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Cowardice is a trait wherein excessive fear prevents an individual from taking a risk or facing danger. [1] [2] It is the opposite of courage. As a label, "cowardice" indicates a failure of character in the face of a challenge. One who succumbs to cowardice is known as a coward. [3]
The exact meaning of the scare quotes is not clear without further context. The term scare quotes may be confusing because of the word scare. An author may use scare quotes not to convey alarm, but to signal a semantic quibble. Scare quotes may suggest or create a problematization with the words set in quotes. [25] [26]
Aquaphobia (from Latin aqua 'water' and Ancient Greek φόβος (phóbos) 'fear') is an irrational fear of water. [1] Aquaphobia is considered a specific phobia of natural environment type in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. [2] A specific phobia is an intense fear of something that poses little or no actual danger. [3]
Antiphrasis is the rhetorical device of saying the opposite of what is actually meant in such a way that it is obvious what the true intention is. [1] Some authors treat and use antiphrasis just as irony, euphemism or litotes. [2] When the antiphrasal use is very common, the word can become an auto-antonym, [3] having opposite meanings ...
Thalassophobia (from Ancient Greek θάλασσα (thálassa) 'sea' and φόβος (phóbos) 'fear') [1] is the persistent and intense fear of deep bodies of water, such as the ocean, seas, or lakes. Though related, thalassophobia should not be confused with aquaphobia, which is classified as the fear of water itself.
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The most common form of oxymoron involves an adjective–noun combination of two words, but they can also be devised in the meaning of sentences or phrases. One classic example of the use of oxymorons in English literature can be found in this example from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, where Romeo strings together thirteen in a row: [11]
Because standard English does not have negative concord but many varieties and registers of English do, and because most English speakers can speak or comprehend across varieties and registers, double negatives as collocations are functionally auto-antonymic (contranymic) in English; for example, a collocation such as "ain't nothin" or "not ...