Гальперин И. Р. Стилистика английского языка

TRUD (=time remaining until dive). The first letters of this word sequence forms the neologism TRUD which will presumably remain as a professional term unknown to wider circles of native English speakers. Such also are the words LOX (= 1. liquid oxygen explosive, 2. liquid oxygen) and GOX (= gaseous oxygen). To the layman, oxygen is a gas, but in missilery (also a new word) it is more often a liquid or even a solid, so gaseous oxygen has to be distinguished. Other better-known examples are laser (= light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation); UNESCO (United Nations Education and Science Organization); jeep (GP=General Purpose car).
Not all of the means of word coinage existing in the English language have been dealt with in this short survey. The reason for this is simple: in stylistics there are ways and means of producing an effect which attract the attention of the reader not only by the novelty of a coinage but by a more elaborate language effect. This effect must be specified to make clear the intentions of the writer. The writer in this case is seeking something that will adequately convey his idea to the mind of the reader. The means assume some additional force: novelty+force.
Therefore in the survey of the means of word-formation only those have been selected which provide novelty+force.
The stylistic effect achieved by newly-coined words generally rests on the ability of the mind to perceive novelty at the background of the familiar. The sharper the contrast, the more obvious the effect. The slight, almost imperceptible changes caused by extensions of an original meaning might well produce a stylistic effect only when the reader is well versed in discriminating nuances of meaning.
Thus the use of the words commitment and commit in the meaning of involvement' and 'involve' has imperceptibly crept into common use since approximately 1955 and is now freely used. So also are the use of unfortunately instead of 'regretfully', the use of dramatic and massive as intensifiers. Such changes are apparent only to the eye of the lexicographer and will hardly provoke a twofold application of meaning, unless, of course, the context forcibly points to such an application.
However, these words will ordinarily carry an expressive function due to their emotive meaning.
When we tackle the problem of SDs and penetrate more deeply into its essence, it becomes apparent that stylistic function is not confined to phenomena which are foregrounded, as newly-coined words generally are. A stylistic effect may also be achieved by the skilful interplay of a long-established meaning and one just being introduced into the language-as-a-system.
Thus the word deliver in the United States has acquired the meaning 'to carry out or fulfil an expectation; make good' (Barnhart Dictionary). If this word were to carry its original meaning alongside the one now current in the U. S. it would produce a stylistic effect, if, of course, this twofold application of the word is done deliberately. Novelty is not a device. One must distinguish between a deliberate, conscious employment of the inherent property of words to be used in different meanings simultaneously and the introduction of a new meaning which in the given context excludes the one from which it is derived.
In the following examples taken from the Barnhart Dictionary the italicized words do not display any twofold meanings, although they are illustrative of the new meanings these words have acquired.
"...he has spent hours reading government cables, memoranda and classified files to brief himself for in-depth discussions."
'In-depth', adj. means 'going deeply, thoroughly into a subject'.
"Bullit, 1 find, is completely typical of the 'now' look in American movies – a swift-moving, constantly shifting surface that suggests rather than reveals depth."
The word now as an adjective is a novelty. Barnhart labels it slang – "very fashionable of up-to-date; belonging to the Now Generation."
And still the novelty can be used for stylistic purposes provided that the requirements for an SD indicated earlier are observed. It must be repeated that newly-minted words are especially striking. They check the easy flow of verbal sequences and force our mind to take in the referential meaning. The aesthetic effect in this case will be equal to zero if the neologism designates a new notion resulting from scientific and technical investigations. The intellectual will suppress the emotional. However, coinages which aim at introducing additional meanings as a result of an aesthetic re-evaluation of the given concept may perform the function of a stylistic device.