1
Unit 12
Extension of Meaning
2
a.Extension of meaning
b.Restriction of meaning
c.Degeneration of meaning
d.Elevation of meaning
Extension of Meaning
It is also called widening of
meaning or generalization,It’s a
process by which a word which
originally had a specialized meaning
has now become generalized.
Four kinds of extension
A,From specific to general
B,From proper nouns to common
nouns
C.From concrete to abstract
D.From technical terms to general
words
A,From specific to general
Example
Picture,originally,a painting
or drawing
The present meaning
a photograph
a cinematic picture
an x-ray picture
a TV picture
a radio-telescope picture
any picture
More Examples
rubbish
Originally:
rubble
(碎石）
Now:
anything
worthless
B,From proper nouns to common nouns
antonomasia
the use of a proper noun
to convey a general idea
Sandwich,It now denotes a popular fast food,It
originates from John Montague,Fourth earl of
Sandwich in 18th -century England,He was so
fond of gambling that he often forgot his meals.
He often ordered slices of bread with thick pieces
of roast beef stuffed between them be brought to
him so he could eat while playing,Later,people
used his name to refer to all similar food.
Greek Myth,a king punished for his
misdeeds by having to stand in water
that recedes when he tries to drink it
and under fruit that moves away
as he reaches for it.
Tantalus
Tantalize
Argus
Greek myth,a giant with 100
eyes,After he was killed,his
eyes were transferred to the
Peacock’s tail
Argus-eyed,
keen-sighted;
observant
Example:
We have decided it
is impossible to
cheat when that
Argus-eyed pro-
fessor gives an
exam
Narcissus? Narcissus,Greek
myth,a beautiful
youth who fell in
love with his ref-
lection in a pool,
hence the word,
narcissism and the
meaning:an interest
in or admiration for
oneself.
Munchausen
He was a German
s old ier,A fte r his
retirement from his
service in the Russian
Army against the Turks,
he told exaggerated
s t o r i e s of h i s
c a m p a i g n i n g
adventures,thus the
meaning:a person who
boasts;exaggerated.
Pinchbeck
Christopher Pinchbeck
was an British jeweler,
He invented an alloy of
copper,zinc formerly
used for cheap
jewellery,hence the
meaning,specious and
spurious goods.
Frankenstein F r a n k e n s t e i n is a
character in the novel
w r it t e n by fa m ous
British woman writer
Mary W,Shelley,He is
a medical researcher,
who created a robot
monster,brought it to
life and finally was
killed by the monster.
“Watergate”源指美国华盛顿特区综合大
厦 。 1972年 6月 17日夜间, 共和党争取
总统连任委员会有关人员潜入大厦内
民主党全国委员会总部而被捕, 暴露
了共和党政府在总统竞选中的非法活
动, 导致美国历史上首次总统辞职,
现泛指, 丑闻, 。
专有名词普通话与特定的历史事件有关：
见：英语与社会,p.288
Louis Pasteur is a French chemist and
biologist,His researches showing that the
fermentation of milk and wine was due to the
multiplication of bacteria and other
microorganisms led to the discovery of the
role of microorganism in human and animal
disease,From these findings he developed
immunization by inoculation of attenuated
microbes,and the process of pasteurization.
专有名词普通话与特定的科技事件有关：
见：英语与社会,p.288
Pasteurization is a process which
renders milk free of dis eas e-
producing bacteria and help to prevent
it from spoiling without destroying
the vitamins or changing the taste,It
involves heating the milk to 1450-
168F for 30 minutes,To pasteurize is
to sterilize by pasteurization.
James Watt（瓦特） is a Scottish
engineer who made fundamental
improvements to the Newcomen
steam engine,leading to the
widespread use of steam power in
mines,factories etc,In partnership
with Mathew Boulton,Watt built
may engines at their foundry in
Birmingham,The unit of power is
named after him.
