英语论文网

a word that has two meanings or of different words that sound the same” (Hornby, 1997: 1202).
A clever pun has a special magic to hold people’s attention for it provides them a lot to imagine and makes them smile or even laugh. It’s quite natural for the headline writers to resort to the use of punning to attract and amuse readers. Therefore, we have:
Sole Survivor (Time, Nov.8, 2004)
足下掘金唯我独存
Getting Pounded (Time, Jun. 20, 2004)
感受英镑
The examples above provide some puns that depend upon different meanings of the same word and create a humorous effect. In the first example, the word “sole” has two meanings—the noun meaning of the underside of a shoe or boot, the adjective meaning of being the only one. In the headline above, the word suggests both meanings at once. By punning on the expression “sole survivor”, the author makes the readers smile successfully. In the second example, “pound” is a pun—in one sense, used as a noun referring to the unit of money in Britain; in the other, used as a verb, meaning to hit with great force. Hence the pun means to say that the author is hit for a very serious inflation.
4.2 Allusion
English allusion is a very powerful rhetorical device. It refers to “some person or event, either historical or fictional, that has dramatic and vivid connotation and is often used in speech and writing.” (王玉龙, 1996: 43)
Every English allusion has its origin and accepted meaning. Usually the meaning of an allusion cannot be taken literally. For example, we may read such a sentence:
That expectation could prove the Achilles heel of the project. (The Economist, Sept. 28, 1992)
Here, “Achilles heel” does not mean simply the rounded posterior portion of the foot of a man named Achilles but a weakness or even a fatal flaw in the project mentioned. English has a tremendous amount of allusions which result from nursery rhymes, Greek mythology, fairy tales, fables, legends, Bible stories and famous literary works and historical events. The example above is just a case in point. The allusion of Achilles or Achilles’ heel comes from a Greek mythology. It is said that Achilles’ mother took him by the heel and dipped him in the river Styx to make him invulnerable from death, but the heel by which she held him remained dry. His heel thus became his weak spot, the only spot in his body by which he could be killed. Therefore, ‘Achilles’ or ‘Achilles’ heel’ becomes the other expression of a weak and vulnerable point in someone or something. Also, an article on The Washington Times of this year carries the phrase “Mideast
Humpty Dumpty”:
Mideast Humpty Dumpty (The Washington Times, Jan. 11, 2005)
中东局势：危如累卵
This is the head for a report on the deepening Middle Eastern crisis. “Humpty Dumpty” in it is cited from an English nursery rhyme: Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall, Humpty Dumpty had a great fall; All the king’s horses, And all the king’s men, Couldn’t put Humpty together again(冯翠华, 1995: 229).
The ‘Humpty Dumpty’ is believed to be an egg-shaped punchinello who finally tumbled in shatters from the wall, and here it is quoted to show that situation in Mideast is just like something that stays in danger and unable to be repaired if once be mangled. Now we have another example:
And on the Seventh Day We Rested? (Time, Aug. 2, 2004)
我们在第七天休息了吗？
Here, “the seventh day” refers to Sunday, and the allusion comes f