he crazy?
Troy: No, just ignorant. You see, your crazy friend never heard of «The Food Chain.» Just ask this scientician.
«Scientician»: [Looks up from microscope] Uh —
Troy: He’ll tell you that, in nature, one creature invariably eats another creature to survive.

Probably a combination of the words ‘science’ or ‘scientist’ and the -cian ending of such words as ‘dietician’, ‘physician’, or ‘statistician’.

Scotchtoberfest

Scotchtoberfest is a fake Scottish festival which was featured in the episode «Bart’s Girlfriend». It was invented by Principal Seymour Skinner to catch Bart red-handed in the act of perpetrating a prank, as is Bart’s perennial wont. Groundskeeper Willie, the Scottish school janitor, plays the bagpipes while wearing a kilt. Bart lifts his kilt with helium balloons, and since Willie wears his kilt without underpants, at least one woman faints at the sight.

Skinner: There’s no such thing as Scotchtoberfest.
Willie: [sounding genuinely surprised] There’s not?! Ya used me, Skinner. Ya used me!

It is a play on the Oktoberfest held in Munich, Germany every September.

Screamapillar

A caterpillar that screams nearly all the time, even as it sleeps. Without constant reassurement, it will die, and it is sexually attracted to fire. It is endangered and illegal to kill one, despite the fact that it is a menace and, as Homer puts it, «God… want[s] it to die.»

Scrod Basket

The fictional town of Little Pwagmattasquarmsettport is called «America’s scrod basket» in «Summer of 4 Ft. 2». Conversely, Springfield is «America’s Crud Bucket», according to Newsweek. «Scrod» means «A young cod or haddock, especially one split and boned for cooking as the catch of the day,» so a scrod basket could be a type of fish container, or, in this context, a place producing lots of fish (Little Pwagmattasquarmsettport appears to be on the coast, so this is feasible). This could also refer to fish and chips, a meal that is often served in coastal towns in a plastic basket with scrod as the fish — hence «scrod basket.»

Lisa: So where are we going, anyway?
Marge: Little Pwagmattasquarmsettport. Apparently it’s America’s Scrod Basket.
Bart: I thought Springfield was America’s Scrod Basket.
Marge: No, Springfield is America’s crud bucket. At least, according to Newsweek.

Senseless Dunderpate

A useless stupid person, according to Mr. Burns.

Mr. Burns: My name is the return address, you senseless dunderpate! Smithers, who is this nincompoop?

Sentimonies

A synonym for «sentiments». Homer Simpson uses it in «Much Apu About Nothing» when agreeing with Moe about immigrants’ poor English, despite proving himself to have a poor grasp of the language himself.

She. U.I.

A D.U.I. committed by a woman, as used by Chief Wiggum in «Co-Dependent’s Day.»

Chief Wiggum: This D.U.I. is a She. U.I.!

Shinning

A play on the mispronunciation of the word «Shining» as a reference to the sixth sense, as in the Stephen King novel and Stanley Kubrick film The Shining. It appears in episode «Treehouse of Horror V.» But as Willie stated, it was so they wouldn’t get sued.

Groundskeeper Willie: Boy, you read my thoughts! You’ve got the Shinning.
Bart: You mean Shining.
Groundskeeper Willie: Shhh! Do ya’ want to get sued?

Shirkaday

In «22 Short Films About Springfield,» while he and Mr. Burns are riding a tandem bicycle, Smithers is stung by a bee and goes into anaphylactic shock. To save his lackey, Mr. Burns employs an insult-based motivational technique to inspire Smithers to pedal them both to the hospital. As they collapse upon arrival at the hospital, with his last gasp Mr. Burns calls Smithers a «wretched shirkaday.» From «to shirk,» meaning to avoid duty or responsibility, plus «workaday.»

Shirt-wiener

From «Thank God It’s Doomsday», while hunting for a winning «photo» to be hung in the school lobby for the rest of the year, the Springfield Elementary Photo Club sees Principal Skinner’s shirt sticking out of his pants zipper. Nelson declares «Look! The Principal has a shirt-wiener!» Much photo snapping ensues to the chagrin of Skinner.

Shiva H. Vishnu

An expression of surprise used by Apu, a Hindu. Obvious reference to «Jesus H. Christ».

Simpson butt

According to Homer in «Sleeping with the Enemy», this is a body type that every Simpson has, characterised by a round butt.

Skanks for nothing

A ruder version of «thanks for nothing».

Bart: Skanks for nothin’, Lamarella.

Skittlebrau

Beer with pieces of candy floating in it.

Homer: «I’m feelin’ low, Apu. You got any of that beer that has candy floating in it, you know, Skittlebrau
Apu: «Such a product does not exist, sir! You must have dreamed it.»
Homer: «Oh. Well then, just gimme a six-pack and a couple of bags of Skittles.»

Smarch

The 13th month of the year, which exists only on Springfield Elementary’s misprinted calendars. Many Simpsons merchandise calendars also feature Smarch as a «bonus» month.

Homer: Lousy Smarch weather!

Smashy Smashy

Used to inform others of your intentions to wantonly destroy an object or objects, or to encourage others to do so.

After smashing a window with cameras behind it:

Bart: Smashy, smashy. (smashes a random window)
Marge: Hmm, I don’t approve of that.

From the episode «Itchy & Scratchy Land».

Smeckler’s Powder

A fictional treatment option suggested in jest by Bart in «Lady Bouvier’s Lover», to mock Grampa’s and Grandma Jackie’s competing suggestions for a medicinal response to Maggie’s frightened reaction to flashbulbs, candles, and a darkened room during her birthday party. Said suggestions included: «Lister’s Carbolic Unguent» on a wad of cotton, placed in Maggie’s ear (from Grampa); a «balsam specific» (from Grandma Jackie); and a «curative galvanic belt» (facetiously from Grampa). This is a reference to unregulated (pre-FDA) early 20th Century pharmacological quackery.

Smell Ya Later

Phrase coined by Nelson Muntz. Another way to say ‘see ya later’ or ‘goodbye.’

«I can’t believe ‘smell ya later’ replaced ‘goodbye’.» — Bart Simpson, «Bart to the Future»

Smendler

A word made up by Mr. Burns in «Last Exit to Springfield» for a song parodying Dr. Seuss’s The Grinch:

«Look at them all, through the darkness I’m bringing
They’re not sad at all. They’re actually singing!
They sing without juicers
They sing without blenders
They sing without flunjers, capdabblers and smendlers!«

The word is also used by Professor Frink’s father after being given an unspecified type of hors d’œuvre possibly containing fish.

Frink’s father: Mmmm, that’s a good smendler.
Professor Frink: Oh, I’ve waited so long to hear you say that again! …What does it mean? Is it dirty?

Smitily

An adverb which describes of triumph over another knight in battle, to the point where a doctor needs to be called. Origin is allegedly pure Flanders. Said by Ned to Smithers in «Lisa’s Wedding».

Zounds, I did thee mightily smitily!

Smokesperson

A spokesperson for a cigarette company, such as Laramie Cigarettes’ Menthol Moose, or Joe Camel.

The American Cancer Society has used this term in an anti-smoking ad campaign parodying «American Idol» entitled «America’s Next Smokesperson».

Also used to describe Nick Naylor in the 1994 book Thank You For Smoking: A Novel.»

Snacktacular

In the episode «Lisa Gets an «A»», Snacktacular is offered by Edna Krabappel as an acceptable atomic weight for the element Bolognium as taken from a promotional periodic table provided by Oscar Mayer.

Snitchy

A person who snitches on others.

Milhouse: Bart did it! That Bart right there!
Bart: Milhouse!
Reverend Lovejoy: Milhouse, you did the right thing. Bart, come with me for punishment. You too, snitchy.

Snuggle

Used by Homer as a euphemism for sex.

In «Regarding Margie», Homer invited an amnesiac Marge to have sex by saying, «Let’s snuggle.» She asked what snuggling was and he whispered in her ear. Upon hearing the definition, Marge was disgusted and refused.

Sophistimacated Doowhackey

Homer’s term for a complex machine, used to describe Frink’s matter transporter. i.e «Bart, this is a highly sophistimacated doowhackey,» proving that he can’t even get the word «doohickey» right.

Speedhole or Speed Hole

Homie the Clown 86.JPG

While dressed as Krusty the Clown, Homer is shot at by mob assassins (under the direction of Fat Tony) as he visits a car dealership. Asking about the new bullet holes peppering the vehicle he is interested in (after they shoot and miss), Homer is told by the quick-thinking salesman that they are speedholes to make the car go faster. (Homer responds knowingly, «Oh, yeah. Speed holes!») Later in the episode, Homer ‘installs’ speedholes in his existing car with a pick-axe, to the bafflement of Ned Flanders. The word has been picked up by many fans to jokingly describe the condition of run-down cars (specifically, those with holes in the body).

In reality, Buick cars are famous for having holes in the front fender on both sides. Called VentiPorts, these were first advertised as providing ventilation to the engine bay, though in later years they became purely aesthetic.

Spiritual De-pantsing

Apu’s description for his karmic fall from grace, suffered in Episode 1F10, «Homer & Apu». In response to Marge asking him if he would accompany her to the Kwik-E-Mart for milk, Apu says, «I cannot go there. That is the scene of my spiritual de-pantsing».

Spokesrebel

A corporate mascot designed to appeal to the anti-authoritarian streak in children and teens.

Squozen

From Lemon of Troy as Milhouse’s declaration of having squeezed all of the lemons at his lemonade stand.

Milhouse: Gasp! We’ve squozen our whole supply. To the lemon tree!

Stabby

From Grift of the Magi and The Italian Bob; the state or condition of being likely to stab.

Fat Tony: I don’t get mad. I get stabby.
Marge: [on Sideshow Bob] He’s getting that stabby look again.

Steamed Ham

Steamed hams.jpg

An alternate name for hamburgers. In one of the segments from «22 Short Films About Springfield», a mishap in the kitchen forces Principal Skinner to tell Superintendent Chalmers they were having steamed clams. After Skinner sneaks back from Krustyburger with lunch, Chalmers confronts him on the change in menu. Skinner tries to pass off that he in fact said «steamed hams«, a regional term from upstate New York synonymous with hamburgers. When Chalmers retorts that he is from Utica, and has never heard the term, and that the nickname «steamed hams» made no sense because the burgers were «obviously grilled», Skinner’s final stab at alleviating his discomfort is «oh, no, it’s an Albany expression». To this, an inexplicably satisfied Chalmers replies, «I see,» and ceases the questioning immediately. This is probably Skinner’s best performance at dealing with Chalmers; at the end of the night, Chalmers remarks «Well, Seymour, you are an odd fellow, but I must say… you steam a good ham.»

In the French Canadian dub, Skinner tries to pass a hamburger off as «un ham vapeur,» claiming that it’s a regional dialect from the Lac-Saint-Jean region of Quebec. Chalmers tells Skinner he’s from Jonquière and has never heard the term «ham vapeur,» but Skinner tells him that it’s an Alma expression.

Stinkables

A generic term that appeared in the episode «Trash of the Titans», referring to any article that emits a foul or unpleasant odor. When telling the voters what the garbagemen will do, one of the things is «Air out your ‘stinkables'».

Successmanship

The practice of success through the use of «Megatronics»; Homer enrolls in Stark Richdale’s extension class Successmanship 101, which gives him the «Megatronics: The 48 Tips to Corporate Success» tools needed to take over the SNPP. From «C.E. D’oh».

[Homer leaves the class and is reading the Successmanship book while driving]
Homer: «Step One, ‘Live every day as if it were your last.'»
[cut to next scene: Homer sobbing inconsolably on the curb]
Homer: «Step Two…»

«Megatronics: The 48 Tips to Corporate Success» is a direct reference to the book «The 48 Laws of Power.» Megatronics also appears to be an oblique reference to the engineering discipline mechatronics.

Suck Shack

Bart Simpson’s name for Springfield Elementary. In «How the Test Was Won», Bart laments, «I can’t believe we have to start another year at school. I never learned anything at that suck shack.» Later in the episode, when Superintendent Chalmers is preparing students for a high stakes standardized test he explains, «Your scores on this test will determine how much money this suck-shack gets for years to come.»

Sunblocker

A large screen that blocks out the sun over a large area. The Springfield sunblocker was dreamt up and built by Mr. Burns in Who Shot Mr. Burns? (Part One). It was destroyed by angry residents in Who Shot Mr. Burns? (Part Two).

Superliminal

Describes something so apparent or obvious that it’s irresistible. The most direct of the three methods («Subliminal, liminal, and superliminal») used by Navy recruiter Lt. L. T. Smash to convince new recruits. The term was coined in the 12th season episode «New Kids on the Blecch».

Lisa: But you have recruiting ads on TV. Why do you need subliminal messages?
Smash: It’s a three-pronged attack: subliminal, liminal, and superliminal.
Lisa: Superliminal?
Smash: I’ll show you. [opens the window, and shouts at Lenny and Carl, who are standing on the corner] Hey, you! Join the Navy!
Carl: Uh, yeah, all right.
Lenny: I’m in.

Suspicious Aloysius

A suspicious person (Flanders, Lisa’s Sax).

Flanders: Well, sir, I hate to be suspicious Aloysius on you, but DID YOU STEAL MY AIR CONDITIONER!?

Swedish Lunchbox

What Grampa Simpson used to call a suitcase in his youth.

Grampa: Back in my day, a suitcase was called a Swedish lunchbox!

From the episode «Jaws Wired Shut».

Swishifying

The effect of the modern world, what with its TV and diet sodas, on the youth of today, as stated by keen-eyed observer of humanity Moe Szyslak in the episode «Homer’s Phobia». Suggested remedies involve killing men, or, better yet, a deer, which Barney declares is «like killing a beautiful man».

T

Tasty-Fake

A food product designed to look like something other than what it actually is.

In «All’s Fair in Oven War», Marge enters the Ovenfresh Bakeoff with «Dessert Dogs» — hot dogs which are actually made of cookie dough «dogs», meringue «buns», cherry sauce «ketchup», and caramel «mustard». When she presents the idea to an experienced contestant, he refers to the idea as a «tasty-fake». It might be a reference to the Delaware Valley’s popular Tastykake snack cakes. [1]

Taxitude

Lucius Sweet’s word referring to taxation, heard in «The Trouble with Trillions».

Lucius Sweet: This is an egregious miscarriage with the taxitude!

Telepanhandling

A portmanteau of «telemarketing» and «panhandling», specifically used by Homer in describing his auto-dialer scam.

Texas Left

The direction that is referred to as «down» in the rest of the country.

Texas Penny

A hundred dollar bill. When Moe bets the Rich Texan a hundred dollars on whether Homer can defeat him in an arm-wrestling contest, the Rich Texan throws his hundred dollar bill on the bar and claims it is a Texas penny.

Third World Loser Country

A term used by Moe Szyslak in «The Boy Who Knew Too Much» to describe a third-world nation.

Moe: Freddy Quimby was with me the entire… night in question. We were collecting canned goods for the starving people in… er, you know, one of them loser countries.

Throughhole

A type of road of relatively unknown description; it could be a combination of a thruway and a tunnel.

In the episode «Thank God It’s Doomsday» there are two references to a road leading out of Springfield called the Warren Harding Memorial Throughhole.

Tomacco

A fictional hybrid fruit that is half tomato and half tobacco, from the episode «E-I-E-I-D’oh».

Tomorry

Homer’s former mangling of the word «tomorrow», as revealed in «HOMЯ».

Ton-In-Law

A word made up by Patty and Selma to describe Lucas Bortner in the episode «Luca$». It’s a play on the words «son-in-law» and «ton», refering to his weight.

Topwise

A direction in which one might seek to rotate the middle side of a Rubik’s Cube.

Tracted

The opposite of «distracted», according to Homer. In «Diatribe of a Mad Housewife», when Marge wanted Homer to read her book, «The Harpooned Heart», Homer stated he couldn’t get distracted. The prefix «dis» represents the opposite of the word to which it is attached, such as: disgrace — grace.

Since «distracted» means to not concentrate, then «tracted» apparently means to concentrate.

Homer: No, gotta read Marge’s book. Can’t get distracted. «Distracted»… that’s a funny word. Does anyone ever get «tracted»? I’m gonna call the suicide hotline and ask them.

In the Czech dub, Homer said «rozptylovat» (which means «distracted») and improvised it with a word «ptylovat» (which doesn’t really mean anything but it is «rozptylovat» without the prefix «roz», because some words in Czech that have this prefix are even said without it).

In the Polish dub he said «musze sie skupić» (I gotta concentrate) and was curious if the word «skupić» is based on the word «kupić» (which means «buy»), which does not make any sense when translated.

In the Italian dub the word for «distracted» is «distrarre»; just like in English, Homer just removed the prefix «dis» and wondered if the word «trarre» would be the opposite.

In the French dub the word for «distracted» is «Distraire» which also sounds like «dix traire» which means «10 milkings» or rather «10 times milking». Because of that, Homer responded «et pourquoi c’est dix, pourquoi pas neuf traire» which means «and why is it ten, why not nine milkings».

Tramampoline

Homer’s mispronunciation of «trampoline» in «Bart’s Inner Child».

Traumedy

Perhaps spelled ‘Traumady’, Traumedy is a portmanteau of ‘trauma’ and ‘comedy’ identified by Dr. Hibbert in the episode «Faith Off» as a syndrome of horrifying yet amusing injuries. Also a pun on the term «dramedy».

Tromboner

A term for one who plays the trombone. Mr. Largo, the music teacher, asks Lisa if she finds something funny about the word «tromboner» after she chuckles at a prank Nelson Muntz plays on Groundskeeper Willie in «Lisa’s Date with Density.»

U

Unblowuppable

The state or condition of being unable to be blown up. Describing his toy rocket, Homer says: «The word unblowuppable is thrown around a lot these days, but I think I can say for certain that… (Boom)». This may refer to the people who confidently predicted that the Titanic was «unsinkable.»

Unfaceuptoable

Used by Mayor Quimby to describe the dire straits the town found itself in after Homer became Sanitation Commissioner, requiring the implementation of the town’s all-purpose contingency plan. He also used it when Sideshow Bob threatened to destroy Springfield with a nuclear weapon unless it stopped all television broadcasts.

Mayor Quimby: We must face up to the unfaceuptoable!

Most likely a reference to «enduring the unendurable» in Emperor Hirohito’s Gyokuon-hōsō speech.

Unky

‘Unky Herb’, the term Herb Powell wants Bart and Lisa to call him, since «Uncle» is too formal and «Unky» is cuter.

Unpossible

Spoken by Ralph Wiggum in the episode «Lisa on Ice,» as a synonym of «impossible.»

Ralph: [Upon Principal Skinner informing him that he’s failing English class] Me fail English? That’s unpossible!

«Unpossible» appears in Shakespeare’s play Richard II, Act 2, Scene 2.

The word first came into contemporary use in Walt Kelly’s comic strip Pogo.

Up and At Them

This is how Ranier Wolfcastle kept pronouncing Radioactive Man’s catchphrase, which was intended to be «Up and Atom!» In real life, Army movies and other sources have used the phrase «Up and at ’em», and the 1960s cartoon, Atom Ant, introduced the «Up and atom!» version. The Austrian Ranier Wolfcastle is apparently not fluent enough in English to get the intended joke, and he keeps insistently pronouncing it very flatly.

Crew Member: Up and atom.
Rainer Wolfcastle: Up and at them.
Crew Member: Up and atom.
Rainer Wolfcastle: Up and at them.
Crew Member: Up and ATOM!
Rainer Wolfcastle: Up and AT THEM!
Crew Member: …Better.

Uppity Box

Cletus’ term for an elevator (from the episode «Homer Simpson, This Is Your Wife»).

V

Velocitator

Mr. Burns’s archaic name for a car’s accelerator pedal. Burns attempts to drive a car for the first time while proclaiming he is sure the owners manual will instruct him as to which lever is the velocitator and which one is the deceleratrix.

Volleybrick

Volleyball played with a brick instead of a ball.