Words of this group also include ampere,
farad,ohm,volt,watt from French
physicist Ampere,British physicist
Faraday,German physicist Ohm,Italian
physicist Volta and Scottish inventor
W a t t r e s p e c t i v e l y
这类专有名词常为商标专有名 。
Walkman原来是 Sony公司, 随身听,
的注册商标, 在激烈的商业活动竞争
中脱颖而出成为名牌 。 由于它家喻户
晓, 使它在人们心目中失去了一种专
利商标, 被用户作为, 随身听, 的代
名词去泛指一切, 随身听, 产品 。
与经济活动有关：
见：英语与社会,p.288-289
Words like nylon,orlon,dacron,
rayon were originally tradenames and
are now used to denote the four types
of fabric,
生活节奏的加快,
生活竞争的加剧
使得体育专业术
语大量被用于日
常生活之中：
与体育活动有关：
见：英语与社会,p.289
cover the bases,补垒, 可
泛指, 仔细考虑问题,
建议, 事情等每一个细
节以确保万无一失, 。
be out in left field,棒球术语：
左外场, 位于外场防卫位置,
语义泛化后指：, 失去理智
的,,, 错误的, 等 。
见：英语与社会,p.289
strike out,棒球术语，
“三击未中，击球员
出局”，现可指“努
力失败”。
load the bases,跑满垒：
形容“任务即将被完
成”。
hit a home run,本垒打：
泛指“取 得巨大成
功”。 见：英语与社会,p.289
throw a curve ball,打出
曲线球, 这种球在接手
接球一刹那会拐弯飞出：
形容, 采用欺骗手段使
某人大吃一惊, 。
call the play,作裁判：
形容“承担有决定权的
职责”。
见：英语与社会,p.289
get in a huddle:在橄
榄球比赛前运动员
紧紧围在一起商量
和决定场上进攻和
防守的站位和人员
安排, 现 在 形 容
,举行非正式会议
传达有关策略性问
题, 。
见：英语与社会：
p.289
run with it:带球
向得分点跑去：
形容“开始实
施一个计划或
开
始着手某个事
务”等。
见：英语与社会
p.289
touchdown:攻方持球触地，
按照规定，攻方在对方端区
持球触地可得 6分，现在可
用来形容“辉煌的成就”。
见：英语与社会,p.289-290
Svengali (斯文加利 )系英语小说家
George du Maurier所著小说 Trilby中的音
乐家 。 He is a person who controls
another’s mind,usually with sinister
intentions.
专有名词充当普通动词，例如：
He svengalied us into accepting his
opinions.
他采用斯文加利式的骗术使我们接受了
他的观点。
The United States is raising a Frankenstein by
providing hardware to that country.
（ 美国向那个国家提供军事武器, 到头来
只会作法自毙 。 ）
Frankenstein是英国作家 Mary Wollstonecraft-
Shelley 于 1818年所著小说中的生理学研究专
家 。 他创造了一个怪物, 结果被这个怪物所毁
灭 。
英语普通化专有名词的常见特征：
专有名词充当普通名词使用，例如：
见：英语与社会,p.290
Gerrymander,to divide the constituencies of a
voting area so as to give one party an unfair
advantage; to manipulate or adapt to one’s
advantage.
专有名词与普通名词拼缀构成动词，例如：
California’s R ep u b l i ca n l eg i s l a t u r e
g err yma nd er ed th e 26th… to mak e it
overwhelmingly Democratic and turn four
adjoining districts into Republican strongholds.
见：英语与社会,p.290
“Gerrymander” comes from Elbridge
Gerry,a U.S,politician +
(sala)mander( 蝾 螈 ； ） ; from the
salamander-like outline of an electoral
district reshaped for political purposes
while Gerry was governor of
Massachusetts
见：英语与社会,p.290
Hooverize,vt 节
约 （ 粮食等 ） 由
Hoover + ize 派
生而来 。
专有名词与动词词缀连用构成派生动词
见：英语与社会,p.291
Herbert Clark Hoover was a
U.s,Statesman,31st
president of the U.S.,He
organized relief for Europe
during and after World War
I,As president he made
great efforts to reduce
government expenses and
lost favour after his failure
to alleviate the effects of the
Depression.
When proper nouns are commonized,
many of them have lost their original
identity,the initial letter may not be
capitalized as already shown; these
words can take suffixes –ic,ian,-al,-
ist,-ese,-ish,-esque to form different
words.
