Connotation loss

[Lynne Murphy]

Wouldn't the relevant terms be 'amelioration' and 'pejoration'?  They're
not connotation-specific, but the line between connotation and denotation
can be fairly difficult to determine...

L

--On Thursday, December 31, 2009 13:03 -0500 Seán Fitzpatrick
<grendel.jjf at VERIZON.NET> wrote:

> Is there a thread?or even a term?for the phenomenon of a term losing its
> positive or negative connotation and devolving to the simple, neutral core
> meaning?  E.g., “blatant” used to mean just obvious with no connotation of
> showing something offensive character with no attempt at concealment.
> Look at this use of “comeuppance” in a review of a book about Julius
> Fromm, the Jewish industrialist whose condom-making empire was
> expropriated as part of the Nazis’ Hitlercare program:
>
>
>
> The Fromm family eventually did get their comeuppance, however belatedly.
> Throughout the decades, the family has sought and received some reparation
> from the German government through various legal channels.  And the Fromm
> condom empire, now under a different name, is still the second-highest
> selling condom brand in Germany.  http://snurl.com/txfno   - The Jewish
> Condom Magnate - The Daily Beast
>
>
>
> “Comeuppance” here just means compensation, without the usual connotation
> of just desserts for wicked deeds.
>
>
>
> Seán Fitzpatrick
> So-o-o, young Object-Oriented programmer!  One night the Hollerith
> cards will come up out of the landfill . . . and then where will you be .
> . .
> with all your methods . . .
> and objects . . . and pi-i-x-x-els]]]]]]
>  <http://www.logomachon.blogspot.com/> http://www.logomachon.blogspot.com/
>
>



Dr M Lynne Murphy
Senior Lecturer in Linguistics
Arts B357
University of Sussex
Brighton BN1 9QN

phone: +44-(0)1273-678844
http://separatedbyacommonlanguage.blogspot.com

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