1

The phrase "in English, please" has different meanings in different social contexts. In one context it might mean literal English language, and in another it could imply a response in layman's terms.

I recall a scene from Star Trek, which humorously shows contextual confusion:

Kirk: (in battle) Status, Mister Spock.
Spock: Captain, the deflector field ionic beam is over-critical.
Kirk: English, Mr. Spock.
Spock: Am I not using the correct form of the English language?
Kirk: Spock!
Spock: Our shields will be down in ten seconds.

Edwin Ashworth
  • 83,272
Josh Hibschman
  • 119
  • 2
    You'd say it could be used both literally and metaphorically/figuratively. But this is true of almost all figurative expressions and most literal expressions. This question is similar but I don't think it's quite the same. – Stuart F Jan 25 '24 at 16:09
  • 2
    It's irony here, pretending the original was not English for being so technical. – Yosef Baskin Jan 25 '24 at 16:11
  • 1
    This question on alternative terms for a double entendre suggests "equivocality" although that's certainly not a common word. – Stuart F Jan 25 '24 at 16:12
  • 1
    Almost any term can be used literally and nonliterally. It is not clear what you think is special about the literal/nonliteral distinction in this case. – jsw29 Jan 25 '24 at 16:22
  • 1
    A request for clarification or simplification? – WebViewer Jan 25 '24 at 17:38
  • 1
    As you say, it depends on the social context. In some contexts it's literal, in others it's sarcastic or metaphorical. – Barmar Jan 25 '24 at 18:38
  • 1
    One could say it's synecdoche, using 'English' to mean a subset, 'everyday English'. But there's more involved here: a play on words with humour and a mild reproof (one could argue that Spock is using grammatical language but violating the Gricean maxim of clear communication to non-precisionists). – Edwin Ashworth Jan 25 '24 at 19:11
  • 2
    @EdwinAshworth I don't think the question is about this specific phrase, but the general concept of a phrase having two very different meanings depending on context. But as Stuart says, this is so normal that there isn't really a term for it. – Barmar Jan 25 '24 at 20:15
  • 1
    It comes across as a typically British or more narrowly English expression of irony or even sarcasm. – Tuffy Jan 25 '24 at 21:53
  • 1
    @Barmar The general term is the same as for different senses of a word: << polysemy [noun] [LINGUISTICS]: the coexistence of many possible meanings for a word or phrase. >> [Oxford Languages; courtesy of Google] This makes the question a duplicate. – Edwin Ashworth Jan 25 '24 at 23:56
  • 3
    Does this answer your question? Is there a name for a pair of words or phrase that can have a double meaning? Often, context will disambiguate, as with polysemous words. // Oxford Languages, above, must be using the mathematical sense of 'many' (more than 1). – Edwin Ashworth Jan 25 '24 at 23:59
  • Thank you all for your thoughts, upvoted you all. I think polysemy is it, with the word English appearing ambiguous as both a noun and implied transitive verb (?). Am now curious about the role repetition plays in conversation involving polysemy (e.g. Kirk repeats the ask, or the skit Who's on First). @EdwinAshworth your comment "Perhaps to 'Australian' is to use bottom-spin" turned my day right-side up :D. Feel free to throw out an answer, though I'm unsure it's possible after close. – Josh Hibschman Jan 26 '24 at 13:44
  • While polysemy could be used here, that label seems more useful when the meanings do not overlap, and neither is merely a narrower version of the other. In this case, English is used in a way that simply narrows down its default, literal meaning to something like: English that is readily understood by average English speakers. – jsw29 Jan 26 '24 at 16:29

0 Answers0