Irenic( peace-loving) comes from
Irene
Stentorian( uncommonly loud) comes
from Stentor,whose voice is loud
Morphine comes from Morpheus,the
god of sleep
Solecism comes from Soloi,an
Athenian colony of Cilicia where the
inhabitants spoke a corrupt form of
Greek
Procrustean,It comes from
Procrustes,a giant of Attica who
tortured travellers by stretching or
cutting off their limbs to make
them fit his bed,hence ruthless in
trying to force conformit y.
这类专有名词转
为普通动词在科
技英语中尤为常
见, 尤其是商品
名牌商标的动词
化, 例如：
见：英语与社会,p.291
“Hoover”,“Whiteout”,
“Mace” are the trademarks
respectively for a type of
vacuum cleaner,真空吸尘
器”,a white correcting
fluid,白色涂改液”,and
a liquid causing tears and
nausea,used as a spray for
riot control,“梅斯催泪毒
气”
to mace demonstrators 向游行示威者喷射梅斯气
to hoover a floor 用真空吸尘器吸地板上的灰尘
to white out a mistake 用白色涂改液涂改错误
专有名词通过转类法转为普通形容词,
Mickey Mouse,the
name of a cartoon
character created by
Walter Disney,known
for his simple-minded
a t t i t u d e s,h e n t h e
meaning:ineffective,
trivial and insignificant
例如：
Two days for a 226-mile race is Mickey
Mouse.
两天跑完 226英里的赛程是轻而易举
的事 。
a mickey mouse college course 一门容易
学的大学课程
专有名词的普通化
现象在现代英语中
层出不穷。这种普
通化现象在经济领
域会带来一系列的
司法纠纷。在政治
领域也会带来一些
消极的后果。
见：英语与社会,p.291-292
在经济领域，商标名
的普通化现象尤其常
见。商标注册法从法
律上保护生产厂家的
产品，然而，厂家在
提高产品知名度所消
耗的人力与财力又会
加速这些商标名称的
普通化趋势：即由特
指某一名牌产品转而
泛指各同类产品
90年代以前，根据
美国 1946年的
Lantham Act,在
美国专利局注册商
标达 50万。美国每
年用于宣传产品所
需金额为 50多亿美
元。
见：英语与社会：
p.292
在美国，,Coke”,“Kleenex”,“Xerox”,
“Jell-o”,Scotch Tape”为阻止商标名的普
通化先后诉诸法庭，如果说以上商标名
通过法律途径在一定的程度上保护了自
己的产品名的,专有”,那么 King-Sealy
与 Du Pont两家公司就自己的产品名
,Thermos” 以及,Cellophane”普通化一
事诉诸法庭要求保护，却遭到了法庭的
驳回。
见：英语与社会,p.292
理由是法庭调查结果显示绝大多数消
费者认为, Thermos”指任何一种“保
温瓶”,,Cellophane” 可指任何一种
此类产品。
见：英语与社会：
p.292
事实上，败诉的
不只是
,Thermos” 和
,Cellophane”两
名牌，先后败诉
的还有
,Aspirin”,
“Kerosine”,
“Celluloid”,
“Nylon”,“Lanolin”
等商品名牌。
正因如此, 越来越多
的厂家开始在商标名
的设计上标新立异 。
从语言形式上试图杜
绝自己商品名的语义
泛化现象 。 从商标名
的专有名词普通化分
析结果来看, 有以下
三种情况：
1） 专有名词商标名具有浓厚的描绘
性特征：
Dry Ice,干冰, 固态二氧化碳
Shredded Wheat,脆麦面条
Mineral Oil:矿物油
Corn Flakes,玉米片
见,英语与社会,p.292-293
2） 专有名词具有半描绘性特征：
Cellophane,塞璐玢；玻璃纸
Escalator,电梯
Zipper,拉链
见：英语与社会,p.293
节约原则是指人们用商标名作为产品的
代名词 。 人们之所以这样做是因为商标
名相对于产品名, 前者可能更简便, 且
易上口 。 长此以往, 导致商标名失去专
有名词特征 。
见：英语与社会,p.293
3）节约原则
如,Sanka牌的, decaffeinated
coffee”;
Teflon牌的
,Polytetrafluoroethylene coating”。
商标名, Sanka”以及,Teflon”
在语符系统上比较简单，前者代
替后者不可避免
为了防止专有名词普通化，生产厂家采
取了一系列措施保护商标名的专一性。
见：英语与社会,p.293
一是在拼写上采取反常规形式，在不该
大写的地方使用大写形式，如：
TelePrompter(电子提词机 )；
二是使其商标名
作为专有形容词
使用, 如,Jell-
o gelatin (果冻胶 )。
见：英语与社会：
p.293
这些措施也很难有效保护这些专
有名词的普通化趋势，因为语言
使用者只要对这些专有名词稍加
改动便可以使它们至少在形式上
类似普通词。现在，字典已收入
了,teleprompter” 以及, jello”便
是很好的例子。
C,From Concrete to Abstract
见：词汇学 120页
Matter,originally meant
timber,the hard part of a tree
Now it has a lot of abstract
meanings.