W

Walking Bird

Another name for a turkey. In «Lisa vs. Malibu Stacy,» Grandpa Simpson drones on with a rambling story about Thanksgiving:

«I just used [my washtub] that morning to wash my turkey, which in those days was known as a walking bird. We’d always have walking bird on Thanksgiving with all the trimmings: cranberries, injun eyes, yams stuffed with gunpowder. Then we’d all watch football, which in those days was called ‘baseball’…»

Wellity

A goofy way of saying the word «well».

It was used by Homer to gloat in «Viva Ned Flanders» when he was glad that Ned was the one asking him for advice instead of the other way round. He said, «Wellity, wellity, wellity«, which annoyed Ned.

Well-Wisher

Someone who does not wish you any specific harm.

When Homer asks the guys in the bar if they are his soulmate, Moe responds with, «I’m a well-wisher, in that I don’t wish you any specific harm.»

Whoa Mama

Main article: Whoa, mama!

This is a phrase Bart uses to express how he’s impressed by an item or an ability someone has.

Widget

Mr. Burns’s word for a generic object that is mysterious to him.

Note: this actually is not a made-up word [2].

Wiggle Puppy

An imaginary dog made up by Ralph Wiggum, who can wiggle his tail to fly.

Marge: Is that normal?
Chief Wiggum: Oh, he’s just playing Wiggle Puppy. I tell ya, that dog has had some amazing adventures…

Woozle Wuzzle

Spoken by Bart on Krusty’s TV show after his rendition of his catchphrase, «I didn’t do it!» for the umpteenth time yielded only a short, quiet laugh, a cough and some crickets. From the episode «Bart Gets Famous».

Initially said earlier in the episode by Homer, hoping to exploit his other children for financial gain, as a suggestion for something funny for Lisa to say:

Homer: Come on, Lisa, say something funny.
[holds a tape recorder with a microphone]
Lisa: Like what?
Homer: Oh, something stupid like Bart would say. «Bucka Bucka» or «Woozle Wuzzle«: something like that.

«Woozled» is also a colloquial term for «drunk; intoxicated with alcohol». «Wuzzled» is a possible variation.

Word hole

Used by Chief Wiggum in «Sideshow Bob’s Last Gleaming» to mean «mouth».

Bob: There. That’s the last condom wrapper.
[a jet flies by, blowing all the neatly piled trash away]
Bob: Oh, I renew my objection to this pointless endeavor! Informally now and by affidavit later. Time permitting.
Wiggum: Shut your word hole! We’ve got to get this place clean for the air show.

Y

Yellow Fatty-Bean

What Grampa calls bananas. At the end of one of his trademark long, pointless speeches, he says, «…and that’s why today, bananas are called yellow fatty-beans. Any questions?». From the episode «Natural Born Kissers».

Yoink!

After appearing many times on The Simpsons, «Yoink» has gained widespread usage as a verbal exclamation made when removing or stealing an object from its owner or rightful place. It can also be used as a verb: «I yoinked it.» First used by Homer in «Duffless», when he snatches the wad of money he saved, by not drinking for a month, from Marge. Coined by Simpsons writer George Meyer.[1]

It is possible that «Yoink» is a verbal imitation of the sound effect (performed by a violin) which has been used to illustrate that something is being unceremoniously removed or stolen. The most recognizable example of this would be during the intro to The Jetsons where George holds out a dollar bill and «Yoink», Jane grabs the whole wallet instead. «Yoink» is a verbal declaration that a transaction has taken place, frequently to the consternation of the party relinquishing the article.

See also: The Yoink List.

You-know-what-icide

Spoken by Marge in You Kent Always Say What You Want, and she was referring to suicide because she was afraid Kent Brockman would commit the deed after losing his job after the mishap with Homer.

Z

Zazz

Used to describe that certain je ne sais quoi that Bart has as an anchor of Kidz News, and that Lisa, a much better investigative reporter, does not. From the episode «Girly Edition»:

Lisa: What is «zazz«?
Lindsey Naegle: Zing! Zork! Kapowza! Call it what you want, in any language it spells mazuma in the bank!
Lisa: ‘Zork’? What is ‘zork’?
Lindsey Naegle: I didn’t say ‘zork’. The point is, the camera loves him!

Possibly a play on the word «pizzazz», meaning flair, zest or energy.

Zuh

Exclamation used when one cannot comprehend a complex situation or statement. Used by Bart Simpson, in the episode «The PTA Disbands», when Milhouse says to Bart: «Bart, you’ll never get Krabappel and Skinner together again. They’re like two positively charged ions.» Bart responds, «Zuh

The word was also used by Homer in the episode «The Frying Game» when he could not think of anymore similar-sounding exclamations.

Homer (upon seeing the corpse of Mrs. Bellamy): Wha? Muh? Buh?…Zuh?

Citations

  1. The Simpsons Archives — George Meyer Interview
  • The Simpsons: A Complete Guide To Our Favorite Family. New York: HarperCollins Publishers; 1997.
  • Culturally significant phrases from The Simpsons. (2006, December 12). Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved 17:33, December 12, 2006, from Wikipedia

External links

  • Homerisms: Figures of Speech in The Simpsons
  • The Simpsons Archive: Episode Capsules
  • The Simpsons Quotes: Collection of Simpsons Quotes
  • Cromulent Shakespeare Company, a theater company in Minnesota employing «Simpsons» neologisms
Консультации по учебе, на самой крупной бирже
студенческих работ !

Ответы на Тесты по Английскому языку для всех курсов ПОЛИТЕХ (СПБСТУ) ИММИТ ИЭИТС ИСИ ИКНТ ИФНИТ ИПМЭИТ …..

Наилучшим решением для поиска задачи является ввод 2-3 первых слов условия задачи !!!


Make up questions to the sentence below. Start with the given words.
The professor is interviewing a candidate at the moment.
1$ Пе professor interv ...

Make up questions to the sentence below. Start with the given words.
The professor is interviewing a candidate at the moment.
1$ Пе professor interviewing a candidate at the moment 2
The professor _ is interviewing a candidate at the moment, is not he
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Who (= acandidate) 15 the professor interviewing at the moment 2
What 15 the professor doing at the moment ?


Make up questions to the sentence below. Start with the given words.
The boss calls TV presenter every day.
Does _ the boss call TV presenter every  ...

Make up questions to the sentence below. Start with the given words.
The boss calls TV presenter every day.
Does _ the boss call TV presenter every day 2
The boss _ calls TV presenter every day, does not he 2
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Make up questions using the given words. Use the appropriate grammar tense.
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Ответ: Who works under pressure every day?


Make up questions to the sentence below. Start with the given words.
Oprah Winfrey owns several houses.
Does Oprah Winfrey own several houses ?
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Make up questions to the sentence below. Start with the given words.
Oprah Winfrey owns several houses.
Does Oprah Winfrey own several houses ?
Oprah Winfrey owns several houses, does not she 2
Who _ owns several houses 2
How many houses does Oprah Winfrey own 2


Make up questions
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Make up questions using the given words. Use the appropriate grammar tense.
(используйте только один пробел между словами; в начале и в конце пробел не нужен)
he/ to give a talk/ in Moscow/ now?
Ответ: 1$ he giving a talk in Moscow now?


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Who
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is designing a new test now?
do you believe him?
does he give talks once a month?
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Who
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do you believe him?
does he give talks once a month?
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Make up questions using the given words. Use the appropriate grammar tense.
(используйте только один пробел между словами; в начале и в конце пробел не нужен)
Who/ to have а strong personality?
Ответ: Who has a strong personality?


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Make up questions using the given words. Use the appropriate grammar tense.
(используйте только один пробел между словами; в начале и в конце пробел He нужен)
the tests/ to be/ reliable?
Ответ: Are the tests reliable?


Make up questions using the given words. Use the appropriate grammar tense
(используйте только один пробел между словами; в начале и в конце пробел н ...

Make up questions using the given words. Use the appropriate grammar tense
(используйте только один пробел между словами; в начале и в конце пробел не нужен)
What/ you/ to do/ now?
Ответ: What are you doing now?


Make up questions to the sentence below. Start with the given words.
Oprah Winfrey publishes her own magazines.
Does Oprah Winfrey publish her own m ...

Make up questions to the sentence below. Start with the given words.
Oprah Winfrey publishes her own magazines.
Does Oprah Winfrey publish her own magazines ?
Oprah Winfrey publishes her own magazines, does not she 2
Who publishes her own magazines i?
What magazines does Oprah Winfrey publish 2



Make up questions using the given words. Use the appropriate grammar tense.
(используйте только один пробел между словами; в начале и в конце пробел  ...

Make up questions using the given words. Use the appropriate grammar tense.
(используйте только один пробел между словами; в начале и в конце пробел не нужен)
their team/ to work оп/ any new project/ now?
Ответ: 1$ their team working on any new project now?


Make up questions to the sentence below. Start with the given words.
People are reading more these days in the USA.
Are people reading more these da ...

Make up questions to the sentence below. Start with the given words.
People are reading more these days in the USA.
Are people reading more these days in the USA г
People are reading more these days in the USA, are they not 2
Who _ is reading more these days in the USA 2
Where are people reading more these days i?


Make up questions using the given words. Use the appropriate grammar tense.
(используйте только один пробел между словами; в начале и в конце пробел  ...

Make up questions using the given words. Use the appropriate grammar tense.
(используйте только один пробел между словами; в начале и в конце пробел He нужен)
How often/ you/ to work/ for two bosses?
Ответ: How often do you work for two bosses?


Make up questions using the given words. Use the appropriate grammar tense.
(используйте только один пробел между словами; в начале и в конце пробел  ...

Make up questions using the given words. Use the appropriate grammar tense.
(используйте только один пробел между словами; в начале и в конце пробел не нужен)
What time/ the office/ to work?
Ответ: What time does the office work?


Make up questions
Who
Where
How often
What
Why
regularly works under pressure?
are you from?
does he give talks in Paris?
tests do you usuall ...

Make up questions
Who
Where
How often
What
Why
regularly works under pressure?
are you from?
does he give talks in Paris?
tests do you usually use?
are you carrying out a new research at the moment?
$
%
+
o


Make up questions using the given words. Use the appropriate grammar tense.
(используйте только один пробел между словами; в начале и в конце пробел  ...

Make up questions using the given words. Use the appropriate grammar tense.
(используйте только один пробел между словами; в начале и в конце пробел не нужен)
you/ to таке friends/ easily?
Ответ: Do you make friends easily?


Make up questions using the given words. Use the appropriate grammar tense.
(используйте только один пробел между словами; в начале и в конце пробел  ...

Make up questions using the given words. Use the appropriate grammar tense.
(используйте только один пробел между словами; в начале и в конце пробел He нужен)
the psychologist/ to interview/ a candidate/ now?
Ответ: Is the psychologist interviewing a candidate now?


Go to etymology

r/etymology


r/etymology

Discussing the origins of words and phrases, in English or any other language.




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hlewagastizholtijaz


u/hlewagastizholtijaz avatar

Is there any any known word (in any language) whose etymology is «it’s just a made-up nonsense word» ?

Interjections don’t count.



Ответы на госы по лексикологии

ЭКЗАМЕНАЦИОННЫЙ БИЛЕТ № 1

1. Lexicology, its aims and significance

Lexicology is a branch of linguistics which deals with a systematic description and study of the vocabulary of the language as regards its origin, development, meaning and current use. The term is composed of 2 words of Greek origin: lexis + logos. A word about words, or the science of a word. It also concerns with morphemes, which make up words and the study of a word implies reference to variable and fixed groups because words are components of such groups. Semantic properties of such words define general rules of their joining together. The general study of the vocabulary irrespective of the specific features of a particular language is known as general lexicology. Therefore, English lexicology is called special lexicology because English lexicology represents the study into the peculiarities of the present-day English vocabulary.

Lexicology is inseparable from: phonetics, grammar, and linguostylistics b-cause phonetics also investigates vocabulary units but from the point of view of their sounds. Grammar- grammatical peculiarities and grammatical relations between words. Linguostylistics studies the nature, functioning and structure of stylistic devices and the styles of a language.

Language is a means of communication. Thus, the social essence is inherent in the language itself. The branch of linguistics which deals with relations between the language functions on the one hand and the facts of social life on the other hand is termed sociolinguistics.

Modern English lexicology investigates the problems of word structure and word formation; it also investigates the word structure of English, the classification of vocabulary units, replenishment3 of the vocabulary; the relations between different lexical layers4 of the English vocabulary and some other. Lexicology came into being to meet the demands of different branches of applied linguistic! Namely, lexicography — a science and art of compiling dictionaries. It is also important for foreign language teaching and literary criticism.

2. Referential approach to meaning

SEMASIOLOGY

There are different approaches to meaning and types of meaning

Meaning is the object of semasiological study -> semasiology is a branch of lexicology which is concerned with the study of the semantic structure of vocabulary units. The study of meaning is the basis of all linguistic investigations.

Russian linguists have also pointed to the complexity of the phenomenon of meaning (Потебня, Щерба, Смирницкий, Уфимцева и др.)

There are 3 main types of definition of meaning:

(a) Analytical or referential definition

(b) Functional or contextual approach

(c) Operational or information-oriented definition of meaning

REFERENTIAL APPROACH

Within the referential approach linguists attempt at establishing interdependence between words and objects of phenomena they denote. The idea is illustrated by the so-called basic triangle:

Concept

Sound – form_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Referent

[kæt] (concrete object)

The diagram illustrates the correlation between the sound form of a word, the concrete object it denotes and the underlying concept. The dotted line suggests that there is no immediate relation between sound form and referent + we can say that its connection is conventional (human cognition).

However the diagram fails to show what meaning really is. The concept, the referent, or the relationship between the main and the concept.

The merits: it links the notion of meaning to the process of namegiving to objects, process of phenomena. The drawbacks: it cannot be applied to sentences and additional meanings that arise in the conversation. It fails to account for polysemy and synonymy and it operates with subjective and intangible mental process as neither reference nor concept belong to linguistic data.

ЭКЗАМЕНАЦИОННЫЙ БИЛЕТ № 2

1. Functional approach to meaning

SEMASIOLOGY

There are different approaches to meaning and types of meaning

Meaning is the object of semasiological study -> semasiology is a branch of lexicology which is concerned with the study of the semantic structure of vocabulary units. The study of meaning is the basis of all linguistic investigations.

Russian linguists have also pointed to the complexity of the phenomenon of meaning (Потебня, Щерба, Смирницкий, Уфимцева и др.)

There are 3 main types of definition of meaning:

(a) Analytical or referential definition

(b) Functional or contextual approach

(c) Operational or information-oriented definition of meaning

FUNCTIONAL (CONTEXTUAL) APPROACH

The supporters of this approach define meaning as the use of word in a language. They believe that meaning should be studied through contexts. If the distribution (position of a linguistic unit to other linguictic units) of two words is different we can conclude that heir meanings are different too (Ex. He looked at me in surprise; He’s been looking for him for a half an hour.)

However, it is hardly possible to collect all contexts for reliable conclusion. In practice a scholar is guided by his experience and intuition. On the whole, this approach may be called complimentary to the referential definition and is applied mainly in structural linguistics.

2. Classification of morphemes

A morpheme is the smallest indivisible two-facet language unit which implies an association of a certain meaning with a certain sound form. Unlike words, morphemes cannot function independently (they occur in speech only as parts of words).

Classification of Morphemes

Within the English word stock maybe distinguished morphologically segment-able and non-segment-able words (soundless, rewrite – segmentable; book, car — non-segmentable).

Morphemic segmentability may be of three types:

a) Complete segmentability is characteristic of words with transparent morphemic structure (morphemes can be easily isolated, e.g. heratless).

b) Conditional segmentability characterizes words segmentation of which into constituent morphemes is doubtful for semantic reasons (retain, detain, contain). Pseudo-morphemes

c) Defective morphemic segmentability is the property of words whose component morphemes seldom or never occur in other words. Such morphemes are called unique morphemes (cran – cranberry (клюква), let- hamlet (деревушка)).

· Semantically morphemes may be classified into: 1) root morphemes – radicals (remake, glassful, disordermake, glass, order- are understood as the lexical centres of the words) and 2) non-root morphemes – include inflectional (carry only grammatical meaning and relevant only for the formation of word-forms) and affixational morphemes (relevant for building different types of stems).

· Structurally, morphemes fall into: free morphemes (coincides with the stem or a word-form. E.g. friend- of thenoun friendship is qualified as a free morpheme), bound morphemes (occurs only as a constituent part of a word. Affixes are bound for they always make part of a word. E.g. the suffixes –ness, -ship, -ize in the words darkness, friendship, to activize; the prefixes im-, dis-, de- in the words impolite, to disregard, to demobilize) and semi-free or semi-bound morphemes (can function both as affixes and free morphemes. E.g. well and half on the one hand coincide with the stem – to sleep well, half an hour, and on the other in the words – well-known, half-done).

ЭКЗАМЕНАЦИОННЫЙ БИЛЕТ № 3

1. Types of meaning

The word «meaning» is not homogeneous. Its components are described as «types of meaning». The two main types of meaning are grammatical and lexical meaning.

The grammatical meaning is the component of meaning, recurrent in identical sets of individual forms of words (e.g. reads, draws, writes – 3d person, singular; books, boys – plurality; boy’s, father’s – possessive case).

The lexical meaning is the meaning proper to the linguistic unit in all its forms and distribution (e.g. boy, boys, boy’s, boys’ – grammatical meaning and case are different but in all of them we find the semantic component «male child»).

Both grammatical meaning and lexical meaning make up the word meaning and neither of them can exist without the other.

There’s also the 3d type: lexico-grammatical (part of speech) meaning. Third type of meaning is called lexico-grammatical meaning (or part-of-speech meaning). It is a common denominator of all the meanings of words belonging to a lexical-grammatical class (nouns, verbs, adjectives etc. – all nouns have common meaning oа thingness, while all verbs express process or state).

Denotational meaning – component of the lexical meaning which makes communication possible. The second component of the lexical meaning is the connotational component – the emotive charge and the stylistic value of the word.

2. Syntactic structure and pattern of word-groups

The meaning of word groups can be defined as the combined lexical meaning of the component words but it is not a mere additive result of all the lexical meanings of components. The meaning of the word group itself dominates the meaning of the component members (Ex. an easy rule, an easy person).

The meaning of the word group is further complicated by the pattern of arrangement of its constituents (Ex. school grammar- grammar school).

That’s why we should bear in mind the existence of lexical and structural components of meaning in word groups, since these components are independent and inseparable. The syntactic structure (formula) implies the description of the order and arrangement of member-words as parts of speech («to write novels» — verb + noun; «clever at mathematics»- adjective + preposition + noun).

As a rule, the difference in the meaning of the head word is presupposed by the difference in the pattern of the word group in which the word is used (to get + noun = to get letters / presents; to get + to + noun = to get to town). If there are different patterns, there are different meanings. BUT: identity of patterns doesn’t imply identity of meanings.

Semanticallv. English word groups are analyzed into motivated word groups and non-motivated word groups. Word groups are lexically motivated if their meanings are deducible from the meanings of components. The degree of motivation may be different.

A blind man — completely motivated

A blind print — the degree of motivation is lower

A blind alley (= the deadlock) — the degree of motivation is still less.

Non-motivated word-groups are usually described as phraseological units.

ЭКЗАМЕНАЦИОННЫЙ БИЛЕТ № 4

1. Classification of phraseological units

The term «phraseological unit» was introduced by Soviet linguist (Виноградов) and it’s generally accepted in this country. It is aimed at avoiding ambiguity with other terms, which are generated by different approaches, are partially motivated and non-motivated.

The first classification of phraseological units was advanced for the Russian language by a famous Russian linguist Виноградов. According to the degree of idiomaticity phraseological units can be classified into three big groups: phraseological collocations (сочетания), phraseological unities (единства) and phraseological fusions (сращения).

Phraseological collocations are not motivated but contain one component used in its direct meaning, while the other is used metaphorically (e.g. to break the news, to attain success).

