THE JOURNAL OF CULTURAL MEDIATION F - … Journal of Cultural Mediation of the SSML Fondazione...

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THE JOURNAL OF CULTURAL MEDIATIONCollana della Scuola Superiore per Mediatori Linguistici

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Chief EditorsFrancesco CasertaSSML, Maddaloni, Italy

Amelia R. BurnsSSML, Maddaloni, Italy

Associate EditorsGrzegorz ZarzecznyUniwersytet Wrocławski, Poland

Johnny UngerLancaster University, U.K

Marianna CefarielloUniversità degli Studi di Napoli “Parthenope”, Italy

Laura Filardo LlamasUniversidad de Valladolid, Spain

Francesca VaccarelliUniversità degli Studi di Teramo

Tomasz PiekotUniwersytet Wrocławski, Poland

Kyoko OtsukiUniversity of Edinburgh, U.K.

Alvio PatiernoUniversità degli Studi Suor Orsola Benincasa, Italy

THE JOURNAL OF CULTURAL MEDIATIONCollana della Scuola Superiore per Mediatori Linguistici

The Journal of Cultural Mediation of the SSML Fondazione Villaggio dei Ragazzi “donSalvatore d'Angelo” focuses on the role of culture in perceiving and translating reality.The interplay between language and culture in communication is a fundamental issueand, now more than ever, needs to be investigated.The greatest challenge of today’s society is managing diversity. In fact, more and morepeople are becoming involved in communicative interactions with “others” from diffe-rent linguistic and cultural backgrounds. This continuous exchange happens in many dif-ferent fields, as business, education, media, tourism and also through immigration andpolitics. Therefore, the aim of this Journal is to promote research in communication, especiallyby investigating language, languages, cultural models, mediation and interculturality.Each issue contains a selected number of interdisciplinary articles, themed around a cen-tral topic in intercultural communication.

The Journal of Cultural Mediationeds. Amelia Burns, Francesco Caserta

Copyright © MMXIIARACNE editrice S.r.l.

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via Raffaele Garofalo, 133/A–B00173 Roma(06) 93781065

ISBN 978–88–548–5079–8

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Non sono assolutamente consentite le fotocopiesenza il permesso scritto dell’Editore.

I edizione: settembre 2012

Table of contents

7 Colour metaphors and metonymies in business English domain: a corpus-based analysis

FrancescaVaccarelli

35 Bidirezionalità e multitecnicità nella formazione dell’interprete di conferenza GianlucaSorrentino

51 La traduction littérale , une remise en cause qualitative ? RaniaTalbi-Boulhais

73 Fonti per una storia delle traduzioni nell’Italia contemporanea: l’Index Translationum

DomenicaLaBanca

87 Interpreting Waiguoren: A Corpus-Based Discourse Analysis of ‘Waiguoren’ and ‘Foreigners’ in Taipei

CorrieBrianMacMillan,IsamarCarrilloMasso

111 The language of Statistics in the Euro-Area context: a quali-quantitative analysis

KarinaIuvinale

129 Adverbial Nouns in Tamil – A Historical Study A.RoseMary

Colour metaphors and metonymies in business English domain: a corpus-based analysis

FrancescaVaccarelliUniversityofTeramo

Abstract

Domain-SpecificEnglish(DSE)ischaracterizedbyawideuseoffigu-rativelanguage;veryfrequentlynewtermsandexpressionsarecreatedbyderivingnewmeaningsfromgeneral languagethroughtheprocessofmetaphorisation(Gotti,2008). Inparticular, in thestudyofEnglishforBusiness,weoftenrealizethatnewfigurativemeaningsareaddedto the literalmeaning of already-existingwords through the applica-tion of figurative speech notions such asmetaphors andmetonymies (e.g.,metaphorslike‘parent company’or‘sister company’andmetonymieslike ‘pipeline company’or ‘board of directors’).Theuseofcolourmeta-phorsandmetonymies inbusinessdomainscanberegardedasaway ofgivingdynamismandvividnesstotechnicaltexts;thechoiceinfavourofcolourexpressionsinsteadoftheirliteralform(‘red tape’ insteadof‘bureaucracy’, ‘green light’ insteadof ‘permission’) canaddconnotativemeaningstothetext(Philip,2006)thatareworthinquiringinto.