1)The world is made of matter.
Substance(s) of which the
physical thing is made
2)The matter in your essay is
good.
Material for thought or expression
3)This is a matter I know little
about.
Something in which attention
is given
It made no matter to him
that his brother lost all his
money.
Of importance
D.From technical
terms to general
words:
Countdown,the counting aloud of
numbers in reverse order before
sth.happens,esp,Before a spacecraft
is launched.
Now,emergency situation十分危急
的情况；行将摊牌的局面
That would lead to a countdown in
Cambodia.
Feedback,it occurs
in a machine or
system when part of
the power,sound or
i n f o r m a t i o n
produced goes back
into the machine or
s y s t e m,
Now,response
T h e r e a d e r
feedback was
g e n e r a l l y
fa vou r a b le,
Fallout,the radiation that affects a
place after a nuclear explosion:放射性
尘埃
Now,consequence
He predicted that the fallout from
Watergate would hit both parties.
Fire storm,It takes place when a bomb
explodes; strong winds rush into it to take
the place of the hot air that is rising,
causing the blaze to burn uncontrollably.
核弹引起的大火暴
Now,strong reaction
The revelations about the CIA’s activities
in Chile broke in the press just as the fire
storm over the Nixon pardon put an
abrupt end to Congress’s honey-moon
with Gerald ford.
报界揭发了中央情报局在智利的活
动，与此同时，赦免尼克松所引起
的强烈反应使得国会同杰拉德。福
特的蜜月猝然终止。
Unit 12
Extension of Meaning
2
a.Extension of meaning
b.Restriction of meaning
c.Degeneration of meaning
d.Elevation of meaning
Extension of Meaning
It is also called widening of
meaning or generalization,It’s a
process by which a word which
originally had a specialized meaning
has now become generalized.
Four kinds of extension
A,From specific to general
B,From proper nouns to common
nouns
C.From concrete to abstract
D.From technical terms to general
words
A,From specific to general
Example
Picture,originally,a painting
or drawing
The present meaning
a photograph
a cinematic picture
an x-ray picture
a TV picture
a radio-telescope picture
any picture
More Examples
rubbish
Originally:
rubble
(碎石）
Now:
anything
worthless
B,From proper nouns to common nouns
antonomasia
the use of a proper noun
to convey a general idea
Sandwich,It now denotes a popular fast food,It
originates from John Montague,Fourth earl of
Sandwich in 18th -century England,He was so
fond of gambling that he often forgot his meals.
He often ordered slices of bread with thick pieces
of roast beef stuffed between them be brought to
him so he could eat while playing,Later,people
used his name to refer to all similar food.
Greek Myth,a king punished for his
misdeeds by having to stand in water
that recedes when he tries to drink it
and under fruit that moves away
as he reaches for it.
Tantalus
Tantalize
Argus
Greek myth,a giant with 100
eyes,After he was killed,his
eyes were transferred to the
Peacock’s tail
Argus-eyed,
keen-sighted;
observant
Example:
We have decided it
is impossible to
cheat when that
Argus-eyed pro-
fessor gives an
exam
Narcissus? Narcissus,Greek
myth,a beautiful
youth who fell in
love with his ref-
lection in a pool,
hence the word,
narcissism and the
meaning:an interest
in or admiration for
oneself.
Munchausen
He was a German
s old ier,A fte r his
retirement from his
service in the Russian
Army against the Turks,
he told exaggerated
s t o r i e s of h i s
c a m p a i g n i n g
adventures,thus the
meaning:a person who
boasts;exaggerated.
