摘 要:广告英语是英语文体学探讨的一个重要分支。修辞在广告文体中起着重要影响。从比喻、拟人、双关等六个方面论述了广告英语的修辞特点。
Rhetoric is a subject with a long history. TheEnglish rhetorical theories derive from ancientGreece. Rhetoric makes study of the language fromthe aspect of language application. And it variesaccording to the environment a language is sur-rounded with. In advertising English, rhetoricalskills are occupying the extremely important placesand with these skills, advertisement becomesricher than ever in its expression and much morepersuasive. This article is to discuss the mainkinds of the English rhetorical skills that are fre-quently used in advertising English.
1 MetaphorA metaphor is“an imaginative way ofdescribing something, by referring to somethingelse, which has the quality that you are trying toexpress”. In other words, a metaphor is an impliedcomparison between two things which are of unlikenature but which have one or more features in com-mon.
(1) EBEL the architects of timeEBEL is a brand watch from Switzerland. Aswe all know, a famous saying goes like this,“Time is money”. And EBEL is described as“thearchitects of time”. The value and the quality ofthe watch are fully implied in just the few words ofa metaphor. No other words are needed.
(2) (Sung): This little girl knows lots oftricksShe knows that sugar and sunshine mix.And the milk and now you knowHow little girls eat sunshine.(Spoken):Kellogg’s Corn Flakes. That ishow you can eat sunshine everyday. Don’t let lit-tle things distract you when you’re eating CornFlakes.Sunshine is usually associated with warmth,comfort and happiness. When you eat Kellogg’scorn flakes every day, it seems that you could en-joy all the wonderful sensations sunshine bringsyou. As we know, children need adequate sun-shine for healthy growth. The comparison ofKellogg’s corn flakes to sunshine embodies suchan implication that the advertised product may alsohelp children grow up healthily. In this way, chil-dren may receive both emotional and physical bene-fits by eating Kellogg’s corn flakes.
2 SimileA simile is a figure of speech“in which asimilarity between two objects is directlyexpressed.[1]”Similes are more precise, morerestricted and usually less radical, less committedthan metaphors, since they limit the resemblanceof the“object”and its“image”to a single property(e.g. cool as a cucumber).
(1) Featherwater: light as a feather.This advertisement describes most incisivelythe lightness of theFeatherwaterspectacles by theuse of a simile. Almost everyone who is short-sighted once suffered a great deal from the heavyspectacle lens, so all can imagine the happinessbrought about by spectacles light as a feather.
(2) It gives my hair super shine, super body,and leaves it smelling fresh as a meadow.This advertisement effectively demonstratesthe high quality and outstanding virtue of someshampoo. With originality, the copywriter intro-duces the vehicle or the Reference of“meadow”tomake consumers imagine the scene that the hair isgentle, smooth and brilliant, emitting a delicatefragrance, just like the green meadow in spring.Therefore, this advertisement does publicize theproduct and persuade consumers to make a pur-chase.
3 MetonymyMetonymy is a figure of speech that uses thename of one thing for that of something else withwhich it is associated.[2]Advertising has used me-tonymy effectively. Two airlines have successfullyused their stewardess as metonymic symbols forthe whole company.(1) Singapore girls—，英语论文网站，英语毕业论文 |