Phraseological unities are completely motivated as their meaning is transparent though it is transferred (e.g. to shoe one’s teeth, the last drop, to bend the knee).

Phraseological fusions are completely non-motivated and stable (e.g. a mare’s nest (путаница, неразбериха; nonsense), tit-for-tat – revenge, white elephant – expensive but useless).

But this classification doesn’t take into account the structural characteristic, besides it is rather subjective.

Prof. Смирнитский treats phraseological units as word’s equivalents and groups them into: (a) one-summit units => they have one meaningful component (to be tied, to make out); (b) multi-summit units => have two or more meaningful components (black art, to fish in troubled waters).

Within each of these groups he classifies phraseological units according to the part of speech of the summit constituent. He also distinguishes proper phraseological units or units with non-figurative meaning and idioms that have transferred meaning based on metaphor (e.g. to fall in love; to wash one’s dirty linen in public).

This classification was criticized as inconsistent, because it contradicts the principle of idiomaticity advanced by the linguist himself. The inclusion of phrasal verbs into phraseology wasn’t supported by any convincing argument.

Prof. Амазова worked out the so-called contextual approach. She believes that if 3 word groups make up a variable context. Phraseological units make up the so-called fixed context and they are subdivided into phrases and idioms.

2. Procedure of morphemic analysis

Morphemic analysis deals with segmentable words. Its procedure flows to split a word into its constituent morphemes, and helps to determine their number and type. It’s called the method of immediate and ultimate constituents. This method is based on the binary principle which allows to break morphemic structure of a word into 2 components at each stage. The analysis is completed when we arrive at constituents unable of any further division. E.g. Louis Bloomfield — classical example:

ungentlemanly

I. un-(IC/UC) +gentlemanly (IC) (uncertain, unhappy)

II. gentleman (IC) + -ly (IC/UC) (happily, certainly)

III. gentle (IC) +man (IC/UC) (sportsman, seaman)

IV. gent (IC/UC) + le (IC/UC) (gentile, genteel)

The aim of the analysis is to define the number and the type of morphemes.

As we break the word we obtain at any level only 2 immediate constituents, one of which is the stem of the given word. The morphemic analysis may be based either on the identification of affixational morphemes within a set of words, or root morphemes.

ЭКЗАМЕНАЦИОННЫЙ БИЛЕТ № 5

1. Causes, nature and results of semantic change

The set of meanings the word possesses isn’t fixed. If approached diachronically, the polysemy reflects sources and types of semantic changes. The causes of such changes may be either extra-linguistic including historical and social factors, foreign influence and the need for a new name, or linguistic, which are due to the associations that words acquire in speech (e.g. «atom» has a Greek origin, now is used in physics; «to engage» in the meaning «to invite» appeared in English due to French influence = > to engage for a dance). To unleash war – развязать войну – but originally – to unleash dogs)

The nature of semantic changes may be of two main types: 1) Similarity of meaning (metaphor). It implies a hidden comparison (bitter style – likeness of meaning or metonymy). It is the process of associating two references, one of which is part of the other, or is closely connected with it. In other words, it is nearest in type, space or function (e.g. «table» in the meaning of “food” or “furniture” [metonymy]).

The semantic change may bring about following results: 1. narrowing of meaning (e.g. “success” – was used to denote any kind of result, but today it is onle “good results”);

2. widening of meaning (e.g. “ready” in Old English was derived from “ridan” which went to “ride” – ready for a ride; but today there are lots of meanings),

3. degeneration of meaning — acquisition by a word of some derogatory or negative emotive charge (e.g. «villain» was borrowed from French “farm servant”; but today it means “a wicked person”).

4. amelioration of meaning — acquisition by a word of some positive emotive charge (e.g. «kwen» in Old English meant «a woman» but in Modern English it is «queen»).

It is obvious that 3, 4 result illustrate the change in both denotational and connotational meaning. 1, 2 change in the denotational.

The change of meaning can also be expressed through a change in the number and arrangement of word meanings without any other changes in the semantic structure of a word.

2. Productivity of word-formation means

According to Смирницкий, word-formation is the system of derivative types of words and the process of creating new words from the material available in the language. Words are formed after certain structural and semantic patterns. The main two types of word-formation are: word-derivation and word-composition (compounding).

The degree of productivity of word-formation and factors that favor it make an important aspect of synchronic description of every derivational pattern within the two types of word-formation. The two general restrictions imposed on the derivational patterns are: 1. the part of speech in which the pattern functions; 2. the meaning which is attached to it.

Three degrees of productivity are distinguished for derivational patterns and individual derivational affixes: highly productive, productive or semi-productive and non-productive.

Productivity of derivational patterns and affixes shouldn’t be identified with frequency of occurrence in speech (e.g.-er — worker, -ful – beautiful are active suffixes because they are very frequently used. But if -er is productive, it is actively used to form new words, while -ful is non-productive since no new words are built).

ЭКЗАМЕНАЦИОННЫЙ БИЛЕТ № 6

1. Morphological, phonetical and semantic motivation

A new meaning of a word is always motivated. Motivation — is the connection between the form of the word (i.e. its phonetic, morphological composition and structural pattern) and its meaning. Therefore a word may be motivated phonetically, morphologically and semantically.

Phonetically motivated words are not numerous. They imitate the sounds (e.g. crash, buzz, ring). Or sometimes they imitate quick movement (e.g. rain, swing).

Morphological motivation is expressed through the relationship of morphemes => all one-morpheme words aren’t motivated. The words like «matter» are called non-motivated or idiomatic while the words like «cranberry» are partially motivated because structurally they are transparent, but «cran» is devoid of lexical meaning; «berry» has its lexical meaning.

Semantic motivation is the relationship between the direct meaning of the word and other co-existing meanings or lexico-semantic variants within the semantic structure of a polysemantic word (e.g. «root»— «roots of evil» — motivated by its direct meaning, «the fruits of peace» — is the result).

Motivation is a historical category and it may fade or completely disappear in the course of years.

2. Classification of compounds

The meaning of a compound word is made up of two components: structural meaning of a compound and lexical meaning of its constituents.

Compound words can be classified according to different principles.

1. According to the relations between the ICs compound words fall into two classes: 1) coordinative compounds and 2) subordinative compounds.

In coordinative compounds the two ICs are semantically equally important. The coordinative compounds fall into three groups:

a) reduplicative compounds which are made up by the repetition of the same base, e.g. pooh-pooh (пренебрегать), fifty-fifty;

b) compounds formed by joining the phonically variated rhythmic twin forms, e.g. chit-chat, zig-zag (with the same initial consonants but different vowels); walkie-talkie (рация), clap-trap (чепуха) (with different initial consonants but the same vowels);

c) additive compounds which are built on stems of the independently functioning words of the same part of speech, e.g. actor-manager, queen-bee.

In subordinative compounds the components are neither structurally nor semantically equal in importance but are based on the domination of the head-member which is, as a rule, the second IС, e.g. stone-deaf, age-long. The second IС preconditions the part-of-speech meaning of the whole compound.

2. According to the part of speech compounds represent they fall into:

1) compound nouns, e.g. sunbeam, maidservant;

2) compound adjectives, e.g. heart-free, far-reaching;

3) compound pronouns, e.g. somebody, nothing;

4) compound adverbs, e.g. nowhere, inside;

5) compound verbs, e.g. to offset, to bypass, to mass-produce.

From the diachronic point of view many compound verbs of the present-day language are treated not as compound verbs proper but as polymorphic verbs of secondary derivation. They are termed pseudo-compounds and are represented by two groups: a) verbs formed by means of conversion from the stems of compound nouns, e.g. to spotlight (from spotlight); b) verbs formed by back-derivation from the stems of compound nouns, e.g. to babysit (from baby-sitter).

However synchronically compound verbs correspond to the definition of a compound as a word consisting of two free stems and functioning in the sentence as a separate lexical unit. Thus, it seems logical to consider such words as compounds by right of their structure.

3. According to the means of composition compound words are classified into:

1) compounds composed without connecting elements, e.g. heartache, dog-house;

2)compounds composed with the help of a vowel or a consonant as a linking element, e.g. handicraft, speedometer, statesman;

3) compounds composed with the help of linking elements represented by preposition or conjunction stems, e.g. son-in-law, pepper-and-salt.

4. According to the type of bases that form compounds the following classes can be singled out:

1) compounds proper that are formed by joining together bases built on the stems or on the word-forms with or without a linking element, e.g. door-step, street-fighting;

2) derivational compounds that are formed by joining affixes to the bases built on the word-groups or by converting the bases built on the word-groups into other parts of speech, e.g. long-legged —> (long legs) + -ed; a turnkey —> (to turn key) + conversion. Thus, derivational compounds fall into two groups: a) derivational compounds mainly formed with the help of the suffixes -ed and -er applied to bases built, as a rule, on attributive phrases, e.g. narrow-minded, doll-faced, left­hander; b) derivational compounds formed by conversion applied to bases built, as a rule, on three types of phrases — verbal-adverbial phrases (a breakdown), verbal-nominal phrases (a kill-joy) and attributive phrases (a sweet-tooth).

ЭКЗАМЕНАЦИОННЫЙ БИЛЕТ № 7

1. Diachronic and synchronic approaches to polysemy

Diachronically, polysemy is understood as the growth and development of the semantic structure of the word. Historically we differentiate between the primary and secondary meanings of words.

The relation between these meanings isn’t only the one of order of appearance but it is also the relation of dependence = > we can say that secondary meaning is always the derived meaning (e.g. dog – 1. animal, 2. despicable person)

Synchronically it is possible to distinguish between major meaning of the word and its minor meanings. However it is often hard to grade individual meaning of the word in order of their comparative value (e.g. to get the letter — получить письмо; to get to London — прибыть в Лондон — minor).

The only more or less objective criterion in this case is the frequency of occurrence in speech (e.g. table – 1. furniture, 2. food). The semantic structure is never static and the primary meaning of a word may become synchronically one of the minor meanings and vice versa. Stylistic factors should always be taken into consideration

Polysemy of words: «yellow»- sensational (Am., sl.)

The meaning which has the highest frequency is the one representative of the whole semantic structure of the word. The Russian equivalent of «a table» which first comes to your mind and when you hear this word is ‘cтол» in the meaning «a piece of furniture». And words that correspond in their major meanings in two different languages are referred to as correlated words though their semantic structures may be different.

Primary meaning — historically first.

Major meaning — the most frequently used meaning of the word synchronically.

2. Typical semantic relations between words in conversion pairs

We can single out the following typical semantic relation in conversion pairs:

1) Verbs converted from nouns (denominal verbs):

a) Actions characteristic of the subject (e.g. ape – to ape – imitate in a foolish way);

b) Instrumental use of the object (e.g. whip — to whip – strike with a whip);

c) Acquisition or addition of the objects (e.g. fish — to fish — to catch fish);

d) Deprivation of the object (e.g. dust — to dust – remove dust).

2) Nouns converted from verbs (deverbal nouns):

a) Instance of the action (e.g. to move — a move = change of position);

b) Agent of an action (e.g. to cheat — a cheat – a person who cheats);

c) Place of the action (e.g. to walk-a walk – a place for walking);

d) Object or result of the action (e.g. to find- a find – something found).

ЭКЗАМЕНАЦИОННЫЙ БИЛЕТ № 8

1. Classification of homonyms

Homonyms are words that are identical in their sound-form or spelling but different in meaning and distribution.

1) Homonyms proper are words similar in their sound-form and graphic but different in meaning (e.g. «a ball»- a round object for playing; «a ball»- a meeting for dances).

2) Homophones are words similar in their sound-form but different in spelling and meaning (e.g. «peace» — «piece», «sight»- «site»).

3) Homographs are words which have similar spelling but different sound-form and meaning (e.g. «a row» [rau]- «a quarrel»; «a row» [rəu] — «a number of persons or things in a more or less straight line»)

There is another classification by Смирницкий. According to the type of meaning in which homonyms differ, homonyms proper can be classified into:

I. Lexical homonyms — different in lexical meaning (e.g. «ball»);

II. Lexical-grammatical homonyms which differ in lexical-grammatical meanings (e.g. «a seal» — тюлень, «to seal» — запечатывать).

III. Grammatical homonyms which differ in grammatical meaning only (e.g. «used» — Past Indefinite, «used»- Past Participle; «pupils»- the meaning of plurality, «pupil’s»- the meaning of possessive case).

All cases of homonymy may be subdivided into full and partial homonymy. If words are identical in all their forms, they are full homonyms (e.g. «ball»-«ball»). But: «a seal» — «to seal» have only two homonymous forms, hence, they are partial homonyms.

2. Classification of prefixes

Prefixation is the formation of words with the help of prefixes. There are about 51 prefixes in the system of modern English word-formation.

1. According to the type they are distinguished into: a) prefixes that are correlated with independent words (un-, dis-), and b) prefixes that are correlated with functional words (e.g. out, over. under).

There are about 25 convertive prefixes which can transfer words to a different part of speech (E.g. embronze59).

Prefixes may be classified on different principles. Diachronically they may be divided into native and foreign origin, synchronically:

1. According to the class they preferably form: verbs (im, un), adjectives (un-, in-, il-, ir-) and nouns (non-, sub-, ex-).

2. According to the lexical-grammatical type of the base they are added to:

a). Deverbal — rewrite, overdo;

b). Denominal — unbutton, detrain, ex-president,

c). Deadjectival — uneasy, biannual.

It is of interest to note that the most productive prefixal pattern for adjectives is the one made up of the prefix un- and the base built either on adjectival stems or present and past participle, e.g. unknown, unsmiling, unseen etc.

3. According to their semantic structure prefixes may fall into monosemantic and polysemantic.

4. According to the generic-denotational meaning they are divided into different groups:

a). Negative prefixes: un-, dis-, non-, in-, a- (e.g. unemployment, non-scientific, incorrect, disloyal, amoral, asymmetry).

b). Reversative or privative60 prefixes: un-, de-, dis- (e.g. untie, unleash, decentralize, disconnect).

c). Pejorative prefixes: mis-, mal-, pseudo- (e.g. miscalculate, misinform, maltreat, pseudo-classicism).

d). Prefixes of time and order: fore-, pre-, post-, ex- (e.g. foretell, pre-war, post-war, ex-president).

e). Prefix of repetition re- (e.g. rebuild, rewrite).

f). Locative prefixes: super-, sub-, inter-, trans- (e.g. superstructure, subway, inter-continental, transatlantic).

5. According to their stylistic reference:

a). Neutral: un-, out-, over-, re-, under- (e.g. outnumber, unknown, unnatural, oversee, underestimate).

b). Stylistically marked: pseudo-, super-, ultra-, uni-, bi- (e.g. pseudo-classical, superstructure, ultra-violet, unilateral) they are bookish.

6. According to the degree of productivity: a). highly productive, b). productive, c). non-productive.

ЭКЗАМЕНАЦИОННЫЙ БИЛЕТ № 9

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1. Types of linguistic contexts

The term “context” denotes the minimal stretch of speech determining each individual meaning of the word. Contexts may be of two types: linguistic (verbal) and extra-linguistic (non-verbal).

Linguistic contexts may be subdivided into lexical and grammatical.

In lexical contexts of primary importance are the groups of lexical items combined with polysemantic word under consideration (e.g. adj. “heavy” is used with the words “load, table” means ‘of great weight’ ; but with natural phenomena “rain, storm, snow, wind’ it is understood as ‘abundant, striking, falling with force’; and if with “industry, artillery, arms” – ‘the larger kind of smth’). The meaning at the level of lexical contexts is sometimes described as meaning by collocation.

In grammatical meaning it is the grammatical (syntactic) structure of the context that serves to determine various individual meanings of a polysemantic word (e.g. the meaning of the verb “to make” – ‘to force, to induce’ is found only in the syntactic structure “to make + prn. +verb”; another meaning ‘to become’ – “to make + adj. + noun” (to make a good teacher, wife)). Such meanings are sometimes described as grammatically bound meanings.

2. Classification of suffixes

Suffixation is the formation of words with the help of suffixes. Suffixes usually modify the lexical meaning of the base and transfer words to a different part of speech. There are suffixes, however, which do not shift words from one part of speech into another; a suffix of this kind usually transfers a word into a different semantic group, e.g. a concrete noun becomes an abstract one, as in the case with child — childhood, friend- friendship etc. Suffixes may be classified:

1. According to the part of speech they form

a). Noun-suffixes: -er, -dom, -ness, -ation (e.g. teacher, freedom, brightness, justification).

b). Adjective-suffixes: -able, -less, -ful, -ic, -ous (e.g. agreeable, careless, doubtful, poetic, courageous).

c). Verb-suffixes: -en, -fy, -ize (e.g. darken, satisfy, harmonize).

d). Adverb-suffixes: -ly, -ward (e.g. quickly, eastward).

2. According to the lexico-grammatical character of the base the suffixes are usually added to:

a). Deverbal suffixes (those added to the verbal base):-er, -ing, -ment, -able (speaker, reading, agreement, suitable).

b). Denominal suffixes (those added to the noun base):-less, -ish, -ful, -ist, -some (handless, childish, mouthful, troublesome).

c). Deadjectival suffixes (those affixed to the adjective base):-en, -ly, -ish, -ness (blacken, slowly, reddish, brightness).

3. According to the meaning expressed by suffixes:

a). The agent of an action: -er, -ant (e.g. baker, dancer, defendant), b). Appurtenance64: -an, -ian, -ese (e.g. Arabian, Elizabethan, Russian, Chinese, Japanese).

c). Collectivity: -age, -dom, -ery (-ry) (e.g. freightage, officialdom, peasantry).

d). Diminutiveness: -ie, -let, -ling (birdie, girlie, cloudlet, booklet, darling).

4. According to the degree of productivity:

a). Highly productive

b). Productive

c). Non-productive

5. According to the stylistic value:

a). Stylistically neutral:-able, -er, -ing.

b). Stylistically marked:-oid, -i/form, -aceous, -tron (e.g. asteroid)

ЭКЗАМЕНАЦИОННЫЙ БИЛЕТ № 10

1. Semantic equivalence and synonymy

The traditional initial category of words that can be singled out on the basis of proximity is synonyms. The degree of proximity varies from semantic equivalence to partial semantic similarity. The classes of full synonyms are very rare and limited mainly two terms.

The greatest degree of similarity is found in those words that are identical in their denotational aspect of meaning and differ in connotational one (e.g. father- dad; imitate – monkey). Such synonyms are called stylistic synonyms. However, in the major of cases the change in the connotational aspect of meaning affects in some way the denotational aspect. These synonyms of the kind are called ideographic synonyms (e.g. clever – bright, smell – odor). Differ in their denotational aspect ideographic synonyms (kill-murder, power – strength, etc.) – these synonyms are most common.

It is obvious that synonyms cannot be completely interchangeable in all contexts. Synonyms are words different in their sound-form but similar in their denotational aspect of meaning and interchangeable at least in some contexts.

Each synonymic group comprises a dominant element. This synonymic dominant is general term which has no additional connotation (e.g. famous, celebrated, distinguished; leave, depart, quit, retire, clear out).

Syntactic dominants have high frequency of usage, vast combinability and lack connotation.

2. Derivational types of words

The basic units of the derivative structure of words are: derivational basis, derivational affixes, and derivational patterns.

The relations between words with a common root but of different derivative structure are known as derivative relations.

The derivational base is the part of the word which establishes connections with the lexical unit that motivates the derivative and defines its lexical meaning. It’s to this part of the word (derivational base) that the rule of word formation is applied. Structurally, derivational bases fall into 3 classes: 1. Bases that coincide with morphological stems (beautiful, beautifully); 2. Bases that coincide with word-forms (unknown- limited mainly to verbs); 3. Bases that coincide with word groups. They are mainly active in the class of adjectives and nouns (blue-eyed, easy-going).

According to their derivational structure words fall into: simplexes (simple, non-derived words) and complexes (derivatives). Complexes are grouped into: derivatives and compounds. Derivatives fall into: affixational (suffixal and affixal) types and conversions. Complexes constitute the largest class of words. Both morphemic and derivational structure of words is subject to various changes in the course of time.

