metonymy-TRY

[James C Stalker]

The example Ron Butters gave at the beginning of this thread, “the storm
is trying to push on further [oy vey, what can I say: see note below]
south,” I’ve always regarded as a discourse style: “weather report
speak.”  For many viewers, weather can be exciting, but is often dull,
like baseball.  Nothing, nothing, nothing, then wham.  Personification is a
great way to liven that blob on the screen up a bit, give it a bit of
excitement, as the gecko might say.  There are differences in these
statements: the storm is coming this way; the storm might be coming this
way; the storm seems to be moving this way; the storm is trying to come this
way.

Another aspect of weather report speak I’ve noticed, at least on The
Weather Channel, is the “identification with listener” ploy.  "Here in
Topeka/Madison/New York/Miami/Bend/wherever, we are experiencing heavy
rains, dense fog."  However, the reporter is in Atlanta, and we viewers know
that.

Note: further/farther.  If its gonna get us, who cares?

JCS


Marc Sacks writes:

> Ron Butters wrote:
>> The example that I notice most frequently is TRY in the context of
>> weather,
>> e.g., (made-up example), "The storm is trying to push on further south,
>> but we
>> can't say at this time whether it will be successful or not."
>>
> This looks like a personification rather than a metonymy.
>
> Marc Sacks
> msacks at theworld.com
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>



James C. Stalker
Department of English
Michigan State University

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org