Puns Based on Fixed Expressions and Idioms (FEIs)

5.6 Puns Based on Fixed Expressions and Idioms (FEIs)

As we have seen above, punning is a complex phenomenon. Even if scholars seem to agree on what punning itself is, its categorisation is not clear-cut. The matter is complicated further when puns are based on longer textual units, rather than on one or two words (Attardo 1994: 132). I have already pointed out Delabastita’s cursory treatment of this type of pun. Hence, the following discussion will be mainly based on Moon (1998) and Veisbergs (1997). The former is a corpus-based study on Fixed Expressions and Idioms (henceforth, FEIs) in English and their variation. The latter offers a framework of eight translation strategies that aim to help translators deal with idiom-based wordplay. In combining these two studies for the analysis of my data, I As we have seen above, punning is a complex phenomenon. Even if scholars seem to agree on what punning itself is, its categorisation is not clear-cut. The matter is complicated further when puns are based on longer textual units, rather than on one or two words (Attardo 1994: 132). I have already pointed out Delabastita’s cursory treatment of this type of pun. Hence, the following discussion will be mainly based on Moon (1998) and Veisbergs (1997). The former is a corpus-based study on Fixed Expressions and Idioms (henceforth, FEIs) in English and their variation. The latter offers a framework of eight translation strategies that aim to help translators deal with idiom-based wordplay. In combining these two studies for the analysis of my data, I

5.6.1 Categorisation of FEIs Moon’s (1998) book-length study is a corpus-based investigation on the usage of fixed expressions and idioms in everyday English. Her corpus includes several issues of The Guardian , the Oxford Hector Pilot Corpus, and the Bank of English Corpus created by COBUILD at the University of Birmingham.

I do not have the space to discuss this work at length here but I will summarise some of its relevant points for my own investigation. Moon firstly points out that her investigation is restricted to fixed expression and idioms and excludes compound nouns, foreign phrases etc. (ibid.2). More importantly, she demonstrates that three general assumptions about FEIs are questionable and therefore unsatisfactory. Firstly, FEIs are usually considered as well established linguistic units that are universally used by speakers of a language (Moon names this phenomenon ‘institutionalization’). However, she points out that corpus studies demonstrate that the use of some FEIs may be restricted to certain domains of discourse or communities. In addition, their use may change over time. Secondly, FEIs are often seen as having a fixed lexic ogrammatical form, also called ‘canonical form’. Moon’s corpus analysis partly proves this (i.e. ‘shoot the breeze’ never changes its form). However, it also shows that many FEIs exhibit some degree of variation in their formal characteristics (cf.

Subsection 5.6.2 below). Finally, FEIs are usually considered to be non-compositional. In other words, it is claimed that the expression of the meaning of a FEI does not depend on the meaning of the single words composing it but on the unit as a whole. Interestingly though, Moon finds exceptions to this. For example, ‘spill the beans’ can

be seen as retaining some compositionality because we can understand and appreciate the image that it conveys (ibid.7- 9). In other words, “the beans” clearly refers to some piece of information and “spills” to the process of divulging it. Moon therefore demonstrates that these three common beliefs regarding FEIs are not always true in the everyday use of a language and in English in particular.

With these premises in mind, Moon discusses various approaches to the study of FEIs (semiotic, lexicalist, functional, etc.). However, she finds that none of them offers a satisfactory categorisation of the types of FEIs in her data. Hence, she devises her own three-fold typology. In Moon’s view, this taxonomy can establish why a FEI can be regarded as a singl e unit and in particular as a “string that is problematic and anomalous on grounds of lexicogrammar, p ragmatics, or semantics” (ibid.19). Moon’s three categories of FEIs are:

 Anomalous collocations (e.g. ‘by and large’);  Formulae (including sayings, proverbs and similes such as ‘like a lamb to

the slaughter’);  More or less transparent metaphors (e.g. ‘behind someone’s back’) (ibid.19- 23).

