Glossary

An abbreviation is a shorter version of a word or phrase.

An acronym is a type of abbreviation where you make a word from a phrase or sentence. You make this word by taking the first letter of each word in the original phrase or sentence. Then, you pronounce it like it's a new word on its own – you don't sound out each letter individually.

An assessment objective (shortened to AO) is a skill that examiners will be assessing you for in your exams.

Blank verse is when you have lines of poetry that have a regular metre but no rhyme scheme. You use it to talk about poetry and plays that use verse.

A contraction is a type of abbreviation that skips letters in a word or phrase to create a single, shorter word. It will usually use an apostrophe to show that letters are missing.

Direct speech is a type of speech presentation that indicates that you are repeating the actual words of another person. You do this by surrounding the speech in punctuation (usually quotation marks or inverted commas) and using a reporting clause (such as "she said").

External deviation is a kind of foregrounding where the text producer breaks conventions or “rules” that people accept for the type of text they’re writing. They do this to draw attention to specific parts of their writing.

Feature spotting is a BAD thing to do in your essays. It's when you pick out the devices or terminology that you can find in a text without analysing what the text producer is doing.

Flouting a maxim is when you break one of Grice's Maxims on purpose. You want the other people in the conversation to notice that you've done it and interpret a hidden message in your words.

In English, foregrounding theory is when writers draw attention to parts of their text using language. It is a stylistic term connecting literature and linguistics.

Free direct speech is a type of speech presentation that indicates you are repeating the actual words of another person. You do this by surrounding the speech in punctuation (usually speech marks or inverted commas), but you do not use a reporting clause.

Grice's Maxims, otherwise known as the Cooperative Principle, is a set of expectations that we have in spoken conversation.

In linguistics, hedging is when you use certain words and phrases to make what you're saying sound less harsh, more cautious or more unsure.

An implicature is a hidden or implicit meaning that you create when you break one of Grice's Maxims.

The implied reader is the person (or group of people) that we infer a text was made for. We base this inference on the text producer's decisions about language, narration, characters, plot, structure, form, layout, mode, context, genre, etc.

An initialism is a type of abbreviation where you combine the first letters of each word in a sentence or phrase. It looks like a new word, but you pronounce each letter individually when you say it out loud.

The term "interlocutor" refers to people who are speaking in a conversation. In other words, the interlocutors are the participants of the conversation.

Jargon is specialist language that is specific to an activity, hobby, profession, academic subject, or trade. In order for specialist language to be considered 'jargon' it needs to exclude people who don't understand it.

Litotes is a language device where you combine a negative word (like "no", "not", "don't", "isn't", etc) with a word or phrase to express the opposite thing for effect. For example, "I'm not happy" means you're unhappy.

A Mary-Sue is an idealised character without nuance. They don't have flaws or limitations that impact them in meaningful ways, and the story's plot and characters revolve around them. They don't need to struggle, so their existence cheapens the tension.

The maxim of manner is an expectation that people will be clear with what they are saying in a conversation. This is one of the four expectations that make up Grice's Maxims, otherwise known as the Cooperative Principle.

The maxim of quality is an expectation that people will say truthful things in a conversation. It is one of the four expectations that make up Grice's Maxims, otherwise known as the Cooperative Principle.

The maxim of quantity is the expectation that people will say just enough and give the right amount of information in a conversation. It is one of the four expectations that make up Grice's Maxims, otherwise known as the Cooperative Principle.

The maxim of relation is an expectation that people will say relevant things in a conversation. It is one of the four expectations that make up Grice's Maxims, otherwise known as the Cooperative Principle.

When a narrator quotes someone else's words, they have some influence over how we interpret and react to the quoted words. We call this "narrator interference".

The Odyssey was written by the Greek poet Homer around the 7th or 8th century BC. Its story takes place after The Iliad and follows the journey of Odysseus as he tries to get back home after the Trojan War.

Pragmatics is one of the six microlinguistic levels you study in English language. It is about how language is used in context.

Syntax is one of the six micro-linguistic levels you study in English language. It is about how we order words to make phrases, clauses and sentences.

Tantalus is a character from Greek mythology. His punishment by the gods is so famous that it led to a whole English word being named after him: tantalising!

In literary theory, a text is anything that we can use to communicate information, messages, stories, ideas and feelings. It can be consumed, analysed, interpreted and understood by us and other people.

A text producer is the person (or people) who creates the text. They use the tools at their disposal to make something that other people can interpret and derive meaning from.

The text receiver is the person (or people) who reads, watches or listens to the text. They rely on the cues and devices in the text to help them interpret it.

Text World Theory is a theory in cognitive linguistics that explains and analyses how we create images in our minds when we read, listen to or watch texts.

Verbal irony is when someone says something that goes against the reality of their situation. They say it in a way that is noticeable to the people listening to them.

In linguistics, violating a maxim is when you break one of Grice's Maxims on purpose, but you don't want anyone else to notice.