Afterhavingexamined twocorporamadeupof articles coming fromThe EconomistandtheFinancial Times,thispaperaimsatfocusingoncolourmetaphorsandmetonymiesfoundinthesetextsandatcarryingoutboth aquantitativeandaqualitativeanalysis.Wewillhighlightthefrequencyofeachcolourexpressionstudiedontheonehand,andthevariouscolourcon-notationsontheother.Finally,wewillreflectonthepossibletranslationsintoItalianoftheseEnglishcolourexpressionsandonwhetherthemeta-phoricormetonymicmeaningisrecognizedintheirItalianequivalents.

Keywords:BusinessEnglish,colourmetaphors,colourmetonymies,corpusanalysis,translationstudies,comparativeculturalstudies.

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8 FrancescaVaccarelli

1. Introduction

When approaching the study of Domain-Specific English (DSE), theuseoffigurativelanguagemustbecarefullyconsidered.Infact,besidestheliteralmeaningofacertainnumberofwordsandexpressions,suchas‘bear’,‘bench’,‘board’,‘doves’,‘hawks’,itisessentialforastudentofDSEtoknowalsothefigurativemeaningacquiredbythesewordsandexpres-sionsineconomic,legalorpoliticalcontexts.Figurativelanguagereferstotermsandexpressionsthatextendoraltertheusualliteralmeaningsofthecomponentwords.Itcreatesfigures–i.e.pictures–inthemindofthereaderorlistener.Thesepictureshelpconveythemeaningfasterandmorevividlythantheplainwordsalone.Byusingfiguresofspeech,suchasmetaphors,metonymies,similes,hyperboles,synecdoches,figurativelanguageaddscolourandinterest,aswellasitstimulatestheimagina-tion. Itappears ineverykindoftexts, fromclassicalworks likeShake-speare’sonesortheBible,toeverydayspeech,popmusic,tvcommercials,tospecialiseddomains,likeeconomics,finance,politics,tourism,sport.

Figurativelanguage,inparticularmetaphorsandmetonymies,playsanimportantroleinwordformationprocesses(Sweetser,1990),mean-ingthatnewfigurativeandconnotativemeaningsareaddedtothelit-eral and denotative meaning of already-existing words through theapplicationof such figuresof speech. In fact, despite theproductivityanddiversityofword-formationprocesses,sometimesalexicalgapmaypersist,especiallyataconnotativelevel,thatcanbefilledthroughthecreativeuseofexistinglexicalrepertoire,withtheapplicationofsimi-larities,parallelisms, circumlocutions,antonomasia,metaphors,meto-nymies,euphemisms,litotesandhyperboles.Foralongtimetheimple-mentationoftheseprocesseswasconsideredunrelatedtothestandardlanguage,butjustregardedasornamentsforpoetry.Infact,figurativelanguageisrootedverydeeplyinthecommonlanguage.Theperceptionandtheuseofsimiles,parallelismsandsimilaritiesisessentialtolearn,understand,nameorexpressinaneffective,colourfulandmemorablewaynewthingsandconceptsthatmightotherwisebehardtodescribe.

2. Metaphor

McArthur(2005:374)describesmetaphorasafigureofspeechthatachievesitseffectthroughassociation,comparisonandresemblance:

Colour metaphors and metonymies 9

Awarriorcomparedtoalionbecomesalion:“Achilleswasalioninthefight”.Insuchusages,theperceptionofsomethingheldincommonbringstogetherwordsandimagesfromdifferentfields:warriorsandlionssharebraveryandstrength,andsothewarriorisalionamongmenandthelionisawarrioramongbeasts.

Inliterarycriticism,thetermmetaphorreferstoafigureofspeechinwhichonethingisdescribedintermsofanother, i.e.theunfamiliar (theso-called‘tenor’)isexpressedintermsofthefamiliar(theso-called‘vehicle’).Thetenorandthevehicleareusuallyunrelatedandthereforewemustmakeanimaginativeleaptorecognisetheresemblancetowhichanewmetaphoralludes(Pugliese,2005:151).AsGottiargues(2008:56-57),oneof themostcommondevicesused inspecialiseddiscourse tocreate termsdrawn fromgeneral language ismetaphorisation. “Meta-phor creation is, indeed, a frequent feature not only of everyday language but also of specialist texts, especially for the purpose of catachresis”1. Gotti lists threemainadvantagesof thisprocessofmetaphorisation: termi-nologicaltransparency,concisenessandthetangiblequalityof imagesusedtorepresentabstractandoftencomplexconceptsthatwouldoth-erwisebedifficulttodefine.