More importantly, Moon highlights the fact that these categories tend to overlap. A quarter of the examples in her corpus can in fact fall into two categories. Therefore, she proposes another group called ‘dual classifications’ that can account for this phenomenon. This approach is desirable when peculiar types of ill-formed proverbs or More importantly, Moon highlights the fact that these categories tend to overlap. A quarter of the examples in her corpus can in fact fall into two categories. Therefore, she proposes another group called ‘dual classifications’ that can account for this phenomenon. This approach is desirable when peculiar types of ill-formed proverbs or

5.6.2 FEIs and Variation As mentioned earlier, it seems that people normally think of idioms and fixed expression as linguistic items that do not vary in form. Baker (1992: 63-78) seems to share this assumption when she writes that fixed expressions and idioms are:

[F]rozen patterns of language which allow little or no variation in form and, in the case of idioms, often carry meanings which cannot be deduced from their individual components. (…) [An idiom] allows no variation in form under normal circumstances. (ibid.63)

To do Baker justice, she acknowledges the fact that variation is possible, but she maintains that it is limited to specific purposes and contexts (i.e. to make jokes) (ibid.). Moon (1998) partly confirms that fixedness is indeed a key feature of FEIs. However, her statistical analysis of her corpus demonstrates that variation is also a significant feature of all three types of FEIs (anomalous collocations, formulae and metaphors). Hence, Moon devotes a chapter of her book to this phenomenon.

Moon investigates variation starting at the lexical level (e.g. verb variation (‘set/start the ball rolling’), noun variation (‘a piece/slice of the action’), etc.). She then moves on to analyse variation at the systemic level, which involve both syntax

and lexis (e.g. ‘get the cold shoulder/give someone the cold shoulder’). This leads her and lexis (e.g. ‘get the cold shoulder/give someone the cold shoulder’). This leads her

should be tested. For instance, she argues that in the case of ‘without an axe to grind’, ‘have an axe to grind’, ‘have no axe to grind’, etc. it is difficult to establish which of these options is to be considered as the ‘canonical form’. A possible approach would

be to consider ‘an axe to grind’ as the frozen nucleus of the FEI. However, Moon does not consider this as a meaningful unit. A more satisfactory solution would be to consider the examples above as a cluster of FEIs which share a common lexis

(ibid.122-123). Along with this type of FEI clusters, Moon also finds clusters having a common lexicogrammatical ‘frame’ (Fillmore et al. (1988), quoted in Moon 2003:146). In this case, the lexis changes while the underlying grammatical frame remains, and allows the interpretation of novel realisations. The most notable example is given by similes, whose frame structure is (as) + adjective + as + nominal form.

In Moon’s view, the variation of FEIs should be approached from a conceptual point of view. More precisely, FEI clusters should be seen as sharing a common

conceptual core that she names idiom schema. This can help processing and interpreting the variation of FEIs. In her words:

[FEIs clusters] have some reference in common, a metaphor in common, and cognate lexis, but without (necessarily) any very fixed structure or fixed lexis. (…) Idiom schemas can be used to explain a number of things: (extreme) variability, evaluative content, apparent compositionality, and the ease with which allusions to FEIs or exploitations are decoded (…) They are characterized by an underlying conceit and an overlying

preferred lexical realization (…). The exact form of words may vary or be exploited, but it is still tied to the underlying conceit which provides the driving or motivating force in the FEI (ibid.163; my emphasis).

The “preferred lexical realization” can be understood as one of the canonical forms of the FEI cluster to which we can refer in order to process variation. Moon therefore

concludes that the interpretation of a novel FEI depends on two main factors. On the one hand, the receiver has to be able to link the FEI variation to the schema underlying the cluster of canonical forms. On the other hand, the manipulated FEI has to make itself recognisable as belonging to a given set (ibid.168).

Clearly, the creative exploitation of FEIs can easily result in puns and wordplay in general. Unfortunately, the mechanisms of language play receive only a passing treatment in Moon’s study (her cognitive approach regarding the relationship of variation and humour will be discussed in the next subsection ). In contrast Veisbergs’s (1997) work focuses in detail on the creation of idiom-based wordplays and the problems they create in translation. In this section, I will briefly summarise and comment on Veisbergs’s work, and I will consider the similarities between it and Moon’s study.

Veisbergs analyses the variation (or ‘transformation’ in his terminology; I will use both terms interchangeably) of idioms that results in punning. Like Moon, he distinguishes between variation in terms of ‘structural’ changes that affect both the

structure and the meaning of the idiom, and ‘semantic’ changes that do not affect the idiom’s structure but only its meaning (ibid.157-158).

Unlike Moon, who concentrates on what type of lexical item has been added, omi tted etc., Veisbergs’s investigation of the structural variation of idioms focuses on the process it involves (addition, insertion, ellipsis or substitution). As can be seen, both scholars tackle variation from a different perspective but both approaches can be considered as useful.