ЭКЗАМЕНАЦИОННЫЙ БИЛЕТ № 11

1. Semantic contrasts and antonymy

The semantic relations of opposition are the basis for grouping antonyms. The term «antonym» is of Greek origin and means “opposite name”. It is used to describe words different in some form and characterised by different types of semantic contrast of denotational meaning and interchangeability at least in some contexts.

Structurally, all antonyms can be subdivided into absolute (having different roots) and derivational (of the same root), (e.g. «right»- «wrong»; «to arrive»- «to leave» are absolute antonyms; but «to fit» — «to unfit» are derivational).

Semantically, all antonyms can be divided in at least 3 groups:

a) Contradictories. They express contradictory notions which are mutually opposed and deny each other. Their relations can be described by the formula «A versus NOT A»: alive vs. dead (not alive); patient vs. impatient (not patient). Contradictories may be polar or relative (to hate- to love [not to love doesn’t mean «hate»]).

b) Contraries are also mutually opposed, but they admit some possibility between themselves because they are gradable (e.g. cold – hot, warm; hot – cold, cool). This group also includes words opposed by the presence of such components of meaning as SEX and AGE (man -woman; man — boy etc.).

c) Incompatibles. The relations between them are not of contradiction but of exclusion. They exclude possibilities of other words from the same semantic set (e.g. «red»- doesn’t mean that it is opposed to white it means all other colors; the same is true to such words as «morning», «day», «night» etc.).

There is another type of opposition which is formed with reversive antonyms. They imply the denotation of the same referent, but viewed from different points (e.g. to buy – to sell, to give – to receive, to cause – to suffer)

A polysemantic word may have as many antonyms as it has meanings. But not all words and meanings have antonyms!!! (e.g. «a table»- it’s difficult to find an antonym, «a book»).

Relations of antonymy are limited to a certain context + they serve to differentiate meanings of a polysemantic word (e.g. slice of bread — «thick» vs. «thin» BUT: person — «fat» vs. «thin»).

2. Types of word segmentability

Within the English word stock maybe distinguished morphologically segment-able and non-segmentable words (soundless, rewrite — segmentable; book, car — non-segmentable).

Morphemic segmentability may be of three types: 1. complete, 2. conditional, 3. defective.

A). Complete segmentability is characteristic of words with transparent morphemic structure. Their morphemes can be easily isolated which are called morphemes proper or full morphemes (e.g. senseless, endless, useless). The transparent morphemic structure is conditioned by the fact that their constituent morphemes recur with the same meaning in a number of other words.

B). Conditional segmentability characterizes words segmentation of which into constituent morphemes is doubtful for semantic reasons (e.g. retain, detain, contain). The sound clusters «re-, de-, con-» seem to be easily isolated since they recur in other words but they have nothing in common with the morphemes «re, de-, con-» which are found in the words «rewrite», «decode», «condensation». The sound-clusters «re-, de-, con-» can possess neither lexical meaning nor part of speech meaning, but they have differential and distributional meaning. The morphemes of the kind are called pseudo-morphemes (quasi morphemes).

C). Defective morphemic segmentability is the property of words whose component morphemes seldom or never recur in other words. Such morphemes are called unique morphemes. A unique morpheme can be isolated and displays a more or less clear meaning which is upheld by the denotational meaning of the other morpheme of the word (cranberry, strawberry, hamlet).

ЭКЗАМЕНАЦИОННЫЙ БИЛЕТ № 12

1. The main features of A.V.Koonin’s approach to phraseology

Phraseology is regarded as a self-contained branch of linguistics and not as a part of lexicology.

His classification is based on the combined structural-semantic principle and also considers the level of stability of phraseological units.

Кунин subdivides set-expressions into: phraseological units or idioms(e.g. red tape, mare’s nest, etc.), semi-idioms and phraseomatic units(e.g. win a victory, launch a campaign, etc.).

Phraseological units are structurally separable language units with completely or partially transferred meanings (e.g. to kill two birds with one stone, to be in a brown stubby – to be in low spirits). Semi-idioms have both literal and transferred meanings. The first meaning is usually terminological or professional and the second one is transferred (e.g. to lay down one’s arms). Phraseomatic units have literal or phraseomatically bound meanings (e.g. to pay attention to smth; safe and sound).

Кунин assumes that all types of set expressions are characterized by the following aspects of stability: stability of usage (not created in speech and are reproduced ready-made); lexical stability (components are irreplaceable (e.g. red tape, mare’s nest) or partly irreplaceable within the limits of lexical meaning, (e.g. to dance to smb tune/pipe; a skeleton in the cupboard/closet; to be in deep water/waters)); semantic complexity (despite all occasional changes the meaning is preserved); syntactic fixity.

Idioms and semi-idioms are much more complex in structure than phraseological units. They have a broad stylistic range and they admit of more complex occasional changes.

An integral part of this approach is a method of phraseological identification which helps to single out set expressions in Modern English.

2. Types and ways of forming words

According to Смирницкий word-formation is a system of derivative types of words and the process of creating new words from the material available in the language after certain structural and semantic patterns. The main two types are: word-derivation and word-composition (compounding).

The basic ways of forming words in word-derivation are affixation and conversion (the formation of a new word by bringing a stem of this word into a different formal paradigm, e.g. a fall from to fall).

There exist other types: semantic word-building (homonymy, polysemy), sound and stress interchange (e.g. blood – bleed; increase), acronymy (e.g. NATO), blending (e.g. smog = smoke + fog) and shortening of words (e.g. lab, maths). But they are different in principle from derivation and compound because they show the result but not the process.

ЭКЗАМЕНАЦИОННЫЙ БИЛЕТ № 13

1. Origin of derivational affixes

From the point of view of their origin, derivational affixes are subdivided into native (e.g suf.- nas, ish, dom; pref.- be, mis, un) and foreign (e.g. suf.- ation, ment, able; pref.- dis, ex, re).

Many original affixes historically were independent words, such as dom, hood and ship. Borrowed words brought with them their derivatives, formed after word-building patterns of their languages. And in this way many suffixes and prefixes of foreign origin have become the integral part of existing word-formation (e.g. suf.- age; pref.- dis, re, non). The adoption of foreign words resulted into appearance of hybrid words in English vocabulary. Sometimes a foring stem is combined with a native suffix (e.g. colourless) and vise versa (e.g. joyous).

Reinterpretation of verbs gave rise to suffix-formation source language (e.g. “scape” – seascape, moonscape – came from landscape. And it is not a suffix.).

2. Correlation types of compounds

Motivation and regularity of semantic and structural correlation with free word-groups are the basic factors favouring a high degree of productivity of composition and may be used to set rules guiding spontaneous, analogic formation of new compound words.

The description of compound words through the correlation with variable word-groups makes it possible to classify them into four major classes: 1) adjectival-nominal, 2) verbal-nominal, 3) nominal and 4) verbal-adverbial.

I. Adjectival-nominal comprise for subgroups of compound adjectives:

1) the polysemantic n+a pattern that gives rise to two types:

a) Compound adjectives based on semantic relations of resemblance: snow-white, skin-deep, age-long, etc. Comparative type (as…as).

b) Compound adjectives based on a variety of adverbial relations: colour-blind, road-weary, care-free, etc.

2) the monosemantic pattern n+venbased mainly on the instrumental, locative and temporal relations, e.g. state-owned, home-made. The type is highly productive. Correlative relations are established with word-groups of the Ven+ with/by + N type.

3) the monosemantic num + npattern which gives rise to a small and peculiar group of adjectives, which are used only attributively, e.g. (a) two-day (beard), (a) seven-day (week), etc. The quantative type of relations.

4) a highly productive monosemantic pattern of derivational compound adjectives based on semantic relations of possession conveyed by the suffix -ed. The basic variant is [(a+n)+ -ed], e.g. long-legged. The pattern has two more variants: [(num + n) + -ed), l(n+n)+ -ed],e.g. one-sided, bell-shaped, doll-faced. The type correlates accordingly with phrases with (having) + A+N, with (having) + Num + N, with + N + N or with + N + of + N.

The three other types are classed as compound nouns. All the three types are productive.

II. Verbal-nominal compounds may be described through one derivational structure n+nv, i.e. a combination of a noun-base (in most cases simple) with a deverbal, suffixal noun-base. All the patterns correlate in the final analysis with V+N and V+prp+N type which depends on the lexical nature of the verb:

1) [n+(v+-er)],e.g. bottle-opener, stage-manager, peace-fighter. The pattern is monosemantic and is based on agentive relations that can be interpreted ‘one/that/who does smth’.

2) [n+(v+-ing)],e.g. stage-managing, rocket-flying. The pattern is monosemantic and may be interpreted as ‘the act of doing smth’.

3) [n+(v+-tion/ment)],e.g. office-management, price-reduction.

4) [n+(v + conversion)],e.g. wage-cut, dog-bite, hand-shake, the pattern is based on semantic relations of result, instance, agent, etc.

III. Nominal compounds are all nouns with the most polysemantic and highly-productive derivational pattern n+n; both bases are generally simple stems, e.g. windmill, horse-race, pencil-case. The pattern conveys a variety of semantic relations; the most frequent are the relations of purpose and location. The pattern correlates with nominal word-groups of the N+prp+N type.

IV. Verb-adverb compounds are all derivational nouns, highly productive and built with the help of conversion according to the pattern [(v + adv) + conversion].The pattern correlates with free phrases V + Adv and with all phrasal verbs of different degree of stability. The pattern is polysemantic and reflects the manifold semantic relations of result.

ЭКЗАМЕНАЦИОННЫЙ БИЛЕТ № 14

1. Hyponymic structures and lexico-semantic groups

The grouping out of English word stock based on the principle of proximity, may be graphically presented by means of “concentric circles”.

lexico-semantic groups

lexical sets

synonyms

semantic field

The relations between layers are that of inclusion.

The most general term – hyperonym, more special – hyponym (member of the group).

The meaning of the word “plant” includes the idea conveyed by “flower”, which in its turn include the notion of any particular flower. Flower – hyperonim to… and plant – hyponym to…

Hyponymic relations are always hierarchic. If we imply substitution rules we shall see the hyponyms may be replaced be hyperonims but not vice versa (e.g. I bought roses yesterday. “flower” – the sentence won’t change its meaning).

Words describing different sides of one and the same general notion are united in a lexico-semantic group if: a) the underlying notion is not too generalized and all-embracing, like the notions of “time”, “life”, “process”; b) the reference to the underlying is not just an implication in the meaning of lexical unit but forms an essential part in its semantics.

Thus, it is possible to single out the lexico-semantic group of names of “colours” (e.g. pink, red, black, green, white); lexico-semantic group of verbs denoting “physical movement” (e.g. to go, to turn, to run) or “destruction” (e.g. to ruin, to destroy, to explode, to kill).

2. Causes and ways of borrowing

The great influx of borrowings from Latin, English and Scandinavian can be accounted by a number of historical causes. Due to the great influence of the Roman civilisation Latin was for a long time used in England as the language of learning and religion. Old Norse was the language of the conquerors who were on the same level of social and cultural development and who merged rather easily with the local population in the 9th, 10th and the first half of the 11th century. French (Norman dialect) was the language of the other conquerors who brought with them a lot of new notions of a higher social system (developed feudalism), it was the language of upper classes, of official documents and school instruction from the middle of the 11th century to the end of the 14th century.

In the study of the borrowed element in English the main emphasis is as a rule placed on the Middle English period. Borrowings of later periods became the object of investigation only in recent years. These investigations have shown that the flow of borrowings has been steady and uninterrupted. The greatest number has come from French. They refer to various fields of social-political, scientific and cultural life. A large portion of borrowings is scientific and technical terms.

The number and character of borrowed words tell us of the relations between the peoples, the level of their culture, etc.

Some borrowings, however, cannot be explained by the direct influence of certain historical conditions, they do not come along with any new objects or ideas. Such were for instance the words air, place, brave, gay borrowed from French.

Also we can say that the closer the languages, the deeper is the influence. Thus under the influence of the Scandinavian languages, which were closely related to Old English, some classes of words were borrowed that could not have been adopted from non-related or distantly related languages (the pronouns they, their, them); a number of Scandinavian borrowings were felt as derived from native words (they were of the same root and the connection between them was easily seen), e.g. drop(AS.) — drip (Scand.), true (AS.)-tryst (Scand.); the Scandinavian influence even accelerated to a certain degree the development of the grammatical structure of English.

Borrowings enter the language in two ways: through oral speech (early periods of history, usually short and they undergo changes) and through written speech (recent times, preserve spelling and peculiarities of the sound form).

Borrowings may be direct or indirect (e.g., through Latin, French).

ЭКЗАМЕНАЦИОННЫЙ БИЛЕТ № 15

1. Types of English dictionaries

English dictionaries may all be roughly divided into two groups — encyclopaedic and linguistic.

The encyclopaedic dictionaries, (The Encyclopaedia Britannica and The Encyclopedia Americana) are scientific reference books dealing with every branch of knowledge, or with one particular branch, usually in alphabetical order. They give information about the extra-linguistic world; they deal with facts and concepts. Linguistic dictionaries are wоrd-books the subject-matter of which is lexical units and their linguistic properties such as pronunciation, meaning, peculiarities of use, etc.

Linguistic dictionaries may be divided into different categories by different criteria.

1. According to the nature of their word-listwe may speak about general dictionaries (include frequency dictionary, a rhyming dictionary, a Thesaurus) and restricted (belong terminological, phraseological, dialectal word-books, dictionaries of new words, of foreign words, of abbreviations, etc).

2. According to the information they provide all linguistic dictionaries fall into two groups: explanatory and specialized.

Explanatory dictionaries present a wide range of data, especially with regard to the semantic aspect of the vocabulary items entered (e.g. New Oxford Dictionary of English).

Specialized dictionaries deal with lexical units only in relation to some of their characteristics (e.g. etymology, frequency, pronunciation, usage)

3. According to the language of explanations all dictionaries are divided into: monolingual and bilingual.

4. Dictionaries also fall into diachronic and synchronic with regard of time. Diachronic (historical) dictionaries reflect the development of the English vocabulary by recording the history of form and meaning for every word registered (e.g. Oxford English Dictionary). Synchronic (descriptive) dictionaries are concerned with the present-day meaning and usage of words (e.g. Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English).

(Phraseological dictionaries, New Words dictionaries, Dictionaries of slang, Usage dictionaries, Dictionaries of word-frequency, A Reverse dictionary, Pronouncing dictionaries, Etymological dictionaries, Ideographic dictionaries, synonym-books, spelling reference books, hard-words dictionaries, etc.)

2. The role of native and borrowed elements in English

The number of borrowings in Old English was small. In the Middle English period there was an influx of loans. It is often contended that since the Nor­man Conquest borrowing has been the chief factor in the enrichment of the English vocabulary and as a result there was a sharp decline in the productivity of word-formation. Historical evidence, however, testifies to the fact that throughout its entire history, even in the periods of the mightiest influxes of borrowings, other processes, no less intense, were in operation — word-formation and semantic development, which involved both native and borrowed elements.

If the estimation of the role of borrowings is based on the study of words recorded in the dictionary, it is easy to overestimate the effect of the loan words, as the number of native words is extremely small compared with the number of borrowings recorded. The only true way to estimate the relation of the native to the borrowed element is to con­sider the two as actually used in speech. If one counts every word used, including repetitions, in some reading matter, the proportion of native to borrowed words will be quite different. On such a count, every writer uses considerably more native words than borrowings. Shakespeare, for example, has 90%, Milton 81%, Tennyson 88%. It shows how impor­tant is the comparatively small nucleus of native words.

Different borrowings are marked by different frequency value. Those well established in the vocabulary may be as frequent in speech as native words, whereas others occur very rarely.

ЭКЗАМЕНАЦИОННЫЙ БИЛЕТ № 16

1. The main variants of the English language

In Modern linguistics the distinction is made between Standard English and territorial variants and local dialects of the English language.

Standard English may be defined as that form of English which is current and literary, substantially uniform and recognized as acceptable wherever English is spoken or understood. Most widely accepted and understood either within an English-speaking country or throughout the entire English-speaking world.

Variants of English are regional varieties possessing a literary norm. There are distinguished variants existing on the territory of the United Kingdom (British English, Scottish English and Irish English), and variants existing outside the British Isles (American English, Canadian English, Australian English, New Zealand English, South African English and Indian English). British English is often referred to the Written Standard English and the pronunciation known as Received Pronunciation (RP).

Local dialects are varieties of English peculiar to some districts, used as means of oral communication in small localities; they possess no normalized literary form.

Variants of English in the United Kingdom

Scottish English and Irish English have a special linguistic status as compared with dialects because of the literature composed in them.

Variants of English outside the British Isles

Outside the British Isles there are distinguished the following variants of the English language: American English, Canadian English, Australian English, New Zealand English, South African English, Indian English and some others. Each of these has developed a literature of its own, and is characterized by peculiarities in phonetics, spelling, grammar and vocabulary.

2. Basic problems of dictionary-compiling

Lexicography, the science, of dictionary-compiling, is closely connected with lexicology, both dealing with the same problems — the form, meaning, usage and origin of vocabulary units — and making use of each other’s achievements.

Some basic problems of dictionary-compiling:

1) the selection of lexical units for inclusion,

2) their arrangement,

3) the setting of the entries,

4) the selection and arrangement (grouping) of word-meanings,

5) the definition of meanings,

6) illustrative material,

7) supplementary material.

1) The selection of lexical units for inclusion.

It is necessary to decide: a) what types of lexical units will be chosen for inclusion; b) the number of items; c) what to select and what to leave out in the dictionary; d) which form of the language, spoken or written or both, the dictionary is to reflect; e) whether the dictionary should contain obsolete units, technical terms, dialectisms, colloquialisms, and so forth.

The choice depends upon the type to which the dictionary will belong, the aim the compilers pursue, the prospective user of the dictionary, its size, the linguistic conceptions of the dictionary-makers and some other considerations.

2) Arrangement of entries.

There are two modes of presentation of entries: the alphabetical order and the cluster-type (arranged in nests, based on some principle – words of the same root).

3) The setting of the entries.

Since different types of dictionaries differ in their aim, in the information they provide, in their size, etc., they of necessity differ in the structure and content of the entry.

The most complicated type of entry is that found in general explanatory dictionaries of the synchronic type (the entry usually presents the following data: accepted spelling and pronunciation; grammatical characteristics including the indication of the part of speech of each entry word, whether nouns are countable or uncountable, the transitivity and intransitivity of verbs and irregular grammatical forms; definitions of meanings; modern currency; illustrative examples; derivatives; phraseology; etymology; sometimes also synonyms and antonyms.

4) The selection and arrangement (grouping) of word-meanings.

The number of meanings a word is given and their choice in this or that dictionary depend, mainly, on two factors: 1) on what aim the compilers set themselves and 2) what decisions they make concerning the extent to which obsolete, archaic, dialectal or highly specialised meanings should be recorded, how the problem of polysemy and homonymy is solved, how cases of conversion are treated, how the segmentation of different meanings of a polysemantic word is made, etc.

There are at least three different ways in which the word meanings are arranged: a) in the sequence of their historical development (called historical order), b) in conformity with frequency of use that is with the most common meaning first (empirical or actual order), c) in their logical connection (logical order).

5) The definition of meanings.

Meanings of words may be defined in different ways: 1) by means of linguistic definitions that are only concerned with words as speech material, 2) by means of encyclopaedic definitions that are concerned with things for which the words are names (nouns, proper nouns and terms), 3) be means of synonymous words and expressions (verbs, adjectives), 4) by means of cross-references (derivatives, abbreviations, variant forms). The choice depends on the nature of the word (the part of speech, the aim and size of the dictionary).

6) Illustrative material.

It depends on the type of the dictionary and on the aim the compliers set themselves.