According to some other scholars (Gentner and Bowdle, 2001; Yu,2004),metaphorscreateasortofnet,theyestablishconceptualmap-pingsbetweenconceptsfromdisparatedomainsofknowledge,sothatthetargetdomainisunderstoodintermsofthesourcedomain.Forex-ample, in themetaphor “The mind is a computer”anabstractentity isdescribedintermsofacomplexelectronicdevice;theexpression‘legal eagle’denotesasmart,clever,skilledlawyer;a‘bear market’indicatesamarketthatissimilartoabear,swingingitspawsdown,whenitisgoingdown;oppositely,a‘bull market’isamarketthatissimilartoabull,swip-ingupwithitshorns,whenitisgoingup;a‘parent company’isacompanythatcontrolsothercompaniesbyowninganinfluentialamountofvotingstocks;a‘sister company’isacompanywhichisownedbythesamepar-entcompanyasanothercompany,sothatoneparentcompanycanhaveoneormanysubsidiaries,whichallaresistercompaniestoeachother.

3. Metonymy

MetonymyisdefinedbyMcArthur(2005:377)andMatthews(2005:224) as a figureof speechwhichdesignates somethingby thenameof

1 Inthefootnote6ofhisvolume,GottiexplainsthatBlack(1962:33)definesthecatachresisas:“theuseofawordinsomenewsenseinordertoremedyagapinthevocabulary;catachresisistheputtingofnewsensesintooldwords”.


somethingassociatedwithit:‘the Crown’substitutingformonarchy,‘No. 10 Downing Street’ for theBritishPrimeMinister, ‘the White House’ for theUSPresident,‘the Pentagon’forthemilitaryinhabitinginit,‘pipeline company’fortheoilflowinginapipeline,‘board of directors’indicatingagroupofpeoplehavingmanagerial,supervisoryoradvisorypower,usu-allymeetingsataroundaboard.Metonymyiscloselyrelatedtoandsome-timeshardtodistinguishfrommetaphor.Bothmetaphorandmetonymyexpressassociation,metaphorthroughsimilarityandcomparison,meton-ymythroughcontiguityandpossession.Barcelona(2000:16)describesmetonymyasaconceptualmappingthattakesplaceacrossdifferentsub-domainswithinthesamecommon,orsuperordinate,experientialdomain,sothatthesourcedomainmentallyactivatesthetargetdomain.

Afterhavingbrieflyoutlinedthemainfeaturesofmetaphorsandme-tonymies,itshouldbeconsidered,accordingtoSznajder(2010),thatinthefieldDSE,teachingmetaphorically-/metonymically-basedtechnicalandsemi-technicaltermsisgenerallyconsideredaspotentiallyproblem-atic,sincetheinterpretationofthesewordsisinfluencedbytheuser’sbackgroundknowledge.Infact,foreignlanguagestudentsoftenmakeagreatefforttounderstandfigurativetermsandexpressions,since,un-likenativespeakers,theycannotretrievethestockofprefabricatedandreadily-understoodfigurativemultiworditemsand,moreover,theylacktheknowledgeandusageof culture-boundexpressionswhichusuallycharacterize figurative language;eventually, theyare likelytotryandtranslateeachwordseparately.

4. Colour metaphors and metonymies

Awidespreadandnoteworthytypeofmetaphorsandmetonymiesarecolour-basedexpressions,whichcanberegardedasasubclassofappearance-based metaphors and metonymies (Allan, 2009). Theiruse add a nuance of dynamism, vividness and vibrancy to domain-specifictexts.Manytheoristshavedevelopedcolourassociationsandlinkedparticularconnotativemeanings tospecificcolours.However,according to the diachronic and synchronic analysis carried out bysomescholars(Grossmann,1988),connotativecolourassociationsandcoloursymbolismtendtobeculture-boundandmayalsovaryacrossdifferentcontextsandcircumstances.Forinstance,‘red’hasmanydif-ferent connotative and symbolic meanings: from exciting, arousing,


sensual,romanticandfemininetoasymbolofgoodluck,aswellasitcanactasasignalofdanger.

