This is in response to the letter ‘Semantics’ (GDN, July 17), which was itself a reply to the headline ‘Dangerous highway set for major revamp’ (GDN, July 12).
The phrase “a dangerous highway” is correct. The figure of speech used here is a transferred epithet.
Here, the adjective or epithet “dangerous” is not meant to describe the noun “road”, but to describe the drivers – who are dangerous.
Therefore, there is no need to stress that it is the drivers who are dangerous, as it is implied in the headline.
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