Ukrainian and English Metaphorical Inscriptions on Clothing; How Eloquent Can They Be?

Abstract

This paper aims to analyse Ukrainian and English metaphorical clothing inscriptions in a comparative aspect, focusing on the diverse nature of the figure of speech. It deals with Ukrainian and English metaphorical inscriptions on clothing harvested on the Internet over a two-year period (2017)(2018)(2019). The study shows that metaphorisation is unevenly typical for the two linguocultural environments. The research reveals the ideas which are communicated by metaphorical clothing inscriptions in both languages, discovering the most crucial topics and issues for speakers as well as society in general. The article determines that there are universal thematic groups, typical for humanity as a whole, as well as specific groups inherent only in a particular linguoculture, which reflect certain socio-cultural and historical processes. We argue that metaphorical inscriptions on clothing can be eloquent in terms of social preferences, values and trends of two different European (Slavic and Germanic) linguocultural environments. The outcome of the research can be used as an interesting material for sociolinguistics and linguocultural studies.