Thefollowinglistofcolourmetaphorsandmetonymiesconcernsthedomainofbusinessandfinance–infact,inteachingactivitiestheyareoftenlabelledunderthename‘Business colours’.TheEnglishdefinitionsreportedinthispaperaremostlytakenfromLongman Business English Dictionary (2007)andOxford Business English Dictionary(2008),where-astheItalianequivalentsdrawforthemostpartfromIl Ragazzini 2008 (2007)andDizionario Garzanti di Business English(2005).Foreachex-pressionIamgoingtodistinguishwhetheritisanexampleofmetaphorormetonymy.Thefrequencies(fr.)recordedaftereachcolourterm2andthecontexts Iamgoing topresentherecome fromtheonlineversionbothof The EconomistandtheFinancial Times,hereinafterrespectivelyabbreviatedinECandFT.BearinginmindBerlin/Kay’s(1969)basiccol-ourcategoriesandsequence3, theorderinwhichcoloursarerecordedhererelatespartiallytothissequence;furthermore,Iamgoingtofocusonsomemetalliccolourexpression.

4.1. Black

tobe • in the black (metonymy) EC:7,653fr.;FT:987fr.In thisexpression,black isviewedpositively. Ifabusiness is in the

black, it ismakingaprofit.Itreferstotraditionalbookkeeping,wherepositiveamounts,likerevenues,wereprintedinblackink.

Examples:Saving its surplus to pay off future debts, if that were politically and economically feasible, would keep America in the black for an extra 12 years.[EC,May24,2011]

Chrysler back in the black under Fiat.[FT,May2,2011]

Italianequivalent:‘essere in attivo’

black economy • (metaphor) EC:103fr.;FT:162fr.Inthiscase,blackhasanegativevalue.Itreferstobusinessactivities

thattakeplaceunofficially,especiallyinordertoavoidpayingtax.

2 ThefrequenciesofeachcolourexpressionsarebasedonthedatadrawingfromtheonlinesearchdatabasesofThe Economist(containingarticlesandblogsfromJune1997toNovember2011)andtheFinancial Times(containingarticlesandblogsfromAugust2004toNovember2011).3 Theresearchersfoundthatthereareelevenbasiccolourtermscommontotheworld’slanguages,and,moreimportantly,thatthesetermsappearinlanguagesinafixedsequence–i.e.white,black,red,green,yellow,blue,brown,purple,pink,orangeandgrey.


Examples:Its intention is to deter tax evasion. A huge amount of business is transacted in the “black” economy, in stapled wads of banknotes. [EC,May3,2005]

In the battle against rampant tax evasion and the black economy, Mr Monti speci-fied that the maximum allowed for payments in cash would be reduced.[FT,Nov18,2011]

Italianequivalent:‘economia sommersa’

black market • (metaphor) EC:472fr.;FT:651fr.Inthiscaseaswell,blackhasanegativevalue.Itdescribestheillegal

buyingandsellingofgoodsthatareusuallyimpossibletogetinapar-ticularcityorcountryortothebuyingofforeigncurrencyatanunof-ficialrate.

Examples:The official rate as fixed by the government is 19,500 dong to the dollar, while on the black market they sell at some 21,000 dong. [EC,Feb4,2011]

The size of the black market for information is estimated in the tens of millions of dollars and shows a unique side of the Russian state apparatus. [FT,Nov24,2009]

Italianequivalent:‘mercato nero’

black money • (metaphor) EC:10fr.;FT:43fr.‘Black money’referstofundsearnedontheblackmarket,onwhich

incomeandothertaxeshasnotbeenpaid.Examples:Some reckon firms are over-invoicing for exports to ship black money back into the country.[EC,Oct8,2011]

Also, most property transactions have a substantial illegal component to them as property investment is a prime way of investing the “black” money. [FT,Nov29,2011]

Italianequivalent:‘denaro sporco’

black knight • (metaphor) EC:10fr.;FT:10fr.Itreferstoacompanythattriestotakecontrolofanothercompanyby

offeringtobuylargenumbersofitsshares,ortoaninvestorwhoacquiresafirmopposingthewillofitsmanagement,asinahostiletakeover.Thisexpressionhasanegativevalue,sinceblackknight’sintentionistoenrichhimselfusuallydestroyingthecompanyorbusinessintheprocess.