Pinchbeck
Christopher Pinchbeck
was an British jeweler,
He invented an alloy of
copper,zinc formerly
used for cheap
jewellery,hence the
meaning,specious and
spurious goods.
Frankenstein F r a n k e n s t e i n is a
character in the novel
w r it t e n by fa m ous
British woman writer
Mary W,Shelley,He is
a medical researcher,
who created a robot
monster,brought it to
life and finally was
killed by the monster.
“Watergate”源指美国华盛顿特区综合大
厦 。 1972年 6月 17日夜间, 共和党争取
总统连任委员会有关人员潜入大厦内
民主党全国委员会总部而被捕, 暴露
了共和党政府在总统竞选中的非法活
动, 导致美国历史上首次总统辞职,
现泛指, 丑闻, 。
专有名词普通话与特定的历史事件有关：
见：英语与社会,p.288
Louis Pasteur is a French chemist and
biologist,His researches showing that the
fermentation of milk and wine was due to the
multiplication of bacteria and other
microorganisms led to the discovery of the
role of microorganism in human and animal
disease,From these findings he developed
immunization by inoculation of attenuated
microbes,and the process of pasteurization.
专有名词普通话与特定的科技事件有关：
见：英语与社会,p.288
Pasteurization is a process which
renders milk free of dis eas e-
producing bacteria and help to prevent
it from spoiling without destroying
the vitamins or changing the taste,It
involves heating the milk to 1450-
168F for 30 minutes,To pasteurize is
to sterilize by pasteurization.
James Watt（瓦特） is a Scottish
engineer who made fundamental
improvements to the Newcomen
steam engine,leading to the
widespread use of steam power in
mines,factories etc,In partnership
with Mathew Boulton,Watt built
may engines at their foundry in
Birmingham,The unit of power is
named after him.
Words of this group also include ampere,
farad,ohm,volt,watt from French
physicist Ampere,British physicist
Faraday,German physicist Ohm,Italian
physicist Volta and Scottish inventor
W a t t r e s p e c t i v e l y
这类专有名词常为商标专有名 。
Walkman原来是 Sony公司, 随身听,
的注册商标, 在激烈的商业活动竞争
中脱颖而出成为名牌 。 由于它家喻户
晓, 使它在人们心目中失去了一种专
利商标, 被用户作为, 随身听, 的代
名词去泛指一切, 随身听, 产品 。
与经济活动有关：
见：英语与社会,p.288-289
Words like nylon,orlon,dacron,
rayon were originally tradenames and
are now used to denote the four types
of fabric,
生活节奏的加快,
生活竞争的加剧
使得体育专业术
语大量被用于日
常生活之中：
与体育活动有关：
见：英语与社会,p.289
cover the bases,补垒, 可
泛指, 仔细考虑问题,
建议, 事情等每一个细
节以确保万无一失, 。
be out in left field,棒球术语：
左外场, 位于外场防卫位置,
语义泛化后指：, 失去理智
的,,, 错误的, 等 。
见：英语与社会,p.289
strike out,棒球术语，
“三击未中，击球员
出局”，现可指“努
力失败”。
load the bases,跑满垒：
形容“任务即将被完
成”。
hit a home run,本垒打：
泛指“取 得巨大成
功”。 见：英语与社会,p.289
throw a curve ball,打出
曲线球, 这种球在接手
接球一刹那会拐弯飞出：
形容, 采用欺骗手段使
某人大吃一惊, 。
call the play,作裁判：
形容“承担有决定权的
职责”。
见：英语与社会,p.289
get in a huddle:在橄
榄球比赛前运动员
紧紧围在一起商量
和决定场上进攻和
防守的站位和人员
安排, 现 在 形 容
,举行非正式会议
传达有关策略性问
题, 。
见：英语与社会：
p.289
run with it:带球
向得分点跑去：
形容“开始实
施一个计划或
开
始着手某个事
务”等。
见：英语与社会
p.289
touchdown:攻方持球触地，
按照规定，攻方在对方端区
持球触地可得 6分，现在可
用来形容“辉煌的成就”。
见：英语与社会,p.289-290
Svengali (斯文加利 )系英语小说家
George du Maurier所著小说 Trilby中的音
乐家 。 He is a person who controls
another’s mind,usually with sinister
intentions.
专有名词充当普通动词，例如：
He svengalied us into accepting his
opinions.
