Periphrastic Language Use by Sports Commentators

Abstract

This paper touches upon the issue of periphrastic expressions used by sports commentators. These expressions play a stylistic decorative role in the spoken sports discourse. Periphrastic structures are used in reference to the most popular sports people, clubs and countries that take part in sporting activities, as well as the best-recognized sports arenas. Some of the expressions used with reference to people become their nicknames, others disappear if they fail to catch on. Some of the expressions display a high degree of triviality, repetitiveness and banality, and instead of being stylistically decorative, they enter the list of clichés at the verge of linguistic kitsch.