AlthoughthiscolourmetaphorisrecordedbothinBusinessEnglishandinGeneralEnglishdictionaries,inthecorporaanalysedtherearenoexampleslinkedtothisfigurativemeaning4.

Italianequivalent:‘cavaliere nero’

Black Monday/Thursday/Wednesday/Tuesday/Friday • (metonymy) EC:29fr.;FT:247fr./EC:0fr.;FT:18fr.

/EC:35fr.;FT:185fr./EC:14fr.;FT:19fr./EC:32fr.;FT:209fr.

Eachofthesecolourexpressionsreferstoaparticulardate whenNewYorkorLondonfinancialmarketshavefallendramatically.Itsmeaningisextendedtoanydaywhensomethingbadhappens.

‘Black Friday’ has added anothermeaning to the already-existingnegativeone.ItisthedayfollowingtheThanksgivingDayintheUnitedStates,traditionallythebeginningoftheChristmasshoppingseason.Theday’snamecanrelateboth theheavyanddisruptivepedestrianandvehicletrafficwhichoccuronthedayaftertheThanksgiving,andtothefactthaton‘Black Friday’retailersbegintoturnaprofit,orare‘in the black’.

Examples:When markets plunged on “Black Monday” in October 1987, people feared a repeat of the Wall Street crash of 1929. [EC,Nov20,2011]

Retail sales on Black Friday rose by their biggest margin since 2007 to hit a new record, while online sales grew even faster, according to initial estimates.[FT,Nov27,2011]

Italianequivalent:‘lunedì/martedì/mercoledì/giovedì/venerdì nero’

Summingup:exceptfortheexpression‘to be in the black’andthelat-termeaningof‘Black Friday’,‘black’hasnegativeconnotations,since,asPhilipargues (2006:73), “all sorts of ill deeds occur under the cover of night, when they go easily unseen, and for this reason irregular dealings are typically linked to this colour”.

4.2. White

white-collar • workers/ white collars(metonymy)EC:328fr.;FT:1,057fr.

4Itisinterestingtonote,inthecorporaanalysed,thehighfrequenciesofasynonymof‘black knight’,thatis‘predator’[EC:904fr.;FT:1,162fr.],anothermetaphorictermthatindicatesacompanywhichtakesadvantageofanothercompanyweakerthanitself,forexamplebytryingtobuyit.


Thiscolourexpressionisusedtonameasalariedprofessionalwhoperforms semi-professional office, administrative, and sales coordina-tion tasks, asopposed toa ‘blue-collar worker’.The termrefers to theconventionalwhitedressshirtsofmaleofficeworkerscommonthroughmostoftheXIXandXXcenturiesWesterncountries,asopposedtotheblueshirts,uniformsorcover-allsofmanualorserviceworkers.

Examples:Yet their country is as shockingly slow as many in Latin America when it comes to dealing with allegations of corruption and white-collar crime, as a rash of recent cases demonstrates.[EC,Apr2,2009]

Shares in the white-collar staffing group bounced 5.8 per cent to 385½p after HSBC turned positive in a staffing sector review. [FT,Nov16,2011]

Italianequivalent:‘colletti bianchi’

white knight • (metaphor) EC:124fr.;FT:831fr.Oppositely to a ‘black knight’, a ‘white knight’ – also called ‘friendly

investor’– isapersonoracorporationbuyingshares inacompanytopreventanothercompanytakingitovercompletely.

Examples:Victor Meijers, a Dutchman who is the only foreign global partner in DeHeng Law Offices, one of China’s big law firms, says that he gets several inquiries a month from struggling European firms looking for a Chinese white knight. [EC,Jun30,2011]

After four successful decades at the company, however, he agreed in 1986 to a £250m “white knight” takeover bid by Waterford, the Irish crystal manufacturer. [FT,Mar4,2011]

Italianequivalent:‘cavaliere bianco’

white elephant • (metaphor) EC:110fr.;FT:228fr.Regarded as one of the rare uses of ‘white’ in a negative sense, it

referstosomethingthat iscompletelyuseless,eventhoughitcostsalot ofmoney. The expression seems toderive fromThailandorBur-mawhere,becauseawhiteelephantheraldedthebirthoftheBuddha,white elephants are almost sacred and so they do notwork, yet areexpensivetokeep.