ЭКЗАМЕНАЦИОННЫЙ БИЛЕТ № 17

1. Sources of compounds

The actual process of building compound words may take different forms: 1) Com­pound words as a rule are built spontaneously according to pro­ductive distributional formulas of the given period. Formulas productive at one time may lose their productivity at another period. Thus at one time the process of building verbs by compounding adverbial and verbal stems was productive, and numerous compound verbs like, e.g. out­grow, offset, inlay (adv + v), were formed. The structure ceased to be productive and today practically no verbs are built in this way.

2) Compounds may be the result of a gradual process of semantic isolation and structural fusion of free word-groups. Such compounds as forget-me-not; bull’s-eye—’the centre of a target; a kind of hard, globular can­dy’; mainland—‘acontinent’ all go back to free phrases which became semantically and structurally isolated in the course of time. The words that once made up these phrases have lost their integrity, within these particular for­mations, the whole phrase has become isolated in form, «specialized in meaning and thus turned into an inseparable unit—a word having acquired semantic and morphological unity. Most of the syntactic compound nouns of the (a+n) structure, e.g. bluebell, blackboard, mad-doctor, are the result of such semantic and structural isolation of free word-groups; to give but one more example, highway was once actually a high way for it was raised above the surrounding countryside for better drainage and ease of travel. Now we use highway without any idea of the original sense of the first element.

2. Lexical differences of territorial variants of English

All lexical units may be divided into general English (common to all the variants) and locally-marked (specific to present-day usage in one of the variants and not found in the others). Different variants of English use different words for the same objects (BE vs. AE: flat/apartment, underground/subway, pavement/sidewalk, post/mail).

Speaking about lexical differences between the two variants of the English language, the following cases are of importance:

1. Cases where there are no equivalent words in one of the variant! (British English has no equivalent to the American word drive-in (‘a cinema or restaurant that one can visit without leaving one’s car’)).

2. Cases where different words are used for the same denotatum, e.g. sweets (BrE) — candy (AmE); reception clerk (BrE) — desk clerk (AmE).

3. Cases where some words are used in both variants but are much commoner in one of them. For example, shop and store are used in both variants, but the former is frequent in British English and the latter in American English.

4. Cases where one (or more) lexico-semantic variant(s) is (are) specific to either British English or American English (e.g. faculty, denoting ‘all the teachers and other professional workers of a university or college’ is used only in American English; analogous opposition in British English or Standard English — teaching staff).

5. Cases where one and the same word in one of its lexico-semantic variants is used oftener in British English than in American English (brew — ‘a cup of tea’ (BrE), ‘a beer or coffee drink’ (AmE).

Cases where the same words have different semantic structure in British English and American English (homely — ‘home-loving, domesticated, house-proud’ (BrE), ‘unattractive in appearance’ (AmE); politician ‘a person who is professionally involved in politics’, neutral, (BrE), ‘a person who acts in a manipulative and devious way, typically to gain advancement within an organisation’ (AmE).

Besides, British English and American English have their own deri­vational peculiarities (some of the affixes more frequently used in American English are: -ее (draftee — ‘a young man about to be enlisted’), -ster (roadster — ‘motor-car for long journeys by road’), super- (super-market — ‘a very large shop that sells food and other products for the home’); AmE favours morphologically more complex words (transportation), BrE uses clipped forms (transport); AmE prefers to form words by means of affixes (burglarize), BrE uses back-formation (burgle from burglar).

ЭКЗАМЕНАЦИОННЫЙ БИЛЕТ № 18

1. Methods and procedures of lexicological analysis

The process of scientific investigation may be subdivided into several stages:

1. Observation (statements of fact must be based on observation)

2. Classification (orderly arrangement of the data)

3. Generalization (formulation of a generalization or hypothesis, rule a law)

4. The verifying process. Here, various procedures of linguistic analysis are commonly applied:

1). Contrastive analysis attempts to find out similarities and differences in both philogenically related and non-related languages. In fact contrastive analysis grew as the result of the errors which are made recurrently by foreign language students. They can be often traced back to the differences in structure between the target language and the language of the learner, detailed comparison of these two languages has been named contrastive analysis.

Contrastive analysis brings to light the essence of what is usually described as idiomatic English, idiomatic Russian etc., i.e. the peculiar way in which every language combines and structures in lexical units various concepts to denote extra-linguistic reality.

2). Statistical analysis is the quantitative study of a language phenomenon. Statistical linguistics is nowadays generally recognised as one of the major branches of linguistics. (frequency – room, collocability)

3). Immediate constituents analysis. The theory of Immediate Constituents (IC) was originally elaborated as an attempt to determine the ways in which lexical units are relevantly related to one another. The fundamental aim of IC analysis is to segment a set of lexical units into two maximally independent sequences or ICs thus revealing the hierarchical structure of this set.

4). Distributional analysis and co-occurrence. By the term distribution we understand the occurrence of a lexical unit relative to other lexical units of the same level (the position which lexical units occupy or may occupy in the text or in the flow of speech). Distributional analysis is mainly applied by the linguist to find out sameness or difference of meaning.

5). Transformational analysis can be definedas repatterning of various distributional structures in order to discover difference or sameness of meaning of practically identical distributional patterns. It may be also described as a kind of translation (transference of a message by different means).

6). Componental analysis (1950’s). In this analysis linguists proceed from the assumption that the smallest units of meaning are sememes (семема — семантическая единица) or semes (сема (минимальная единица содержания)) and that sememes and lexemes (or lexical items) are usually not in one-to-one but in one-to-many correspondence (e.g. in lexical item “woman”, semems are – human, female, adult). This analysis deals with individual meanings.

7). Method of Semantic Differential (set up by American psycholinguists). The analysis is concerned with measurement of differences of the connotational meaning, or the emotive charge, which is very hard to grasp.

2. Ways and means of enriching the vocabulary of English

Development of the vocabulary can be described a process of the never-ending growth. There are two ways of enriching the vocabulary:

A. Vocabulary extension — the appearance of new lexical items. New vocabulary units appear mainly as a result of: 1) productive or patterned ways of word-formation (affixation, conversion, composition); 2) non-patterned ways of word-creation (lexicalization – transformation of a word-form into a word, e.g. arms-arm, customs (таможня)-custom); shortening — transformation of a word-group into a word or a change of the word-structure resulting in a new lexical item, e.g. RD for Road, St for Street; substantivization – the finals to the final exams, acronyms (NATO) and letter abbreviation (D.J. – disk jokey), blendings (brunch – breakfast and lunch), clipping – shortening of a word of two or more syllables (bicycle – bike, pop (clipping plus substativization) – popular music)); 3) borrowing from other languages.

Borrowing as a means of replenishing the vocabulary of present-day English is of much lesser importance and is active mainly in the field of scientific terminology. 1) Words made up of morphemes of Latin and Greek origin (e.g. –tron: mesotron; tele-: telelecture; -in: protein). 2) True borrowings which reflect the way of life, the peculiarities of development of speech communities from which they come. (e.g. kolkhoz, sputnik). 3) Loan-translations also reflect the peculiarities of life and easily become stable units of the vocabulary (e.g. fellow-traveler, self-criticism)

B. Semantic extension — the appearance of new meanings of existing words which may result in homonyms. The semantic development of words already available in the language is the main source of the qualitative growth of the vocabulary but does not essentially change the vocabulary quantatively.

The most active ways of word creation are clippings and acronyms.

ЭКЗАМЕНАЦИОННЫЙ БИЛЕТ № 19

1. Means of composition

From the point of view of the means by which the components are joined together compound words may be classified into:

1) Words formed by merely placing one constituent after another (e.g. house-dog, pot-pie) can be: asyntactic (the order of bases runs counter to the order in which the words can be brought together under the rules of syntax of the language, e.g. red-hot, pale-blue, oil-rich) and syntactic (the order of words arranged according to the rules of syntax, e.g. mad-doctor, blacklist).

2) Compound words whose ICs are joined together with a special linking-element — linking vowels (o) and consonants (s), e.g. speedometer, tragicomic, statesman.

The additive compound adjectives linked with the help of the vowel [ou] are limited to the names of nationalities and represent a specific group with a bound root for the first component, e.g. Sino-Japanese, Afro-Asian, Anglo-Saxon.

2. Synchronic and diachronic approaches to conversion

Conversion is the formation of a new word through changes in its paradigm (category of a part of speech). As a paradigm is a morphological category, conversion can be described as a morphological way of forming words (Смирницкий). The term was introduced by Henry Sweet.

The causes that made conversion so widely spread are to be approached diachronically. Nouns and verbs have become identical in form firstly as a result of the loss of endings. The similar phenomenon can be observed in words borrowed from the French language. Thus, from the diachronic point of view distinctions should be made between homonymous word-pairs, which appeared as a result of the loss of inflections (окончание, изменяемая часть слова).

In the course of time the semantic structure of the base nay acquire a new meaning or several meanings under the influence of the meanings of the converted word (reconversion).

Synchronically we deal with pairs of words related through conversion that coexist in contemporary English. A careful examination of the relationship between the lexical meaning of the root-morpheme and the part-of-speech meaning of the stem within a conversion pair reveals that in one of the two words the former does not correspond to the latter.

ЭКЗАМЕНАЦИОННЫЙ БИЛЕТ № 20

1. Denotational and connotational aspects of meaning

The lexical meaning comprises two main components: the denotational aspect of meaning and the connotational aspect of meaning. The term «denotational aspect of meaning» is derived from «to denote» and it is through this component of meaning that the main information is conveyed in the process of communication. Besides, it helps to insure references to things common to all the speakers of the given language (e.g. «chemistry»- I’m not an expert in it, but I know what it is about, «dentist», «spaceship»).

The connotational aspect may be called «optional». It conveys additional information in the process of communication. And it may denote the emotive charge and the stylistic value of the word. The emotive charge is the emotive evaluation inherent in the connotational component of the lexical meaning (e.g. «notorious» => [widely known] => for criminal acts, bad behaviour, bad traits of character; «famous» => [widely known] => for special achievement etc.).

Positive/Negative evaluation; emotive charge/stylistic value.

«to love» — neutral

«to adore» — to love greatly => the emotive charge is higher than in «to love»

«to shake» — neutral.

«to shiver» — is stronger => higher emotive charge.

Mind that the emotive charge is not a speech characteristic of the word. It’s a language phenomenon => it remains stable within the basical meaning of the word.

If associations with the lexical meaning concern the situation, the social circumstances (formal/informal), the social relations between the interlocutors (polite/rough), the type or purpose of communication (poetic/official)the connotation is stylistically coloured. It is termed as stylistic reference. The main stylistic layers of the vocabulary are:

Literary «parent» «to pass into the next world» — bookish

Neutral «father» «to die»

Colloquial «dad» «to kick the bucket»

But the denotational meaning is the same.

2. Semantic fields

lexico-semantic groups

lexical sets

synonyms

semantic field

The broadest semantic group is usually referred to as the semantic field. It is a closely neat section of vocabulary characterized by a common concept (e.g. emotions). The common semantic component of the field is called the common dominator. All members of the field are semantically independent, as the meaning of each is determined by the presence of others. Semantic field may be very impressive, covering big conceptual areas (emotions, movements, space). Words comprising the field may belong to different parts of speech.

If the underlying notion is broad enough to include almost all-embracing sections of vocabulary we deal with semantic fields (e.g. cosmonaut, spacious, to orbit – belong to the semantic field of ‘space’).

ЭКЗАМЕНАЦИОННЫЙ БИЛЕТ № 21

1. Assimilation of borrowings

The term ‘assimilation of borrowings’ is used to denote a partial or total conformation to the phonetical, graphical and morphological standards of the English language and its semantic system.

According to the degree of assimilation all borrowed words can be divided into three groups:

1) completely assimilated borrowings;

2) partially assimilated borrowings;

3) unassimilated borrowings or barbarisms.

1. Completely assimilated borrowed words follow all morpholo­gical, phonetical and orthographic standards, take an active part in word-formation. The morphological structure and motivation of completely assimilated borrowings remain usually transparent, so that they are morphologically analyzable and therefore supply the English vocabulary not only with free forms but also with bound forms, as affixes are easily perceived and separated in series of borrowed words that contain them (e.g. the French suffixes age, -ance and -ment).

They are found in all the layers of older borrowings, e. g. cheese (the first layer of Latin borrowings), husband (Scand),face (Fr), animal (Latin, borrowed during the revival of learning).

A loan word never brings into the receiving language the whole of its semantic structure if it is polysemantic in the original language (e.g., ‘sport’in Old French — ‘pleasures, making merry and entertainments in general’, now — outdoor games and exercise).

2. Partially assimilated borrowed words may be subdivided depending on the aspect that remains unaltered into:

a) borrowings not completely assimilated graphically (e.g., Fr. ballet, buffet;some may keep a diacritic mark: café, cliché;retained digraphs (ch, qu, ou, etc.): bouquet, brioche);

b) borrowings not completely assimilated phonetically (e.g., Fr. machine, cartoon, police(accent is on the final syllable), [3]bourgeois, prestige, regime(stress + contain sounds or combinations of sounds that are not standard for the English language));

c) borrowings not assimilated grammatically (e.g., Latin or Greek borrowings retain original plural forms: crisis — crises, phenomenon — phenomena;

d) borrowings not assimilated semantically because they denote objects and notions peculiar to the country from which they come (e. g. sari, sombrero, shah, rajah, toreador, rickshaw(Chinese), etc.

3. Unassimilated borrowings or barbarisms. This group includes words from other languages used by English people in conversation or in writing but not assimilated in any way, and for which there are corresponding English equivalents, e.g. the Italian addio, ciao— ‘good-bye’.

Etymological doublets are two or more words originating from the same etymological source, but differing in phonetic shape and meaning (e.g. the words ‘whole’(originally meant ‘healthy’, ‘free from disease’) and ‘hale’both come from OE ‘hal’:one by the normal development of OE ‘a’ into ‘o’, the other from a northern dialect in which this modification did not take place. Only the latter has servived in its original meaning).

2. Semi-affixes

There is a specific group of morphemes whose derivational function does not allow one to refer them unhesitatingly either to the derivational affixes or bases. In words like half-done, half-broken, half-eaten and ill-fed, ill-housed, ill-dressed the ICs ‘half-‘ and ‘ill-‘ are given in linguistic lit­erature different interpretations: they are described both as bases and as derivational prefixes. The comparison of these ICs with the phonetically identical stems in independent words ‘ill’ and ‘half’ as used in such phrases as to speak ill of smb, half an hour ago makes it obvious that in words like ill-fed, ill-mannered, half-done the ICs ‘ill-‘ and ‘half-‘ are losing both their semantic and structural identity with the stems of the independent words. They are all marked by a different distributional meaning which is clearly revealed through the difference of their collocability as compared with the collocability of the stems of the independently functioning words. As to their lexical meaning they have become more indicative of a generalizing meaning of incompleteness and poor quality than the indi­vidual meaning proper to the stems of independent words and thus they function more as affixational morphemes similar to the prefixes ‘out-, over-, under-, semi-, mis-‘ regularly forming whole classes of words.

Be­sides, the high frequency of these morphemes in the above-mentioned generalized meaning in combination with the numerous bases built on past participles indicates their closer ties with derivational affixes than bases. Yet these morphemes retain certain lexical ties with the root-mor­phemes in the stems of independent words and that is why are felt as occu­pying an intermediate position, as morphemes that are changing their class membership regularly functioning as derivational prefixes but still retaining certain features of root-morphemes. That is why they are sometimes referred to as semi-affixes. To this group we should also refer ‘well-‘ and ‘self-‘ (well-fed, well-done, self-made), ‘-man’ in words like postman, cabman, chairman, ‘-looking’ in words like foreign-looking, alive-looking, strange-looking, etc.

ЭКЗАМЕНАЦИОННЫЙ БИЛЕТ № 22

1. Degrees of assimilation of borrowings and factors determining it

Even a superficial examination of the English word-stock shows that there are words among them that are easily recognized as foreign. And there are others that have become so firmly rooted in the language that it is sometimes extremely difficult to distinguish them from words of Anglo-Saxon origin (e.g. pupil, master, city, river, etc.).

Unassimilated words differ from assimilated ones in their pronunciation, spelling, semantic structure, frequency and sphere of application. There are also words that are assimilated in some respects and unassimilated in others – partially assimilated words (graphically, phonetically, grammatically, semantically).

The degree of assimilation depends on the first place upon the time of borrowing: the older the borrowing, the more thoroughly it tends to follow normal English habits of accentuation, pronunciation and etc. (window, chair, dish, box).

Also those of recent date may be completely made over to conform to English patterns if they are widely and popularly employed (French – clinic, diplomat).

Another factor determining the process of assimilation is the way in which the borrowings were taken over into the language. Words borrowed orally are assimilated more readily; they undergo greater changes, whereas with words adopted through writing the process of assimilation is longer and more laborious.

2. Lexical, grammatical valency of words

There are two factors that influence the ability of words to form word-groups. They are lexical and grammatical valency of words. The point is that compatibility of words is determined by restrictions imposed by the inner structure of the English word stock (e.g. a bright idea = a good idea; but it is impossible to say «a bright performance», or «a bright film»; «heavy metal» means difficult to digest, but it is impossible to say «heavy cheese»; to take [catch] a chance, but it is possible to say only «to take precautions»).

The range of syntactic structures or patterns in which words may appear is defined as their grammatical valency. The grammatical valency depends on the grammatical structure of the language (e.g. to convince smb. of smth/that smb do smth; to persuade smb to do smth).

Any departure from the norms of lexical or grammatical valency can either make a phrase unintelligible or be felt as a stylistic device.

ЭКЗАМЕНАЦИОННЫЙ БИЛЕТ № 23

1. Classification of homonyms

Homonyms are words that are identical in their sound-form or spelling but different in meaning and distribution.

1) Homonyms proper are words similar in their sound-form and graphic but different in meaning (e.g. «a ball»- a round object for playing; «a ball»- a meeting for dances).

2) Homophones are words similar in their sound-form but different in spelling and meaning (e.g. «peace» — «piece», «sight»- «site»).

3) Homographs are words which have similar spelling but different sound-form and meaning (e.g. «a row» [rau]- «a quarrel»; «a row» [rəu] — «a number of persons or things in a more or less straight line»)

There is another classification by Смирницкий. According to the type of meaning in which homonyms differ, homonyms proper can be classified into:

I. Lexical homonyms — different in lexical meaning (e.g. «ball»);

II. Lexical-grammatical homonyms which differ in lexical-grammatical meanings (e.g. «a seal» — тюлень, «to seal» — запечатывать).

III. Grammatical homonyms which differ in grammatical meaning only (e.g. «used» — Past Indefinite, «used»- Past Participle; «pupils»- the meaning of plurality, «pupil’s»- the meaning of possessive case).

All cases of homonymy may be subdivided into full and partial homonymy. If words are identical in all their forms, they are full homonyms (e.g. «ball»-«ball»). But: «a seal» — «to seal» have only two homonymous forms, hence, they are partial homonyms.

2. Lexical and grammatical meanings of word-groups

1. The lexical meaning of the word-group may be defined as the combined lexical meaning of the component words. Thus, the lexical meaning of the word-group “red flower” may be described denotationally as the combined mean­ing of the words “red” and “flower”. It should be pointed out, however, that the term combined lexical meaning is not to imply that the meaning of the word-group is a mere additive result of all the lexical meanings of the component members. The lexical meaning of the word-group predominates over the lexical meanings of its constituents.

2. The structural meaning of the word-group is the meaning conveyed mainly by the pattern of arrangement of its constituents (e.g. “school grammar” – школьная грамматика and “grammar school” – грамматическая школа, are semantically different because of the difference in the pattern of arrangement of the component words. The structural meaning is the meaning expressed by the pattern of the word-group but not either by the word school or the word grammar.

The lexical and structural components of meaning in word-groups are interdependent and inseparable, e.g. the structural pattern of the word-groups all day long, all night long, all week long in ordinary usage and the word-group all the sun long is identical. Replacing day, night, week by another noun – sun doesn’t change the structural meaning of the pattern. But the noun sun continues to carry the semantic value, the lexical meaning that it has in word-groups of other structural patterns.