他采用斯文加利式的骗术使我们接受了
他的观点。
The United States is raising a Frankenstein by
providing hardware to that country.
（ 美国向那个国家提供军事武器, 到头来
只会作法自毙 。 ）
Frankenstein是英国作家 Mary Wollstonecraft-
Shelley 于 1818年所著小说中的生理学研究专
家 。 他创造了一个怪物, 结果被这个怪物所毁
灭 。
英语普通化专有名词的常见特征：
专有名词充当普通名词使用，例如：
见：英语与社会,p.290
Gerrymander,to divide the constituencies of a
voting area so as to give one party an unfair
advantage; to manipulate or adapt to one’s
advantage.
专有名词与普通名词拼缀构成动词，例如：
California’s R ep u b l i ca n l eg i s l a t u r e
g err yma nd er ed th e 26th… to mak e it
overwhelmingly Democratic and turn four
adjoining districts into Republican strongholds.
见：英语与社会,p.290
“Gerrymander” comes from Elbridge
Gerry,a U.S,politician +
(sala)mander( 蝾 螈 ； ） ; from the
salamander-like outline of an electoral
district reshaped for political purposes
while Gerry was governor of
Massachusetts
见：英语与社会,p.290
Hooverize,vt 节
约 （ 粮食等 ） 由
Hoover + ize 派
生而来 。
专有名词与动词词缀连用构成派生动词
见：英语与社会,p.291
Herbert Clark Hoover was a
U.s,Statesman,31st
president of the U.S.,He
organized relief for Europe
during and after World War
I,As president he made
great efforts to reduce
government expenses and
lost favour after his failure
to alleviate the effects of the
Depression.
When proper nouns are commonized,
many of them have lost their original
identity,the initial letter may not be
capitalized as already shown; these
words can take suffixes –ic,ian,-al,-
ist,-ese,-ish,-esque to form different
words.
Irenic( peace-loving) comes from
Irene
Stentorian( uncommonly loud) comes
from Stentor,whose voice is loud
Morphine comes from Morpheus,the
god of sleep
Solecism comes from Soloi,an
Athenian colony of Cilicia where the
inhabitants spoke a corrupt form of
Greek
Procrustean,It comes from
Procrustes,a giant of Attica who
tortured travellers by stretching or
cutting off their limbs to make
them fit his bed,hence ruthless in
trying to force conformit y.
这类专有名词转
为普通动词在科
技英语中尤为常
见, 尤其是商品
名牌商标的动词
化, 例如：
见：英语与社会,p.291
“Hoover”,“Whiteout”,
“Mace” are the trademarks
respectively for a type of
vacuum cleaner,真空吸尘
器”,a white correcting
fluid,白色涂改液”,and
a liquid causing tears and
nausea,used as a spray for
riot control,“梅斯催泪毒
气”
to mace demonstrators 向游行示威者喷射梅斯气
to hoover a floor 用真空吸尘器吸地板上的灰尘
to white out a mistake 用白色涂改液涂改错误
专有名词通过转类法转为普通形容词,
Mickey Mouse,the
name of a cartoon
character created by
Walter Disney,known
for his simple-minded
a t t i t u d e s,h e n t h e
meaning:ineffective,
trivial and insignificant
例如：
Two days for a 226-mile race is Mickey
Mouse.