Examples:A big Dunnes retail store in North Belfast, wedged between the (Catholic) Ardoyne and (Protestant) Shankill districts, was a white elephant, and closed a few years ago. [EC,Jul14,2011]


John Biggs, Labour member on the London Assembly, said: “The stadium has gone from an elegant solution to an expensive white elephant.”[FT,Oct11,2011]

Italianequivalent:‘elefante bianco,cattedrale nel deserto’

white goods • (metonymy) EC:117fr.;FT:731fr.Aseriesofgoodsarenamedwithcolourterms.‘White goods’canbe

eitherequipmentusedinhomesthatisusuallypaintedwhite,forexam-plewashingmachines,refrigerators, etc.,orlinens,bedsheets,etc.

Examples:Casa Bahia, Brazil’s largest white-goods company, says its branch in Diadema gen-erates more revenue per square foot than any other in the country. [EC, Jul 12,2010]

“TV sales are in a free-fall in France while demand for white goods has also deterio-rated,” said Barclays Capital. [FT,Nov10,2011]

Italianequivalent:‘elettrodomestici, biancheria da casa’

white paper • (metaphor) EC:340fr.;FT:1,900fr.A‘white paper’isanauthoritativereportorguidethathelpssolvea

problem.Itisusedtoeducatereadersandhelppeoplemakedecisions,andareoftenrequestedandusedinpolitics,policy,business,andtech-nicalfields.EuropeanCommission‘White Papers’areofficialdocumentscontainingproposals forCommunityactioninaspecificarea. Insomecasestheyfollowa‘Green Paper’publishedtolaunchaconsultationproc-essatEuropeanlevel.

Examples:The European Commission has put together a white paper, to be released this week, proposing the creation of euro bonds. [EC,Nov21,2011]

Last week, the Hudson Institute delivered its draft research white paper on neglect-ed tropical diseases (NTDs) to the Sabin Vaccine Institute.[FT,Nov23,2011]

Italianequivalent:‘Libro Bianco’

white money • (metaphor) EC:1fr.;FT:2fr.Oppositely to ‘black money’, this expression relates to legalmoney,

moneythatwasearnedhonestly.Examples:When the money has to be brought back in the form of white money to be used by the politicians or other black money hoarders, they use the export route.[EC,Nov17,2011]


Apartments are regularly sold in half “white money” – that is, a cheque – and half “black money” – that is, cash. [FT,Oct4,2011]

Italianequivalent:‘denaro pulito’

Summingup:incontrastto‘black’,‘white’israrelyusedwithanega-tivemeaning,or,asAllan(2009)writes,dysphemistically(exceptforthemetaphor‘white elephant’).Itassumespositiveconnotativevaluesasso-ciatedwithdaylight,includingclarity,visibility,honestyandperfection.

4.3. Grey

grey market • (metaphor) EC:78fr.;FT:274fr.Thiscolourmetaphorindicatesboththebuyingandsellingofshares

justbeforetheyareofficiallyissuedandthearbitrage,thatisthebuyingofgoodsfromsomeoneabroadwhoisnotanofficialsupplierandthenthesellingatapricewhichislowerthanthatchargedforgoodsfromanofficialsupplier.Suchakindoftradeoccursthroughdistributionchan-nelswhich,while legal,areunofficial,unauthorized,orunintendedbytheoriginalmanufacturer.

Examples:Many patients have had to delay treatment. A grey market has flourished, with mid-dlemen hoarding drugs and selling them at a premium.[EC,Nov5,2011]

In an ideal world these yields, and the fact that the three-year was above 8 per cent in the grey market this morning, would serve to give the Ecofin/eurogroup a sense of added urgency. [FT,Nov29,2011]

Italianequivalent:‘mercato grigio’

grey economy • (metaphor) EC:16fr.;FT:56fr.This colourexpression, that canbe consideredsynonymicof ‘black

economy’,indicatesthepartoftheeconomynotaccountedforinofficialstatistics.

Examples:These are: its age, its recent history of stability, the security of its citizens, the level of corruption, the size of the grey economy, the rule of law, the quality of its bu-reaucracy, whether the government controls all its territory, the extent of foreign influence, and the degree of ethnic fragmentation, social cohesion and trust in pub-lic institutions. [EC,Nov22,2010]

“When you are talking about foreign investors in Turkey, the first problem that they identify is the size of the grey economy,” Ms Boyner says. [FT,Nov21,2011]


Italianequivalent:‘economia sommersa’

grey power • (metonymy) EC:31fr.;FT:15fr.The expression ‘Grey Power’ refers to anAustralian political party

lobbygroup,designedtorepresent theelderlyvote, i.e. the ‘grey vote’,advocatingissuesdealingwithagedcareandamatureperspectiveonnationalpolicy.Itsmeaninghasbeenextendedtorepresentseniorciti-zens’rights,thepolitical,financial,orsocialinfluenceofelderlypeople.