ЭКЗАМЕНАЦИОННЫЙ БИЛЕТ № 24

1. Derivational bases

The derivational bases is the part of the word which establishes connections with the lexical unit that motivates the derivative and defines its lexical meaning. The rule of word formation is applied. Structurally, they fall into 3 classes: 1. bases that coincide with morphological stems (e.g. beautiful (d.b.) — beautifully); 2. bases that coincide with word-forms (e.g. unknown — known); 3. bases that coincide with word groups; adjectives and nouns (e.g. blue-eyed – having blue eyes, easy-going).

2. Emotive charge and stylistic reference

The emotive charge is the emotive evaluation inherent in the connotational component of the lexical meaning (e.g. «notorious» => [widely known] => for criminal acts, bad behaviour, bad traits of character; «famous» => [widely known] => for special achievement etc.).

Positive/Negative evaluation; emotive charge/stylistic value.

«to love» — neutral

«to adore» — to love greatly => the emotive charge is higher than in «to love»

«to shake» — neutral.

«to shiver» — is stronger => higher emotive charge.

Mind that the emotive charge is not a speech characteristic of the word. It’s a language phenomenon => it remains stable within the basical meaning of the word.

The emotive charge varies in different word-classes. In some of them, in interjections (междометия), e.g., the emotive element prevails, whereas in conjunctions the emotive charge is as a rule practi­cally non-existent. The emotive implication of the word is to a great extent subjective as it greatly de­pends of the personal experience of the speaker, the mental imagery the word evokes in him. (hospital – architect, invalid or the man living across the road)

If associations with the lexical meaning concern the situation, the social circumstances (formal/informal), the social relations between the interlocutors (polite/rough), the type or purpose of communication (poetic/official)the connotation is stylistically coloured. It is termed as stylistic reference. The main stylistic layers of the vocabulary are:

Literary «parent» «to pass into the next world» — bookish

Neutral «father» «to die»

Colloquial «dad» «to kick the bucket»

In literary (bookish) words we can single out: 1) terms or scientific words (e.g. renaissance, genocide, teletype); 2) poetic words and archaisms (e.g. aught—’any­thing’, ere—’before’, nay—’no’); 3) barbarisms and foreign words (e.g. bouquet).

The colloquial words may be, subdivided into:

1) Common colloquial words.

2) Slang (e.g. governor for ‘father’, missus for ‘wife’, a gag for ‘a joke’, dotty for ‘insane’).

3) Professionalisms — words used in narrow groups bound by the same occupation (e.g., lab for ‘laboratory’, a buster for ‘a bomb’).

4) Jargonisms — words marked by their use within a particular social group and bearing a secret and cryptic character (e.g. a sucker — ‘a person who is easily deceived’).

5) Vulgarisms — coarse words that are notgenerally used in public (e.g. bloody, hell, damn, shut up)

5) Dialectical words (e.g. lass – девчушка, kirk — церковь).

6) Colloquial coinages (e.g. newspaperdom, allrightnik)

Stylistic reference and emotive charge of words are closely connected and to a certain degree interdependent. As a rule stylistically coloured words — words belonging to all stylistic layers except the neutral style are observed to possess a considerable emotive charge (e.g. daddy, mammy are more emotional than the neutral father, mother).

ЭКЗАМЕНАЦИОННЫЙ БИЛЕТ № 25

1. Historical changeability of word-structure

The derivational structure of a word is liable to various changes in the course of time. Certain morphemes may become fused together or may be lost altogether (simplification). As a result of this process, radical changes in the word may take place: root morphemes may turn into affixational and semi-affixational morphemes, compound words may be transformed into derived or even simple words, polymorphic words may become monomorphic.

E.g. derived word wisdom goes back to the compound word wīsdom in which – dom was a root-morpheme and a stem of independent word with the meaning ‘decision, judgment’. The whole compound word meant ‘a wise decision’. In the course of time the meaning of the second component dom became more generalized and turned into the suffix forming abstract nouns (e.g. freedom, boredom).

Sometimes the spelling, of some Modern English words as compared with their sound-form reflects the changes these words have undergone (e.g. cupboard — [‘kʌbəd] is a monomorphic non-motivated simple word. But earlier it consisted of two bases — [kʌp] and [bɔːd] and signified ‘a board to put cups on’. Nowadays, it denotes neither cup nor board: a boot cupboard, a clothes cupboard).

2. Criteria of synonymity

1. It is sometimes argued that the meaning of two words is identical if they can denote the same referent (if an object or a certain class of objects can always be denoted by either of the two words.

This approach to synonymy does not seem acceptable because the same referent in different speech situations can always be denoted by different words which cannot be considered synonyms (e.g. the same woman can be referred to as my mother by her son and my wife by her husband – both words denote the same referent but there is no semantic relationship of synonymy between them).

2. Attempts have been made to introduce into the definition of synonymity the criterion of interchangeability in linguistic contexts (they say: synonyms are words which can replace each other in any given context without the slightest alteration in the denotational or connotational meaning). It is argued that for the linguist similarity of meaning implies that the words are synonymous if either of then can occur in the same context. And words interchangeable in any given context are very rare.

3. Modern linguists generally assume that there are no complete synonyms — if two words are phonemically different then their meanings are also different (buy, purchase – Purchasing Department). It follows that practically no words are substitutable for one another in all contexts (e.g. the rain in April was abnormal/exceptional – are synonymous; but My son is exceptional/abnormal – have different meaning).

Also interchangeability alone cannot serve as a criterion of synonymity. We may safely assume that synonyms are words interchangeable in some contexts. But the reverse is certainly not true as semantically different words of the same part of speech are interchangeable in quite a number of contexts (e.g. I saw a little girl playing in the garden the adj. little may be replaced by a number of different adj. pretty, tall, English).

Thus a more acceptable definition of synonyms seems to be the following: synonyms are words different in their sound-form, but similar in their denotational meaning or meanings and interchangeable at least in some contexts.

ЭКЗАМЕНАЦИОННЫЙ БИЛЕТ № 26

1. Immediate Constituents analysis

The theory of Immediate Constituents (IC) was originally elaborated as an attempt to determine the ways in which lexical units are relevantly related to one another. The fundamental aim of IC analysis is to segment a set of lexical units into two maximally independent sequences or ICs thus revealing the hierarchical structure of this set (e.g. the word-group a black dress in severe styleis divided intoa black dress / in severe style.Successive segmentation results in Ultimate Constituents (UC) — two-facet units that cannot be segmented into smaller units having both sound-form and meaning (e.g. a | black | dress | in | severe | style).

The meaning of the sentence, word-group, etc. and the IC binary segmentation are interdependent (e.g. fat major’s wifemay mean that either ‘the major is fat’ (fat major’s | wife) or ‘his wife is fat’ (fat | major’s wife).

The Immediate Constituent analysis is mainly applied in lexicological investigation to find out the derivational structure of lexical units (e.g. to denationalise => de | nationalise (it’s a prefixal derivative, because there is no such sound-forms as *denation or *denational). There are also numerous cases when identical morphemic structure of different words is insufficient proof of the identical pattern of their derivative structure which can be revealed only by IC analysis (e.g. words which contain two root-morphemes and one derivational morphemesnow-coveredwhich is a compound consisting of two stems snow + covered, but blue-eyedis a suffixal derivative (blue+eye)+-ed). It may be inferred from the examples above that ICs represent the word-formation structure while the UCs show the morphemic structure of polymorphic words.

2. Characteristic features of learner’s dictionaries

Traditionally the term learner’s dictionaries is confined to dictionaries specifically complied to meet the demands of the learners for whom English is not their mother tongue. They nay be classified in accordance with different principles, the main are: 1) the scope of the word-list, and 2) the nature of the information afforded. Depending on that, learner’s dictionaries are usually divided into: a) elementary/basic/pre-intermediate; b) intermediate; c) upper-intermediate/advanced learner’s dictionaries.

1. The scope of the word-list. Pre-intermediate as well as intermediate learner’s dictionaries contain only the most essential and important – key words of English, whereas upper-intermediate learner’s dictionaries contain lexical units that the prospective user may need.

Purpose: to dive information on what is currently accepted in modern English. Excluded: archaic and dialectal words, technical and scientific terms, substandard words and phrases. Included: colloquial and slang words, foreign words – if they are of sort to be met in reading or conversation. (frequency)

2. The nature of the information afforded. They may be divided into two groups: 1) learner’s dictionary proper (those giving equal attention to the words semantic characteristics and the way it is used in speech); 2) those presenting different aspects of the vocabulary: dictionaries of collocations, derivational dictionaries (word-structure), dictionaries of synonyms and antonyms and some others.

Pre-intermediate and intermediate learner’s dictionaries differ from advanced sometimes greatly in the number of meanings given and the language used for the description of these meanings.

Pictorial material is widely used. Pictures may define the meanings of different nouns as well as adjectives, verbs, and adverbs. The order of arrangement of meaning is empiric (beginning with the main meaning to minor ones).

The supplementary material in learner’s dictionaries may include lists of irregular verbs, common abbreviations, geographic names, special signs and symbols used in various branches of science, tables of weights and measures and so on.

ЭКЗАМЕНАЦИОННЫЙ БИЛЕТ № 27

1. Links between lexicology and other branches of linguistics

Lexicology is a branch of linguistics dealing with a systematic description and study of the vocabulary of the language as regards its origin, development, meaning and current use. The term is composed of 2 words of Greek origin: lexis — word + logos – word’s discourse. So lexicology is a word about words, or the science of a word. However, lexicology is concerned not only with words because the study of the structure of words implies references to morphemes which make up words.

On the other hand, the study of semantic properties of a word implies references to variable (переменный) or stable (set) word groups, of which words are compounding parts. Because it is the semantic properties of words that define the general rules of their joining together.

Comparative linguistics and Contrasted linguistics are of great importance in classroom teaching and translation.

Lexicology is inseparable from: phonetics, grammar, and linguostylistics because phonetics also investigates vocabulary units but from the point of view of their sounds. Grammar in its turn deals with various means of expressing grammar peculiarities and grammar relations between words. Linguostylistics studies the nature, functioning and structure of stylistic devices and the styles of a language.

Language is a means of communication, therefore the social essence of inherent in the language itself. The branch of linguistics dealing with relations between the way the language function and develops on the one hand and develops the social life on the other is called sociolinguistics.

2. Grammatical and lexical meanings of words

The word «meaning» is not homogeneous. Its components are described as «types of meaning». The two main types of meaning are grammatical and lexical meaning.

The grammatical meaning is the component of meaning, recurrent in identical sets of individual forms of words (e.g. reads, draws, writes – 3d person, singular; books, boys – plurality; boy’s, father’s – possessive case).

The lexical meaning is the meaning proper to the linguistic unit in all its forms and distribution (e.g. boy, boys, boy’s, boys’ – grammatical meaning and case are different but in all of them we find the semantic component «male child»).

Both grammatical meaning and lexical meaning make up the word meaning and neither of them can exist without the other.

There’s also the 3d type: lexico-grammatical (part of speech) meaning. Third type of meaning is called lexico-grammatical meaning (or part-of-speech meaning). It is a common denominator of all the meanings of words belonging to a lexical-grammatical class (nouns, verbs, adjectives etc. – all nouns have common meaning oа thingness, while all verbs express process or state).

ЭКЗАМЕНАЦИОННЫЙ БИЛЕТ № 28

1. Types of word segmentability

Within the English word stock maybe distinguished morphologically segment-able and non-segmentable words (soundless, rewrite — segmentable; book, car — non-segmentable).

Morphemic segmentability may be of three types: 1. complete, 2. conditional, 3. defective.

A). Complete segmentability is characteristic of words with transparent morphemic structure. Their morphemes can be easily isolated which are called morphemes proper or full morphemes (e.g. senseless, endless, useless). The transparent morphemic structure is conditioned by the fact that their constituent morphemes recur with the same meaning in a number of other words.

B). Conditional segmentability characterizes words segmentation of which into constituent morphemes is doubtful for semantic reasons (e.g. retain, detain, contain). The sound clusters «re-, de-, con-» seem to be easily isolated since they recur in other words but they have nothing in common with the morphemes «re, de-, con-» which are found in the words «rewrite», «decode», «condensation». The sound-clusters «re-, de-, con-» can possess neither lexical meaning nor part of speech meaning, but they have differential and distributional meaning. The morphemes of the kind are called pseudo-morphemes (quasi morphemes).

C). Defective morphemic segmentability is the property of words whose component morphemes seldom or never recur in other words. Such morphemes are called unique morphemes. A unique morpheme can be isolated and displays a more or less clear meaning which is upheld by the denotational meaning of the other morpheme of the word (cranberry, strawberry, hamlet).

2. Basic criteria of semantic derivation within conversion pairs

There are different criteria if differentiating between the source and the derived word in a conversion pair.

1. The criterion of the non-correspondence between the lexical meaning of the root-morpheme and the part-of-the speech meaning of the stem in one of the two words in a conversion pair. This criterion cannot be implied to abstract nouns.

2. The synonymity criterion is based on the comparison of a conversion pair with analogous synonymous word-pairs (e.g. comparing to chat – chat with synonymous pair of words to converse – conversation, it becomes obvious that the noun chat is the derived member as their semantic relations are similar). This criterion can be applied only to deverbal substantives.

3. The criterion of derivational relations. In the word-cluster hand – to hand – handful – handy the derived words of the first degree of derivation have suffixes added to the nominal base. Thus, the noun hand is the center of the word-cluster. This fact makes it possible to conclude that the verb to hand is the derived member.

4. The criterion of semantic derivation is based on semantic relations within the conversion pairs. If the semantic relations are typical of denominal verbs – verb is the derived member, but if they are typical of deverbal nouns – noun is the derived member (e.g. crowd – to crowd are perceived as those of ‘an object and an action characteristic of an object’ – the verb is the derived member).

5. According to the criterion of the frequency of occurrence a lower frequency value shows the derived character. (e.g. to answer (63%) – answer (35%) – the noun answer is the derived member).

6. The transformational criterion is based on the transformation of the predicative syntagma into a nominal syntagma (e.g. Mike visited his friends. – Mike’s visit to his friends. – then it is the noun that is derived member, but if we can’t transform the sentence, noun cannot be regarded as a derived member – Ann handed him a ball – XXX).

ЭКЗАМЕНАЦИОННЫЙ БИЛЕТ № 29

1. Word-formation: definition, basic peculiarities

According to Смирницкий word-formation is a system of derivative types of words and the process of creating new words from the material available in the language after certain structural and semantic patterns. The main two types are: word-derivation and word-composition (compounding).

The basic ways of forming words in word-derivation are affixation and conversion (the formation of a new word by bringing a stem of this word into a different formal paradigm, e.g. a fall from to fall).

There exist other types: semantic word-building (homonymy, polysemy), sound and stress interchange (e.g. blood – bleed; increase), acronymy (e.g. NATO), blending (e.g. smog = smoke + fog) and shortening of words (e.g. lab, maths). But they are different in principle from derivation and compound because they show the result but not the process.

2. Specialized dictionaries

Phraseological dictionaries have accumulated vast collections of idiomatic or colloquial phrases, proverbs and other, usually image-bearing word-groups with profuse illustrations. (An Anglo-Russian Phraseological Dictionary by A. V. Koonin)

New Words dictionaries have it as their aim adequate reflection of the continuous growth of the English language. (Berg P. A Dictionary of New Words in English)

Dictionaries of slang contain vulgarisms, jargonisms, taboo words, curse-words, colloquialisms, etc. (Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English by E. Partridge)

Usage dictionaries pass judgement on usage problems of all kinds, on what is right or wrong. Designed for native speakers they supply much various information on such usage problems as, e.g., the difference in meaning between words (like comedy, farce and burlesque; formalityand formalism), the proper pronunciation of words, the plural forms of the nouns (e.g. flamingo), the meaning of foreign and archaic words. (Dictionary of Modern English Usage by N. W. Fowler.)

Dictionaries of word-frequency inform the user as to the frequency of occurrence of lexical units in speech (oral or written). (M. West’s General Service List.)

A Reverse dictionary (back-to-front dictionaries) is a list of words in which the entry words are arranged in alphabetical order starting with their final letters. (Rhyming Dictionary of the English Language).

Pronouncing dictionaries record contemporary pronunciation. They indicate variant pronunciations (which are numerous in some cases), as well as the pronunciation of different grammatical forms. (English Pronouncing Dictionary by Daniel Jones)

Etymological dictionaries trace present-day words to the oldest forms available, establish their primary meanings and point out the immediate source of borrowing, its origin, and parallel forms in cognate languages. (Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology edited by С. Т. Onions.)

Ideographic dictionaries designed for English-speaking writers, orators or translators seeking to express their ideas adequately contain words grouped by the concepts expressed. (Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases.)

Besides the most important and widely used types of English dictionaries discussed above there are some others, such as synonym-books, spelling reference books, hard-words dictionaries, etc.

ЭКЗАМЕНАЦИОННЫЙ БИЛЕТ № 30

1. Meaning in morphemes

A morpheme is the smallest indivisible two-facet (form and meaning) language unit which implies an association of a certain meaning and sound-form. Unlike words, morphemes cannot function independently (they occur in speech only as parts of words).

Morphemes have certain semantic peculiarities that distinguish them from words.- the don’t have grammatical meaning. Concrete lexical meaning is found mainly in root-morphemes (e.g. ‘friend” – friendship). Lexical meaning of affixes is generalized (e.g. -er – doer of an action; re- — repetition of some action).

Lexical meaning in morphemes may be analyzed into connotational and denotational components. The connotational aspect of meaning may be found in root-morphemes and affixational morphemes (e.g. diminutive meaning: booklet).

The part-of-speech meaning is characteristic only of affixal morphemes; moreover, some affixal morphemes are devoid of any part of meaning but part-of-speech meaning (e.g. –ment).

Morphemes possess specific meanings (of their own). There are: 1) deferential meaning and 2) distributional meaning.

Differential meaning is the semantic component that serves to distinguish one word from others containing identical morphemes (e.g. bookshelf, bookcase, bookhaunter).

Distributional meaning is the meaning of order and arrangement of morphemes that make up the word (e.g. heartless X lessheart).

Identical morphemes may have different sound-form (e.g. divide, divisible, division – the root morpheme is represented phonetically in different ways. They are called allomorphs or morpheme variant of one and the same morpheme.

2. Morphemic types of words

According to the number of morphemes words maybe classified into: monomorphic (root) words e.g. live, house) and polymorphic words that consist of more than one morpheme (merciless).

Polymorphic words are subdivided into:

1. Monoradical (one-root) words may be of 3 subtypes: a) radical-suffixal words (e.g. helpless), b) radical-prefixal words (e.g. mistrust), c) prefixo-radical-suffixal words (e.g. misunderstanding).

2. Polyradical (two or more roots) words fall into: a) root morphemes without affixes (e.g. bookcase) and b) root morphemes with suffixes (e.g. straw-colored).

