Pragmatic properties of idiom modifications in the language of advertising

Abstract: The language of print advertising abounds with pragmatically-motivated phraseological units (PUs) such as: idioms, metaphors, slogans, proverbs, etc. In order to draw the reader’s attention, advertisers exploit the pragmatic potential of PUs. The paper explores the various interpretations of meaning as well as the use of idiom modifications (as a group of PUs) in the advertising discourse, primarily via pragmatic devices such as presuppositions and implicatures.