Examples:In education, as in far too many walks of Italian life, it is grey power that rules.[EC,Apr26,2007]

On Thursday, a tongue-lashed FRC dropped the proposal reporting “widespread op-position” to a move that critics said “would disadvantage small shareholders, many of whom are elderly and/or have limited access to the internet”. Victories for grey power are coming thick and fast. [FT,Sep1,2011]

Italianequivalent:notavailable–myproposal:‘potere grigio’

grey goods • (metonymy) EC:1fr.;FT:4fr.Thiscolourmetonymyreferstocomputerequipment,becauseofthe

standardcolourofhardwareunits.Examples:Grey goods include telecommunications and multimedia products, such as mobile telephones, personal computers, laptops, digital cameras, printers, scanners, games and electronics. [EC,Nov9,2011]

The company added that talks were continuing on the future of But, the furniture to white and grey goods retail brand which was in effect put up for sale in the summer. [FT,Sep26,2007]

Italianequivalent:notavailable–myproposal:‘beni grigi’

Summingup: apartfromthemetonymies‘grey power’and‘grey goods’,whichrefertothetruecolourofsomething,grey canbothtemperthenegativityofblack andlessenthepositivevaluesassociatedwithwhite,soitcanberegardedasamid-waypointbetweentwoextremes.

4.4. Red

tobe • in the red(metonymy) EC:7,143fr.;FT:1,309fr.Itisoppositeto‘to be in the black’.Ifabusinessis‘in the red’,itisin

debt.Contrarytopositiveamounts,intraditionalbookkeeping,negative


amounts,suchascosts,wereprintedinredink,perhapsasaninstancetodenoteadanger.Thecolourmetonymy ‘red ink’ isalso usedtotalkaboutfinancialdifficultiesthatcompaniesareexperiencing.

Examples:The east is in the red. East Asian leaders are worrying about a new economic down-turn. [EC,May17,2011]

While our long [positions] slightly outperformed the market, our shorts rose even more dramatically and our macro hedges were also in the red. [FT,May5,2011]

Italianequivalent:‘essere in rosso, in passivo’

red tape • (metonymy) EC:770fr.;FT:2,947fr.Thiscolourmetonymyisafigurativeexpressiontoindicatebureauc-

racy,butwithapejorativevalue.Itrelatestoofficialrulesthatseemcom-plicatedandunnecessaryandprevent things frombeingdonequicklyandeasily.Thefigurederivesfromtheuseofaredtapetotiebundlesoflegalandgovernmentdocuments,beingtheredcolour,inthiscase,asymbolofauthority.

Examples:The Lib Dems in government include some flinty free-marketeers and red-tape scep-tics, such as Ed Davey, Danny Alexander and their leader Nick Clegg.[EC,Nov25,2011]

Ministers aim to cut the amount of health and safety red tape by half, Chris Grayling will announce on Monday.[FT,Nov28,2011]

Italianequivalent:‘burocrazia, lungaggini burocratiche’

red goods • (metaphor) EC:6fr.;FT:2fr.‘Red goods’areconsumergoods,suchasfoodproducts,thatarecon-

sumedandreplacedatafastrateandhavealowprofitmargin.Theredcolourhighlightsthatthesearebasicandnecessarygoods.

Alsointhiscase,althoughthiscolourmetaphorisrecordedbothinBusinessEnglishandinGeneralEnglishdictionaries,inthecorporaana-lysedtherearenoexampleslinkedtothisfigurativemeaning.

Italianequivalent:‘beni rossi, con alto indice di rotazione’

red lining • (alsospelled‘redlining’)(metonymy)EC:70fr.;FT:16fr.‘Red lining’isthepracticeofdenying,orincreasingthecostofservices

suchasbanking,insurance,accesstojobs,accesstohealthcare,orevensupermarketstoresidentsofpoorinner-cityneighbourhoods.Itderives

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