Фразы на английском языке, без которых не обходится ни один урок

Фразы на английском языке, без которых не обходится ни один урок

What day is it today? – Какой сегодня день?
What is the date today? – Какое сегодня число?
Who is absent today? – Кто сегодня отсутствует?
Why are you late? – Почему вы опоздали?
That’s no excuse (That’s a poor excuse) – Это неуважительная причина
It is your duty to keep the blackboard clean – Ваша обязанность следить за тем, чтобы доска была чистой
Will you go and fetch some chalk? – Принесите мел, пожалуйста
What was your homework for today? What did I give for homework? – Что вам было задано на дом на сегодня?
What have you prepared for today? – Что вы приготовили на сегодня?
Have you all done your homework? Has everybody done the homework? – Все сделали домашнее задание?
Open your exercise books, please. I want to check that you have all done your homework. – Откройте тетради. Я хочу проверить, все ли сделали домашнее задание
Why didn’t you do the homework? – Почему вы не выполнили домашнее задание?
Put up your hands those who haven’t done their homework. – Кто не сделал домашнее задание, поднимите руки
For homework you were to… — Дома вы должны были…
I am glad to see that everyone has done the homework well today – Рад отметить, что сегодня все хорошо выполнили домашнее задание
Hand in your exercise books, please – Сдайте ваши тетради
Don’t all speak at once– Не говорите все сразу
Don’t answer all together. One at a time– Не отвечайте все хором. По одному
The rest keep quiet – Остальные сидите спокойно
Quiet! – Тише!
Stop making a noise! – Не шумите!
Stop talking! – Не разговаривайте!
Put up your hand if you know the answer – Если знаете, как ответить на вопрос, поднимите руку
Say it again. (Repeat it) – Повторите
Go on. (Go on with your story) – Продолжайте рассказывать
Don’t hurry. (There’s no need to hurry) – Не спешите
Start from the very beginning – Начните с самого начала
Make up a dialogue based on the given example – Составьте диалог по данному образцу
Act out the dialogue – Инсценируйте диалог
Ask your friend on your left (right) why … — Спросите соседа слева (справа), почему …
Complete the following story (Make up an end to my story) – Придумайте конец рассказа
Think of sentences (situations) in which you could use the following words (phrases) – Составьте предложения (ситуации) со следующими словами (фразами)
Confirm what I am going to say – Подтвердите мою мысль
Tell the story to us in 5-10 sentences – Перескажите рассказ пятью-десятью предложениями
Is the translation of this word (phrase) correct? – Правильно ли переведено это слово (выражение)?
Who has a different translation? – Кто перевел иначе?
What have you got? – Как у вас?
What’s the correct translation (answer)? – Какой перевод (ответ) правильный?
Have you all got the same? – У всех сделано так?
Who’s got something different? – У кого иначе?
What is your version? You have got it wrong – Ваш вариант? У вас неправильно
Is there any other way of saying it? – Можно ли выразить это иначе?
Today we’ll have the competition for the best reader (to see who is the best reader) – Сегодня у нас будет соревнование на лучшего чтеца
Don’t stress the article (every word) when reading – Не ставьте ударение на артикль (на каждое слово), когда читаете
Read louder! – Читайте громче!
Read it all over again – Прочитайте это снова
Read the text with the correct intonation – Читайте текст с правильной интонацией
Look through this text and find the answers to the following questions – Просмотрите этот текст и найдите ответы на следующие вопросы
Who wants to be the first to speak up? – Кто хочет первым высказаться?
Now put aside your text-books and look at the blackboard – Теперь отложите в сторону свои учебники и посмотрите на доску
Your intonation isn’t right. Say it again – У вас неправильная интонация. Повторите
Give me a complete sentence – Дайте полное предложение
Say whether this is right or not – Скажите, правильно ли это
Correct your mistakes. Can you see where you’ve made a mistake? – Исправьте свою ошибку. Вы понимаете, где ваша ошибка?
Now I’ll give you a ten minutes’ dictation – Сейчас у нас будет десятиминутный диктант
Open your notebooks at a clean page. Write the date in the top right-hand corner – Откройте свои тетради на новой странице. Напишите дату в правом верхнем углу
What’s wrong with your pen? – Что случилось с вашей ручкой
We’ll study (learn) some new words – Сегодня мы возьмем новые слова
Pay attention to these words – Обратите внимание на эти слова
Listen carefully to what I’m going to say – Слушайте меня внимательно
Ask me questions if you need any more information – Задавайте мне вопросы, если вам что-нибудь неясно
At home read and translate Lesson 3 (the whole text from beginning to end, the first three paragraphs up to the words…) – Дома прочитайте и переведите Урок 3 (весь текст от начала до конца, три первых абзаца до слов… )
Take down the words you don’t know in your vocabulary book – Выпишите незнакомые слова в словарные тетради
Learn the poem by heart – Выучите стихотворение наизусть
Make up a story on the picture – Составьте рассказ по картинке
Your answers are very good (bad) – Вы отвечали очень хорошо (плохо)
You should work harder – Вам следует больше заниматься
You’re making progress (You are doing well) – Вы делаете успехи
That’s right – Верно. Правильно
Good. That’s good – Хорошо, очень хорошо
That was a careless answer – Это был непродуманный ответ
You read well (badly) today – вы сегодня хорошо (плохо) читали
You’ve got 4 (for) – Вам четыре
You’ve made a lot of mistakes, so I’ve given you 3 (three) – Вы сделали много ошибок, и я вам поставила 3
The lesson is over – Урок окончен

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Как говорить на английском свободно

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A model ______ in transit. was damaged One of our best young engineers created this phone. This phone______by one of our best young engineers. was created They will not finish the project by the end of the month. The project_______by the end of the month. will not be finished Thousands of people use this engineering achievement every day. This engineering achievement_______every day. is used They have chosen the new design for this spacecraft. The new design for this spacecraft________. has been chosen Intel produces millions of chips every year. Millions of chips__________ every day. are produced Engineers build a lot of the world’s supertankers in South Korea. A lot of the world’s supertankers______ in South Korea. are built They have closed five research labs over the last year. Five research labs_____ over the last year. have been closed He is reviewing all of our IT systems. All of our IT systems_______ . are being reviewed Programs that you use to make a computer do different things. software Someone whose job is to design, build or repair machines, engines, roads, bridges, etc. an engineer The first model or example of something new that can be developed or copied in the future. a prototype An important discovery or development that helps solve a problem. a breakthrough A very small part of a computer or machine that does calculations or stores information. a microchip Knowledge, equipment and methods that are used in science and industry. advanced technologies The things that are used for a particular purpose in the home. household appliances A time by which something must be done. a deadline The planning and building of things not used for religious or military purposes, such as roads, bridges and public buildings. civil engineering The part of a vehicle that uses energy from oil, electricity or steam to make it move. an engine 1.In____ engineering, a major component of functionality is safety: civil structures are meant to be used by large numbers of people, with near-perfect safety. civil engineering 2.I’ve got practical____with that sort of stuff. experience 3. We are looking for a candidate with strong project _____ skills management 4. You can watch it on _____ in the movie theaters closed-circuit TV 5. Everyone has skills, and each of us differ, yet we all have something to offer. To me; _____is to make the world a better place because you were there. to contribute to society 6. The Sears tower, the tallest ________ in North America, has reached the end of its reign (господство). cunducting an experiment 7. By now, Forrester had become a powerful figure because he used his computers to _______of corporations and even whole cities as systems. build models 8. The most talented _______ are working on the new design of the aircraft. engineers 9. So, we now rejoin the action for a ______at the top-secret Prodrive test track, just off the A 4177 between Honiley and Baddesley Clinton. safety test 10. I’m trying, but I can’t ______ without _________. find a solution/ man-made structure Tesla _____Elon Musk explained that the new improvement in an electric car______research into an _____battery. Engineers were working on a new power train for its cars. A power train is the system that delivers the power from the_______to the wheels. The_______managed to increase the battery power by ten per cent, resulting in the extra acceleration. Tesla said: «Unlike a gasoline internal combustion engine with hundreds of moving parts, Tesla electric motors have only one moving piece: the rotor. As a result, Model S acceleration is instantaneous, silent and smooth.» The Tesla S P85D car is priced at $87,500 as a basic______ ; the «ludicrous» upgrade will be an extra $13,000. CEO, came from, advanced, engine, engineers, model A group of _____ as opened a kind of gym for robots. The group is headed by Elon Musk, who is the boss of the electric car company Tesla Motors and the_______ tourism company, SpaceX. Mr Musk also founded the online payments website PayPal. His latest ______ is called OpenAI Gym. It is a platform for______ and code writers to test their latest work. It is an open platform, which means people are free to______ their ideas for artificial intelligence (A.I.) on it. In particular, researchers can test and share their algorithms for A.I. Algorithms are special sets of rules in a computer program that can ______ and quickly______ large amounts of information. engineers, space, project, researchers, test, solve problems, deal with A satellite start-up company has successfully ______ its first satellites in a project _______ delivering «affordable» Internet access to every corner of the globe. The London-based company is called OneWeb. Its first six satellites were______ orbit on Wednesday in a launch from French Guiana. A Russian Soyuz rocket transported the pioneering ______ OneWeb said it eventually wants to have around 900 spacecrafts in an extensive network in space. Only 648 satellites are needed to provide global Internet coverage. OneWeb will start sending more Internet satellites into ______ owards the end of this year. The company intends to launch several rockets every month, each carrying 39 satellites.

OneWeb CEO Adrian Steckel was ecstatic about the launch of the multi-billion-dollar______ . He said it would greatly transform the lives of millions of people. He told reporters: «We’re going to connect lots of people who are not currently connected. We’re going to start by _______ connecting schools, connecting boats, connecting planes, and connecting huge swathes of the planet.» Not everyone is happy at the prospect of a global Internet network. Reports are that China is ______ jammers to block the network. North Korea might also fear the network could damage its national security. Russia has voiced concerns that OneWeb’s network could be used to gather intelligence.

Launched , aimed at , put into, spacecraft, space,project,focusing on, testing There was no danger _____ colliding ______ the Earth. of/ with Giant anchors will be sunk _____ the bottom of the sea. ito A characteristic of the research _____ genetic engineering is that you have mostly failures and a few successes. of They want to deflect an asteroid that will fly close ______ the Earth two decades _______ now. to/from They make the world a cleaner, safer, healthier place ______ inventing, building and improving everything from microchips to household appliances. by The idea is that the magnetically raised train will travel ______ a tunnel floating ______ the Atlantic Ocean. by/in I love the challenge and finding solutions_____ a problem. to Engineering isn’t just _______ testing theories and building models. about If it is built, it will be the largest and the most expensive engineering project ______ the history ______ the world. in/of Scientists and engineers worldwide are concerned ______ the threat ______ asteroids striking the Earth. about/ at (Engineer) _____ is a term applied to the profession in which a knowledge of the mathematical and natural sciences, gained by study, experience, and practice, is applied to the efficient use of the materials and forces of nature. (Engineer) _____ are the ones who have received professional (train) ______ in pure and applied science. Before the middle of the 18th century, large-scale construction work was usually placed in the hands of military (engineer) _______ . Military (engineer) _______ nvolved such work as the preparation of topographical maps, the location, design, and construction of roads and bridges; and the building of forts and docks. In the 18th century, however, the term civil (engineer) ________ came into use to describe (engineer) _______ work that was performed by civilians for nonmilitary purposes. engineering, engineers, training, engineers, engineering, engineering, engineering Mechanical (engineer) ________ , the branch of (engineer) _______ concerned with the design, manufacture, installation, and operation of (engine) _________ and machines and with (manufacture) _______ processes. It is particularly (concern) _______ with forces and motion.

The (invent) ________ of the steam (engine) _______ in the latter part of the 18th century, providing a key source of power for the (Industry) ______ Revolution , gave an enormous impetus to the development of (machine) __________ of all types. As a result, a new major classification of (engineer) _________ (deal) _____ with tools and (machine) ________ developed, receiving formal recognition in 1847 in the founding of the Institution of (Mechanic) ________ Engineers in Birmingham, Eng.

Mechanical (engineer) _________ has evolved from the practice by the (mechanic) ________ of an art based largely on trial and error to the application by the professional (engineer) __________ of the (science) _______ method in research, design, and (product) _______ The demand for increased efficiency is continually raising the quality of work expected from a mechanical (engineer) __________ and (require) _______ a (high) ________ degree of education and (train) ________ .

endineering, engineering, engines, manufacturing, concerned, inventation, engine, industrial, machinery, engineering, dealing, machines, mechanical, engineering, mechanic, engineer, scientific, production, engineer, requiring,higher, training 1. I don’t thlnk your theory will be accepted 2. This research project was set up by one of our scientist 3. All our machines are serviced by highly trained technicians 4. I’ll be shown round the factory and then I’ll meet an engineer 1. Roche Inc. became a billionaire in the biomedical field and is now hoping to set up research institutes throughout the world. It manufactures vitamins, perfumes and antibiotics 2. Qantas is Australia’s largest airline. It operates a fleet of 187 aircraft 3. Our most successful department by far is Engineering department. It is run by Dr.Stein and her colleagues Changes (make) ______ to the prototype and the design (modify)_______ are made / is modified I am certain safety tests (do) _______ next Monday. will be done The asteroid, 20001 YBS, (first see) ______ in December 2000. was first seen If it (build) ____ , it will be the largest and the most expensive engineering project in the history of the world. is built The project can’t (realize) _______ as since October 2017 it (heavily criticize) _______ by environmentalists. be realized/ has been heavily criticized It (hope) _____ that a huge solar and windfarm project in the Sahara desert may provide 15% of Europe’s electricity by 2050. is hoped New safety guidelines for engineers (put) ________ into practice next month. will be put The way the air moves around the model (study) ____ by engineers and scientists. is studied Now giant anchors (sink) _____ into the bottom of the sea. are sunk Changes (make) ______to the prototype and the design (modify) _______ are made/is modified Recently, a group of business people (open) _____ a kind of gym for robots. The group (head) _______ by Elon Musk, who (be) ______ the boss of the electric car company Tesla Motors and the space tourism company, SpaceX. Mr Musk also (found) ____the online payments website PayPal. His latest project (call) _____ OpenAI Gym. It (be) _____ a platform for researchers and code writers to test their latest work. It (be) ______ an open platform, which means people (be) ______free to test their ideas for artificial intelligence (A.I.) on it. In particular, researchers can (test) ______ and (share) ____ their algorithms for A.I. Algorithms (be) _____special sets of rules in a computer program that can (solve) ______ problems and quickly (deal) ______ with large amounts of information. So a lot of information can (collect) ______ on the only one platform. Has opened, is headed,is,founded, is called, is,is, are, test, share, are, solve , deal, be collected About 85% of the world’s rubber ______ in the Far East. On most rubber plantations, the latex _______ from the rubber trees every day. It ______ with water and then formic acid _________ . This process creates crude rubber, which ______then ______ into sheets. Is produced, is collected, is mixed, is added, is ,rolled Twenty filter units ____ from you on the 16th March and they _______yesterday. Unfortunately, when the package _____ two of the units _____ two of the units ______ urgently by our engineering department. were ordered, were delivered , was opened, had been damaged, are needed The term ______ can mean different things. ________ can mean different things. ________ or things for ______ . _________ engineers find ways to stop ________ from factories or how to _______ after an oil spill in the ocean. Engineers like ________ and are _______ engineering , mechanical, car industry, military use , Environmental, pollution, clean up , solving problems, building new things New tunnel: a set of _______ tubes.Length of tunnel = ________ That is about _______ longer than the Channel Tunnel between _________ Length under the sea = ________ . _________ of the undersea section = 54 metres. Average journey time by train = ________ Typical speed of trains = __________ Overall cost (approx.) = ___________ 3, 72 kilometeres, one-and-a-half times , the United Kingdom and France, -, 25 minutes , 160 km/h, 25 billion dollars 1. What kind of building has Malcolm Bernier just finished? A tower 2. His buildings are considered by many to be… ugly 3. What kind of event do the decide to have? a debate 4. What has been built by Lance Weiss? a brige Make any modifications and test again. 4 Test the prototype. 3 Do market research. Interview potential customers 1 Build a prototype based on results. 2 Invite journalists to the press launch. 5 живописный, колоритный picturesque прогнозировать, пророчить predict возрождение, возобновление revival молва, слухи rumour законодатель моды trendsetter практикант, стажер trainee давать «на чай» tip нелепый, смехотворный ridiculous играть главные роли star значительный, важный significant недооценивать undervalue неизменный, постоянный steady знаток, эксперт maven одевать, наряжать dress развлечение entertainment вымирать die out исчезать, пропадать disappear досуг, свободное время leisure вспышка, начало outbreak переоценивать overvalue retirement dominant infant mortality life expectancy slight decrease amusement arcade get a degree beauty competition marked fall upward trend medical advances cuffed jeans thought-provoking read anti-ageing drugs revived interest current trends get out of control create a look remain stable go hand in hand birth rate source of income ageing process cosmetic surgery Young people in particular thought that helmets were unattractive and _____. unfashionable Researchers _____ that at least half of the North American and Japanese babies born since the year 2000 will live to the age of 90. predict Gladwell also talked about the importance of word of mouth in helping people to _____ new ideas and trends. pick up on I’ve enjoyed _____ to you. chatting Since 2003 CD, video and digital have all shown a sharp _____ in revenue. drop These days social networking allows people to _____ about trends which are global. find out Which trends that have _____ will have a revival? disappeared In the book Gladwell compares changes in behaviour and new trends to the way _____ of disease develop outbreaks Gladwell claims in his book that, just like epidemics, trends move rapidly through a population as people _____ them. buy into However, often this is not the case, especially with new trends which seem to _____ very quickly. catch on _____ quickly become aware of changes in fashion. Mavens Malcolm Gladwell shows how trends suddenly _____ and are everywhere, and then later slow down in popularity and finally die out. take over This watch is the ideal _____ for fashion-conscious men and women. accessory In summary, music spending in the US has shown significant _____ since 2000. decline The idea describes the time in any process when very _____ change happens. rapid For example, stylish television shows such as Mad Men have had a big influence on the way people _____. dress Sometimes, for example in fashion, they _____ years or even decades later. reappear I don’t like _____ when buying clothes. getting advice 1. One of my key responsibilities as a textile factory manager is to________a new look.2. A movie star felt______ and underpaid.3. Apparently a Hollywood actress has given her endorsement for our _______ line.4. How much would you need to________?5. The Takumi are responsible for passing on their knowledge to UNIQLO’s production_________in China.6. Most women, especially my clients, are extremely create, undervalued, accessories, facilities, fashion-conscious 1. The term «haute couture», which refers to______ custom-made clothing, originates from the «maitresses couturieres» of the seventeenth century. These women were ______for cutting and sewing garments. While they often had great technical ________, they did not have much_______ fashions. In contrast, modern «haute couture» is extremely influential on fashion ________ 2. Fashion________ first organized fashion________ to promote their designs in the early 1900s.
3. Before department stores, consumers go to many different specialty shops to find materials for __________ or tailoring. luxury, responsible, skill, influence on , trends, shows, houses, dressmaking 1. Mannequins are _______ with the merchandise and angled so they can be seen from any direction.
2. I guess, we should all realise that new trends and fashion really ________ .
3. News of his success _______ quickly.
4. E-commerce is _______ rapidly — it currently accounts for around 15% of all clothing sales in the USA.
5. I _______ to wear dark colours.
6. Fashion illustration nearly _______ after the introduction of photography.
7. The United Nations _________ that in the early 1950s the world life expectancy rate was 46.4 years.
8. The town’s population has ________ greatly in recent years, and now over 60 percent of the population is under 40 years old.
9. On Sunday evenings, the town centre is ________ by young people enjoying themselves and the restaurants and clubs are rarely lively. dress, go hand is hand , spread, growing, tend, disappeared, estimated,increased, taken over Have you ever gone into one store and tried something on in your size, only to go to another store and ______ that the same size is too small? Frustrating, isn’t it? It seems that _____ grade sizes according to separate systems. It’s important for clothing manufacturers to ________ their target market. But for a global brand, that market can vary enormously depending on the country where the clothing is being sold.How does it fit? Let us________ the facts
Clothing companies include style fits for _______ like ‘tapered fit’, ‘boot cut’ or ‘low waist’ to guide shoppers. Some clothing is labelled XS, S, M, L, and XL — that is, extra small, small, medium, large, and extra large — but an M in one country could be another country’s L. Then there are the numbered coded systems. Germany has two different numbered systems for short and tall women. Great Britain often uses sizing codes ________ rom 8-18, and the same numbers are also used in the US, but they are actually two sizes different. And in southern Europe, especially in Italy and Spain, a numbering system from 36 to 46 is used.
Help is on the way
Grading clothing sizes on real measurements is a good place to start.________ companies are beginning to do this, and many give their______ detailed instructions on how to take their own body measurements. Customers can then compare these to the company’s sizing chart. Some online retailers also offer a virtual 3D sizing model. There are different body types to choose from and customers can see different styles on a sizing avatar. If a clothing manufacturer has a _______ , they may choose to produce garments that are tailored to a specific group of consumers. For example, Ferragamo is changing their shoe widths to accommodate Asian markets making them narrower. However, the European ________ for Standardization is working on developing sizing standards that can be applied internationally. Customers will need to know their body measurements in centimetres around the chest, waist, hips, arms and legs. Hopefully this will make for a _______ improvement on the current shopping experience. find out, clothing manufacturers , keep in mind, comment on , jeans , ranging, mail order catalogue, customers , niche market ,council, significant It can be a problem these days keeping _____the number of overnight YouTube sensations and viral marketing campaigns ______ the Internet. up with/ on This chart shows the results _______ a study carried ______ the Recording Industry Association ______ America. of/ out for/ of This chart shows the results _______ a study carried ________ the Recording Industry Association ________ America. of / out for / of However, often this is not the case, especially _______ new trends which seem to catch _________ very quickly. with/ on The author also talked ______ the importance of word of mouth _______ helping people to pick ______ new ideas and trends. about / in/ up on Overall, the survey shows that _______ reaching a peak _____ 1999 spending ______ music has been falling. after/ in /on These days social networking allows people to find ______ trends which are global. out about The author claims ______ his book that, just like epidemics, trends move rapidly _______ a population as people buy _____ them. in/ through/ into He was interested _______ these issues ______ a time when it was not fashionable in/ at He shows how they suddenly take ______ and are everywhere, and then later slow _____ popularity and finally die ______ over/ down in / out Veganism has become more popular in the past decade. People are becoming vegans to help the planet. _____ meat and other food from animals is the biggest change vegans make to their lives. Vegans are now thinking about ______ . There is a big ______ in the sales of vegan clothing, footwear ________ , and products that are free from animal products. These include synthetic fur coats and shoes made from tree bark, rubber and coconut fibre.
Researchers say 42 per cent of shoppers think about animal welfare before buying clothes. Many people would consider buying vegan shoes. Vegan fashion is a ______ in luxury brands. Stella McCartney designed clothes that are free from leather. She uses _____ products. The clothes have a Beatles theme. Her father, Paul, was lead singer of the Beatles. She designed leather-free sneakers and fake fur coats. Ms McCartney is a big animal rights activist. She is a real _______ in this sphere giving up , fashion, increase, accessories, trend, recycled , maven Japan lowers age of adulthood to 18
Japan has ______ (low) the age at which people become ________ (adult) for the first time since 1876. From the year 2022, teenagers will become adults at 18. This is two years _______ (early) than the current age of adulthood. Even though the age has been lowered, there are still things that will not change. The legal age for _______ (drink) alcohol,_______ (smoke) and _______(gamble) will stay at 20. The new law will enable 18-year-olds to marry without ______ (parent) consent. They can also apply for loans and credit cards. Transgender men and women over 18 will be able to apply to have their gender _____ (official) recognised.

