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A connotation is a commonly understood cultural or emotional association that any given word or phrase carries, in addition to its explicit or literal meaning, which is its denotation. A connotation is frequently described as either positive or negative, with regard to its pleasing or displeasing emotional connection. [ 1 ]
Politicians employ euphemisms, [11] and study how to use them effectively: which words to use or avoid using to gain political advantage or disparage an opponent. . Speechwriter and journalist Richard Heller gives the example that it is common for a politician to advocate "investment in public services," because it has a more favorable connotation than "publ
Clear counter-examples include words with positive connotations that regularly co-occur with negative words, for example ease, soothe, tackle. [5] In such cases, the words that follow such verbs are probably perceived as negative, but not the verbs themselves. Another debate concerns whether the term semantic/discourse prosody only relates to ...
During an interview, he gave multiple examples of emotive conjugation, with his most famous example being the following: [3] "I am firm, you are obstinate, he is a pig-headed fool." While firm, obstinate, and pig-headed are all synonymous with stubbornness, the emotive connotations of these words are different.
Non-English cognates of propaganda as well as some similar non-English terms retain neutral or positive connotations. For example, in official party discourse, xuanchuan is treated as a more neutral or positive term, though it can be used pejoratively through protest or other informal settings within China. [6] [7]: 4–6
Authors writing their texts consider not only a word's denotation but also its connotation. For example, a person may be described as stubborn or tenacious, both of which have the same basic meaning but are opposite in terms of their emotional background (the first is an insult, while the second is a compliment).
For example, the phrase, "John, my best friend" uses the scheme known as apposition. Tropes (from Greek trepein, 'to turn') change the general meaning of words. An example of a trope is irony, which is the use of words to convey the opposite of their usual meaning ("For Brutus is an honorable man; / So are they all, all honorable men").
Pride in ones own ethnicity or ones own culture seems to universally have positive connotations, [dubious – discuss] [32] though like earlier discussions on pride, when pride tips into hubris, people have been known to commit atrocities. [33] Types of pride across the world seem to have a broad variety.