X-phemistic multimodal metaphors and the creation of humour in How I Met your Mother

Abstract

This paper focuses on the links between multimodal and non-verbal metaphors (and other tropes), X-phemisms (all the words which refer to taboo topics, from euphemisms to dysphemisms, as defined by Allan/Burridge 1991, 2006), and the creation of humour in the sitcom How I Met your Mother (2005-2013, CBS). I mostly focus on creative metaphors relying on at least two modes among the verbal mode (non-written language), the visual mode (moving images), and music/non-verbal sounds. All the metaphors mentioned in the paper are related to taboo topics (bodily fluids, disease, or sex) and they are all used as alternative means to refer to those taboo topics. I explain how these X-phemistic multimodal metaphors participate in the creation of humour in the sitcom. I mostly rely on the incongruity approach to humour to explain that the use of different modes contributes to the creation of a form of inconsistency that leads to humour.