Definitions for signifying
ˈsɪg nəˌfaɪ ɪŋsig·ni·fy·ing

WikipediaRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. signifying

   Signifyin' (sometimes written "signifyin(g)") (vernacular), is a wordplay. It is a practice in African-American culture involving a verbal strategy of indirection that exploits the gap between the denotative and figurative meanings of words. A simple example would be insulting someone to show affection. Other names for signifyin' include: "Dropping lugs, joaning, sounding, capping, snapping, dissing, busting, bagging, janking, ranking, toasting, woofing, roasting, putting on, or cracking."Signifyin' directs attention to the connotative, context-bound significance of words, which is accessible only to those who share the cultural values of a given speech community. The expression comes from stories about the signifying monkey, a trickster figure said to have originated during slavery in the United States. The American literary critic Henry Louis Gates Jr. wrote in The Signifying Monkey (1988) that signifyin' is "a trope, in which are subsumed several other rhetorical tropes, including metaphor, metonymy, synecdoche, and irony (the master tropes), and also hyperbole, litotes, and metalepsis. To this list we could easily add aporia, chiasmus, and catachresis, all of which are used in the ritual of Signifyin(g)."

Webster DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Signifying

   of Signify

How to pronounce signifying?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say signifying in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of signifying in Chaldean Numerology is: 4

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of signifying in Pythagorean Numerology is: 2

Examples of signifying in a Sentence

1. Dave Chappelle:

   What are Dave Chappelle signifying that Dave Chappelle can kneel on a man's neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds and feel like Dave Chappelle wouldn't get the wrath of God ? that's what is happening right now. It's not for a single cop, it's for all of it.

2. William Shakespeare:

   Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player, that struts and frets his hour upon the stage And then is heard no more it is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying Nothing.

3. William Shakespeare:

   To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow, Creeps in this petty pace from day to day To the last syllable of recorded time, And all our yesterdays have lighted fools The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player That struts and frets his hour upon the stage And then is heard no more it is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing.

4. Steve Vladeck:

   Of course, those who hope Judge Gorsuch will rule in their favor on particular issues once he's confirmed would have trouble identifying clear showings of support too, that seems to be par for the course for contemporary Supreme Court confirmation hearings -- lots of sound and fury, but ultimately signifying very, very little.

5. William Shakespeare:

   Life is a tale told by an idiot -- full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.

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