两天跑完 226英里的赛程是轻而易举
的事 。
a mickey mouse college course 一门容易
学的大学课程
专有名词的普通化
现象在现代英语中
层出不穷。这种普
通化现象在经济领
域会带来一系列的
司法纠纷。在政治
领域也会带来一些
消极的后果。
见：英语与社会,p.291-292
在经济领域，商标名
的普通化现象尤其常
见。商标注册法从法
律上保护生产厂家的
产品，然而，厂家在
提高产品知名度所消
耗的人力与财力又会
加速这些商标名称的
普通化趋势：即由特
指某一名牌产品转而
泛指各同类产品
90年代以前，根据
美国 1946年的
Lantham Act,在
美国专利局注册商
标达 50万。美国每
年用于宣传产品所
需金额为 50多亿美
元。
见：英语与社会：
p.292
在美国，,Coke”,“Kleenex”,“Xerox”,
“Jell-o”,Scotch Tape”为阻止商标名的普
通化先后诉诸法庭，如果说以上商标名
通过法律途径在一定的程度上保护了自
己的产品名的,专有”,那么 King-Sealy
与 Du Pont两家公司就自己的产品名
,Thermos” 以及,Cellophane”普通化一
事诉诸法庭要求保护，却遭到了法庭的
驳回。
见：英语与社会,p.292
理由是法庭调查结果显示绝大多数消
费者认为, Thermos”指任何一种“保
温瓶”,,Cellophane” 可指任何一种
此类产品。
见：英语与社会：
p.292
事实上，败诉的
不只是
,Thermos” 和
,Cellophane”两
名牌，先后败诉
的还有
,Aspirin”,
“Kerosine”,
“Celluloid”,
“Nylon”,“Lanolin”
等商品名牌。
正因如此, 越来越多
的厂家开始在商标名
的设计上标新立异 。
从语言形式上试图杜
绝自己商品名的语义
泛化现象 。 从商标名
的专有名词普通化分
析结果来看, 有以下
三种情况：
1） 专有名词商标名具有浓厚的描绘
性特征：
Dry Ice,干冰, 固态二氧化碳
Shredded Wheat,脆麦面条
Mineral Oil:矿物油
Corn Flakes,玉米片
见,英语与社会,p.292-293
2） 专有名词具有半描绘性特征：
Cellophane,塞璐玢；玻璃纸
Escalator,电梯
Zipper,拉链
见：英语与社会,p.293
节约原则是指人们用商标名作为产品的
代名词 。 人们之所以这样做是因为商标
名相对于产品名, 前者可能更简便, 且
易上口 。 长此以往, 导致商标名失去专
有名词特征 。
见：英语与社会,p.293
3）节约原则
如,Sanka牌的, decaffeinated
coffee”;
Teflon牌的
,Polytetrafluoroethylene coating”。
商标名, Sanka”以及,Teflon”
在语符系统上比较简单，前者代
替后者不可避免
为了防止专有名词普通化，生产厂家采
取了一系列措施保护商标名的专一性。
见：英语与社会,p.293
一是在拼写上采取反常规形式，在不该
大写的地方使用大写形式，如：
TelePrompter(电子提词机 )；
二是使其商标名
作为专有形容词
使用, 如,Jell-
o gelatin (果冻胶 )。
见：英语与社会：
p.293
这些措施也很难有效保护这些专
有名词的普通化趋势，因为语言
使用者只要对这些专有名词稍加
改动便可以使它们至少在形式上
类似普通词。现在，字典已收入
了,teleprompter” 以及, jello”便
是很好的例子。
C,From Concrete to Abstract
见：词汇学 120页
Matter,originally meant
timber,the hard part of a tree
Now it has a lot of abstract
meanings.
1)The world is made of matter.
Substance(s) of which the
physical thing is made
2)The matter in your essay is
good.
Material for thought or expression
3)This is a matter I know little
about.
Something in which attention
is given
It made no matter to him
that his brother lost all his
money.
Of importance
D.From technical
terms to general
words:
Countdown,the counting aloud of
numbers in reverse order before
sth.happens,esp,Before a spacecraft
is launched.
Now,emergency situation十分危急
的情况；行将摊牌的局面
That would lead to a countdown in
Cambodia.
Feedback,it occurs
in a machine or
system when part of
the power,sound or
i n f o r m a t i o n
produced goes back
into the machine or
s y s t e m,
Now,response
T h e r e a d e r
feedback was
g e n e r a l l y
fa vou r a b le,
Fallout,the radiation that affects a
place after a nuclear explosion:放射性
尘埃
Now,consequence
He predicted that the fallout from
Watergate would hit both parties.
Fire storm,It takes place when a bomb
explodes; strong winds rush into it to take
the place of the hot air that is rising,
causing the blaze to burn uncontrollably.
核弹引起的大火暴
Now,strong reaction
The revelations about the CIA’s activities
in Chile broke in the press just as the fire
storm over the Nixon pardon put an
abrupt end to Congress’s honey-moon
with Gerald ford.
报界揭发了中央情报局在智利的活
动，与此同时，赦免尼克松所引起
的强烈反应使得国会同杰拉德。福
特的蜜月猝然终止。