The new law should help the economy in Japan. The government hopes more young people will get married and start families. This will help to address Japan’s _____(fall) birth rate and _____ (age) population. More financial freedom could boost the economy and provide more tax revenue. This will help the government with _______(increase) pension and _______ (healthcare) payments. Many of Japan’s young people were more worried about how the law will _______ (affecting) the traditional Coming of Age Day. This is a national holiday in which 20-year-olds _______ (dress) up in traditional kimonos to celebrate adulthood.

lowered, adults , earlier, drinking, smoking , gambling , parental, officially , falling, ageing , healthcare, affect 12 month economic forecast
The Central Bank would like to keep interest rates low next year in order to stimulate economic ______ (grow), and so we expect the economy to continue _______ (grow) at about 4%. This means that unemployment will ______ (fall) in most sectors of the economy next year. Exchange rates are very difficult to _______ (prediction), but the currency will probably remain stable. Some important events are about to take place in the _______ (policy) field. The president is due to call elections within the next twelve months, and so by the middle of next year the _______ (elect) campaign will have begun. The government will be ______ (fight) on a platform of _______ (honest) and competence, and it is planning to introduce reforms to the legal system so that judges can investigate the misuse of public funds more easily. When that happens, international investor confidence should _______ (increase) ______ (rapid). growth, growing, fall , predict, political , election , fighting , honesty , increase , rapidly George practices … every day. designing You will have … across all areas of womenswear, menswear and childrenswear, although you may specialize in a product area such as knitwear. to work Manufacturing system helps textile mills … garments more quickly. produce We are looking for a PR manager who will be responsible for … marketing campaigns. planning Growing fruit and vegetables yourself is a trend now. Have you ever thought of … your own fruit and vegetables? growing You will have experience of … textiles or any accessories needed for a prototype or capsule collection. purchasing Dave agreed … his friends at the cafe tomorrow evening. to meet Candidates will need excellent communication skills as they will be responsible for … print and online promotional literature. writing I would like … fashion show in Paris this summer. to visit You will work closely with designers … their designs are translated into well-made garments. to ensure Coco Chanel managed … a solution. to find Working in the fashion industry means you have to constantly … new ideas. come up with Some employers will let their staff … the World Cup during working hours. watch I heard you … about e-books at the Internet seminar. talk The 16-year-old daughter of a friend comes to you … for advice about what career is in trend nowadays. to ask PCCW has openly stated that it wishes … the biggest broadband player in Asia. to become They let us … all these free samples. have He says he will help me … a recording contract. get / to get I saw him … of the exhibition. walk out The World Bank made the government … benefits as a condition o f the loan. cut We had … a presentation every morning. to give Can you show me how … to the Internet on this computer? to get on We were allowed … to the fashion show at the weekends. to go Indefinite( simple) to carry out/ to be decreased continuous to be overweighting/ —- perfect to have estimated / to have been decreased prerfect continuous to have been carrying out / —- Many buildings were reported __________ by the fire. to have been damaged Everyone wants _________. to be respected Your proposal is certain _______. to be accepted The third key remained ___________ . to be tested. I tend ____1____ presents to friends, but even more I tend _____2_____ gifts. 1. to give…….. 2. to be given Our new boss is hard ________. be pleased She wants ________ an English course. to take The book appears _______ in Greek. to be written I intended __________ you of it earlier. to have reminded Is there anything else _______ him? to be told What they want is _______ (to have) English twice a week. to have The city also encourages employees ______ (to consider) taking the bus or biking to work. to consider He is said ____ (to carry out) a new research recently. to have carried out He asked me _____ (not/ to be) late. not to be Everyone wants _____ (to know) the results of the research. tio know He was sorry ______ (not/to notice) the fax on the secretary’s table. to hard not noticed It is very kind of you ______ (to do) it for us already. to have done He seems _____ (to work) since early in the morning. have warked He is said _______ (to write) a new book now. to be writing How can she ______ (to work) in the garden now? It is already dark. be working connectors oOo imitate ooOo charisma oOo cultural Ooo economic ooOo influential ooOo community oOo trendsetterrs Ooo behaviour oOo epidemics ooOo Speaker 1 Shoes speaker 2 watch Speaker 3 sun glasses Speaker 4 frame Speaker 5 chairs 1. Which race on earth has always wanted to live longer? — ______ 2. Which do you think live loger, men or women? — ______ 3. How could people live longer? — By ____ , being _____ with stress, having ______ money and ______ .
4. Why don’t some people want to live longer? — To _______ at present, they _______ want to be ______ and ______ . human , women , eating well, goood at dealing , enough, financial security , enjoy life , don’t, old , ill 1. It’s important for humans to live on their own in order to live longer. ______ 2. One reason we are leaving longer is because of improvements in medicine. _______3. Estimates show that one person in 100 000 is aged 100 or above. ______ 4. Science can prove why women live longer than men. ______ 5. People over 100 tend to have positive and relaxed attitude to life. _______ 6. Only the richest members of society live a long time. _________ 7. Our genes have some control over how long we will live. ________ 8. The doctor doesn’t think it’s always a good idea to live to 100. _______- False , True, False , False , True , False , True ,True Good morning,everyone. _____to discuss the facilities for older people at hte beach. Who would like to begin?
I would. I’m very _____ that we have to pay to get to the beach. It doesn’t help that hte car park is a fifteen-minute walk from the beach.
________ main point.
Well, ______ that we should pay. It should be free for pensioners to get on the beach.
I see how you feel. Thank you for ______ . I’ll look into _____ .
Sorry, can I ______ ?
Sure. Go ahead. We’re here / unhappy / Please make your / it isn’t acceptable / your comment / the matter / just say something , please Match the expressions with their meanings.
time-consuming
spend time
work-life balance
time management
workstation taking up a lot of time;
use or pass time doing a particular thing;
how much time you spend at work and home;
organizing your time effectively;
the place in an office where a person works, especially with a computer; Match the words with their translations:
satisfying
stimulating
demanding
tedious
flexible
challenging удовлетворяющий;
стимулирующий, поощрительный;
требующий больших затрат сил;
скучный, утомительный;
с гибким графиком;
бросающий вызов; Future perfect is used to express an action that will happen before another future action or before a specific point of time in the future. TRUE We use the present continuous tense to express an action that will last for some time before a specific point of time in the future. FALSE 1. The museum opens at 10 am daily.
2. What are you doing tomorrow evening?
3. This time tomorrow we will be driving to York.
4. It’s hot. I will open the window.
5. I am going to visit my Uncle next week. timetable
fixed arrangements in the near future
the action will be going on at a specific point of time in the future
on‑the‑spot decision
planned action in the future Don’t worry about your driving test! I’m sure you’ll pass / you’re passing . you’ll pass Good morning and welcome to our school. In this talk I’ll / I’m going to tell you about .. I’m going to Oops, I forgot your drink! I’m going to / I’ll go and get it now I’ll go You should proofread during the writing and editing process. FALSE Correct the word: withold withhold Correct the word: benefitted benefited Correct the mistake in the sentence Word form: They were education in many different countries. educated Listen to the speaker and complete the sentences.
The two problems for those seeking work are getting an __________(1), and performing well at it.
It is important that your CV is __________(2).
Emphasise the positive aspects of your _____ _____(3) and outline the range of skills you have.
Once you’ve a got a CV, you should send it to possible __________(4).
You should check the __________(5) websites on a regular basis for vacancies.
Ask your family and friends about work, as up to fifty per cent of job __________(6) never get advertised on the Internet at all.
Make sure you get enough __________(7) the night before the interview.
For a job interview you should wear _____ ______(8).
Try to arrive _____ _____(9) early for an interview.
Don’t _____ _____ (10) before the interviewer asks you to do so.
It is a good idea to think of one or two intelligent __________(11) before the interview.
You should never ask if you got the _____(12) or not. interview , up-to-date , career history , employers , recruitment , vacancies , sleep, the right clothes , ten minutes , sit down , questions , job The __________ focuses more on the completed result (sometimes with a focus on number)
The __________ focuses more on the activity itself and its duration (sometimes with a focus on time) present perfect;
present perfect continuous 1. We’re actually also __________ something important.
2. He is __________ the management of the company.
3. Our __________ overcome this crisis depends crucially on markets remaining open.
4. Much will __________ how well we apply the new technologies to agriculture.
5. The meeting is __________ bring together 3,000 entrepreneurs.
6. He then had to __________ the Ministry of the Interior on the action taken in that connection. responsible for;
looking for;
ability to;
depend on;
expected to;
report to The main task of «reading for detail» is to read the whole text line-by-line to understand the main idea, author’s opinion and other important
details. TRUE Choose the examples of exercises on reading for detail. a. multiple choice questions
d. sequencing (putting something in logical order) Respond to the situation using future perfect continuous
Your French is not perfect. Don’t worry. I ……………….. it for a year by the time I leave for France. (learn) will have been learning Respond to the situation using future perfect continuous
Why are you so angry? They …………………………. the road by the end of this year. (repare) will have been repairing

                              
 
 Test
on   Module  2. 

I.  Find the opposites .

1. outgoing

a) relaxed

2. cautious

b)fair

3. unjust

c)adventurous

4. ambitious

d) reserved

II.  Choose the correct word.

1. Mum was…… to find out who had broken the vase.

a)  daring       b)brave       c) determined

2. Stop crying! You   shouldn’t   be so…..! —  I 
didn’t  mean to hurt your feelings.

a) shy              b)sensitive        c)sociable

3. The work of  a rescue team was extremely…….  .

a) dull            b) daring           c)creative

4. Mum will get very……if you don’t tidy your room.

a) cross          b)adventurous           c)tired

5. He never shares his problems with anyone. He’s
rather……  .

a) selfish            b)moody             c)reserved

III.   Use the verbs in the correct form.
One verb is extra.

borrow, change, charge ,earn, lend, owe

1. I have no one to….. money from.

2. He still…..the garage for those repairs.

3. I wish I had never …… him my car.

4. We won’t…..for delivery if you pay now.

5. If you can’t….. enough, you simply can’t afford a
holiday.

IV.   Form  nouns  from the words in
brackets.

1.20…..took part in the race.   ( to compete)

2. If you don’t change your lifestyle, you’ ll get
nervous…..  .     ( to exhaust)

3. He is famous for his……. in biology.       ( to
achieve)

4. She managed to overcome her …… on drugs.       ( to
depend)

5. She made a quick…… from the flu.        (  to
recover)

6. Unfortunately, they rejected my…….  . (  to
suggest)

V. Complete the sentences with the correct
phrasal verb.

1. Though I hadn’t seen Mary before, I recognized her
at once. She really took…..  her mother.

2. If you take…..  the dress, it will fit you perfectly.

3. You are soaked to the skin. Take…..  your clothes.

4. He is taking his friends ….  next weekend.

5. He hoped his elder son would take ….. his company.

6. After resignation he took…… painting.

 VI. Change the underlined  words  into 
the correct phrasal verbs according to their meanings.

1.  The bomb exploded at night.

2. I was sure he invented the whole story.

3. What do you want to be when you become an adult?

4. It took her weeks to recover from the
illness.

5. His project proved to be false.

VII. Use the proper preposition.

1. She is keen…..   gardening.

2. Are you fond….classical music?

3. He is crazy……. skydiving.

4. He has always been hopeless…. spelling.

   VIII. Put the verbs in brackets into
the : — ing form, to- infinitive or  bare infinitive.

1.Do you admit ( steal) that watch?

2.You can’t risk(lose) your job.

3.I tried ( wake) him up but I failed.

4.I’m really looking forward to ( have) two weeks off
work.

5.He can’t afford (take) you out every weekend!

6.I’ll never forget ( ride) my first bike.

7.We regret ( inform) you that your application will
not be taken any further.

8.The room needs ( clean).

9.I’d prefer ( stay) in tonight.

10.Her parents made her ( practise) every day.

11.He suggested ( plant) trees in the school yard.

12.They decided ( stop) (smoke).

13.They couldn’t help ( laugh) while reading this
story.

`14.We had to put off (buy) a new car until next year.

15.Slaves were made ( work)from morning till night
nearly without food and rest.

16.We expect him ( enter ) the university next year.

17.Remind me ( take ) my key when I go to work.

18.She has always avoided ( borrow) money.

19.Can you ( lend) me some money. I’m broke.

20.I can’t stand  (tease) the weak.

21.I refused ( accept) his help.

22.I called Mary ( find out) when the match started.

23.She can’t get used to (live) in the city.

24.It’s no use ( phone ) her. She ‘s gone away.

25.Her parents will never let her (travel) alone.

26.We were happy ( learn) about her recovery.

27. The new job means ( live) abroad.    

28.After opening the hospital the Prince went on
(meet) the staff.

29.The doctor advised him (stay )in  bed for a couple
of days.

30.If you can’t find the information, try (look) for
it  at our website.

Key to the test on  Module  2. 

I.  Find the opposites .

1.
outgoing      
 d

a) relaxed

2.
cautious         c

b)fair

3.
unjust             b

c)adventurous

4.
ambitious       a

d) reserved

II.  Choose the correct word.

1. Mum was…… to find out who had broken the vase.

a) daring       b)brave       c) determined

2. Stop crying! You shouldn’t  be so…..! —  I  didn’t
mean to hurt your feelings.

a) shy             b)sensitive       
c)sociable

3.The work of  a rescue team was extremely…….  .

a) dull            b) daring          
c)creative

4. Mum will get very……if you don’t tidy your room.

a)  cross         
b)adventurous           c)tired

5. He never shares his problems with anyone. He’s
rather……  .

a) selfish            b)moody             c)reserved

III.  Use the verbs in the correct form.
One verb is extra.

borrow, change, charge ,earn, lend, owe

1. I have no one to borrow   money from.

2. He still owes the garage for those repairs.

3. I wish I had never lent him my car.

4. We won’t charge for delivery if you pay now.

5. If you can’t earn enough, you simply can’t
afford a holiday.

IV.   Form   nouns  from the words in
brackets.

1.20 competitors took part in the race.   ( to
compete)

2. If you don’t change your lifestyle, you’ ll get
nervous exhaustion  .     ( to exhaust)

3. He is famous for his   achievements   in
biology.       ( to achieve)

4. She managed to  overcome   her  dependence
on drugs.       ( to depend)

5. She made a quick recovery from the
flu.        (  to recover)

6. Unfortunately, they rejected my suggestions 
. (  to suggest)

V. Complete the sentences with the correct
phrasal verb.

1. Though I hadn’t seen Mary before, I recognized her
at once. She really took after her mother.

2. If you take in  the dress, it will fit you
perfectly.

3. You are soaked to the skin. Take off  your
clothes.

4. He is taking his friends out next weekend.

5. He hoped his elder son would take over his
company.

6. After resignation he took up painting.

 VI. Change the underlined  words  into 
the correct phrasal verbs according to their meanings.

1.  The bomb exploded at night.          Went
off

2. I was sure he invented the whole story.        
Made up

3. What do you want to be when you become an adult?       
Grow  up

4. It took her weeks to recover from the
illness.           Get over

5. His project proved to be false.                  
Turned out

VII. Use the proper preposition.

1. She is keen on  gardening.

2. Are you fond of classical music?

3. He is crazy about  skydiving.

4. He has always been hopeless at  spelling.

VIII. Put the verbs in brackets into the :
— ing form, to- infinitive or  bare infinitive.

1.Do you admit ( steal) that watch?      STEALING

2.You can’t risk(lose) your job.         LOSING

3. 3.I tried ( wake) him up but I failed.       TO
WAKE

4.I’m really looking forward to ( have) two weeks off
work.      HAVING

5.He can’t afford (take) you out every weekend!     
TO TAKE

6.I’ll never forget ( ride) my first
bike.                RIDING

7.We regret ( inform) you that your application will
not be taken any further.        TO INFORM

8.The room needs ( clean).                               CLEANING

9.I’d prefer ( stay) in
tonight.                             TO STAY

10.Her parents made her ( practise) every day.   PRACTISE

11.He suggested ( plant) trees in the school yard.  PLANTING

12.They decided ( stop) (smoke).        TO STOP    SMOKING

13.They couldn’t help ( laugh) while reading this
story.      LAUGHING                                           

`14.We had to put off (buy) a new car until next
year.         BUYING

15.Slaves were made ( work)from morning till night
nearly without food and rest.      TO WORK

16.We expect him ( enter ) the university next
year.         TO ENTER

17.Remind me ( take ) my key when I go to
work.         TO TAKE

18.She has always avoided ( borrow)
money.                  BORROWING

19.Can you ( lend) me some money. I’m broke.        
LEND

20.I can’t stand  (tease) the weak.         TEASING

21.I refused ( accept) his help.             TO ACCEPT

22.I called Mary ( find out) when the match started.            
TO FIND OUT

23.She can’t get used to (live) in the city.          
LIVING

24.It’s no use ( phone ) her. She ‘s gone
away.              PHONING

25.Her parents will never let her (travel)
alone.                 TRAVEL

26.We were happy ( learn) about her
recovery.             TO LEARN

27.The new job means ( live) abroad.                 LIVING

28.After opening the hospital the Prince went on
(meet) the staff.            TO MEET

29.The doctor advised him (stay )in  bed for a couple
of days.                 TO STAY

30.If you can’t find the information, try (look) for 
it  at our website.        LOOKING

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