In
natural language, a deferred reference is the
metonymic
Metonymy () is a figure of speech in which a concept is referred to by the name of something closely associated with that thing or concept.
Etymology
The words ''metonymy'' and ''metonym'' come from grc, μετωνυμία, 'a change of name ...
use of an expression to refer to an entity related to the conventional meaning of that expression, but not denoted by it. Several types of deferred reference have been studied in the literature.
Examples
English
The following examples are from (Nunberg 1995):
* (server to a co-worker in a deli) ''The ham sandwich'' is at table 7.
* (restaurant patron to a valet, indicating a key) ''This'' is parked out back.
* ''Yeats'' is still widely read.
References
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Semantics
Metonymy
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