Irony behind diminutives: a cognitive linguistic analysis of popular technical terms

Based on a study of English popular technical terms the article claims that in order to properly account for the ironic use of diminutives, one has to assume a cognitive view of meaning. Following Fauconnier and Turner’s (2002) Conceptual Integration Theory and Langacker’s (2008) notion of Current Discourse Space, we suggest that the ironic meanings of the stemaffix combinations involving diminutives should be seen as instances of conceptual blending that are determined by the context in which such formations occur, including the speakerhearer interaction in the specific context of a given usage event within the current discourse space.