Far more interest ing is Veisbergs’s discussion of the semantic transformation of idioms. He explains that in this case, the structure of the idiom does not change but the context triggers semantic changes (e.g. “They’re so badly off these days that they can only pay compliments”). The contextual manipulation that contains an obvious element of wordplay is based on the double reading of the idiom and is called ‘dual actualization’. It creates an opposition between the idiomatic and literal (compositional) meaning of the idiom (ibid.158). According to Veisbergs, there are four subtypes of dual actualization that can produce a pun:

 There is a type of dual actualisation that is based on the idiom’s lexical or compositional reading, as in the example above;

 There is a type of dual actualisation that hinges upon the confrontation of the idiomatic reading and the reformulation of the FEI . For example: ‘“I’m

as certain of it as if his name were written all over his face !” “It might have been written a hundred times, easily, on that eno rmous face”’ (Carroll 1966: 128, quoted in ibid.159);

 There is a type of dual actualization where the pun plays on the literal meaning of one or more lexical components. For example: ‘Alice... explained as well as she could that she had lost her way. “I don't know what you mean by your way ”, said the Queen: “all the ways here belong to me -

but why di d you come here at all?”’ (Carroll 1966:59, quoted in ibid.160);

 There is dual actualization based on vertical idiom-based punning. For example: ‘“They gave it to me - for an unbirthday present.” “I beg your

pardon?” Alice said with a puzzled air. “I’m not offended” said Humpty Dumpty”’ (Caroll 1966:133, quoted in ibid.). In this example, Alice uses an idiomatic expression to ask Humpty Dumpty to repeat what he said before. However, Humpty Dumpty understands that she is asking for forgiveness and answers accordingly. The play is not on the components of the idiom as such but on its literal reading.

Veisbergs’s discussion confirms the complexity of this linguistic phenomenon, and further investigation may reveal many more subtypes. As I will demonstrate in my

data analysis, all the instances of manipulation of FEIs in it are based on dual actualization because their understanding is always context-dependent. However, structural variation also plays a fundamental role in the creative exploitation of the FEIs. Hence, the analysis will take into account their structural as well as their semantic manipulation in relation to the context within which they are embedded.

All in all, Moon’s corpus-based investigation of the variation of FEIs shows that some types of variations are entrenched in English and how new creative FEIs can be produced. Veisberg s’s concept of dual actualization further confirms this. In the next

subsection, I will discuss the relationship between the FEI-based puns and humour.

5.6.3 Variation of FEIs and Humour In the previous subsections I considered how FEI can be categorised and how variation can lead to punning. Here, I discuss the humorous function that FEI-based puns can have in a text.

Moon (1998: 170) uses the term ‘exploitation’ for the stylistic variation of FEIs for humorous purposes. In particular, she points out that exploitation happens mainly with metaphorical FEIs because their images can be easily transformed. Moreover, she adds : “Exploitation of metaphorical FEIs is evidence of their compositionality: puns work by reliteralizing the FEI ” (ibid.). This is confirmed by the data analysis I carry

out below and it is also the reason why I mainly focus on metaphorical FEIs rather tha n Moons’ other categories (anomalous collocations and formulae).

Veisbergs (1997) seems to reach similar conclusions when he maintains that:

[W]ordplay on such fossilised idioms produces a strong stylistic effect by creating a contrast with the ‘normal’ reading of the idiom and its

unchanged form and so defeating the reader’s or the listener’s expectation (ibid.157).

Put more simply, the exploitation of a FEI (and the image it conveys) in the new context leads to a confrontation of its preferred or default image/interpretation with a new, unexpected one. As can be seen, Moon’s and Veisbergs’s explanations do not differ substantially from Delabastita’s general definition of wordplay that I have reported in Section 5.2 above. Hence, FEI-based puns can be seen as a subtype of wordplay. Moreover, Moon’s idea of confrontation and Veisbergs’s suggestion of an opposition between the literal and idiomatic meaning that dual actualization creates can be equated with Raskin and Attardo’s concept of script opposition (cf. Section 2.4, Ch.2 in this thesis). Like punning, FEI-based puns can be said to carry potential humour when they involve an opposition of meanings and/or scripts. In Friends they also seem to fulfil a characterisation and theme-enhancing function, as well as eliciting an amused response in the audience.

For the time being, it seems important to remark that the structural complexity of FEI-based puns poses several interpretation problems, which can increase when the receiver is not a native speaker and a translation process is involved. In general, the variation of the FEIs in a given context requires the relevant cultural and linguistic background knowledge on the receiver’s part, which becomes pivotal in transferring it across languages and cultures. Hence, I will now consider what scholars in TS suggest for dealing with this phenomenon.

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