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Levels of language & advertising slogans
Task B - Our answer
First of all, the word 'right', which occurs in most English dialects
as an adjective or a noun meaning 'correct' or indicating a direction
(e.g. 'to the right'), is here being used as an intensifying adverb with
the meaning 'very'. This use is associated with northern English spoken
dialects of English, and in particular Yorkshire dialects. So the speaker
(a horse in the advertisement!) clearly comes from the geographical area
associated with the drink.The whole sentence is also the grammatical equivalent
of the more straightforward 'Webster's is very tasty', which has the simple
structure 'X is Y'. The 'cleft' structure of the slogan ('It is Y is X')
is also typical of spoken Yorkshire dialects. So this advertisement will
appeal to people from the north of England, and in particular Yorkshire,
where most of the beer is sold.
The fact that the speaker is a horse adds a 'jokey' feel to the ad, which
is appropriate for the social circumstances (chatting in a pub) in which
beer is usually drunk. For speakers of non-Yorkshire dialects, the horse
can be seen, in jokey form, of course, as having expert local knowledge
because of the dialect he speaks (neighs?) in.
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