From Language Log:
Creative work: metonymy
Sex and the City 2 premiered in London last night. Sarah Jessica Parker arrived in a black strapless dress from the house of her favorite British designer, and what she told her fans provided another interesting example of what Mark Liberman noted in a recent post on fashion talk:
There's only one person I could have worn tonight and that was Alexander McQueen.
Ms Parker didn't just say she was wearing Alexander McQueen; she actually used an expression quantifying over persons (only one person) as the understood object of wear (in the sense that she modified person with the relative clause I could have worn ___), and then clarified that the person was Alexander McQueen; and still the metonymic reading survived and was understood by fans and journalists alike.
Sunday, May 30, 2010
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2 comments:
This is a great site, Peter. Thanks!
Glad you enjoy , T.
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