COMIC, COMICAL

INTRODUCTORY MATERIAL

Read and translate the following sentences paying special attention to the words in bold type.

1. He was too strung-up, too seething with indignation, to see the humour of it then. But in their room at the Museum the comic side became apparent. 2. We are told that the episodes reproduced in colour are taken from comic books. 3. «There’s naught funny in it, my comic gal!» he bawled indignantly. «What are you laughing at?» 4. His face was that, of a comic actor, a singer of songs, a man never at a loss for an answer, continually striving to make a laugh. 5. He was full of accomplishments. He could play the piano quite well, rag-time, of course, and he could sing a comic song with a rich voice and good humour. 6. «Perhaps we seem rather comic figures to you, Mr Brown.» «Not comic,» I said with sincerity, «heroic.» 7. Phil raised one eyebrow with a half-tragic, half-comic expression. 8. I knew that you were second-rate. But I loved you. It’s comic when I think how hard I tried to be amused by the things that amused you. 9. Despite its comic sound, this term (blurb) is now used quite solemnly as an indispensable item in the jargon of literary critics and the reading public in general. 10. Before he was faced with the serious business of fighting, he developed varicose veins, which was a scream in itself, and was put to a desk job, where he could provide comic relief without danger of killing his own side. 11. His serio-comic face, with its bald forehead and stiff, red ears, was inflamed with excitement. 12. The little dispenser, hastily bolting the outer door for fear another straggler might come in, turned with a look of horror on his face that was almost comic. 13. He did not stop. With a desperation that was madness, unmindful of the pain, he hurried up the slope to the crest of the hill over which his comrade had disappeared — more grotesque and comical by far than that limping, jerking comrade. 14. He saw, first the crowd, then Gino, dry-eyed and somber, his small boy’s face wearing a look of thirsty vengeance that was comical. 15. The two boys standing there with the mops and pail looked so comical, they hated it so. 16. He was a solemn, comical-looking young man with great round black eyes. 17. The old man wore a comical striped cloak over his threadbare suit. 18. You have seen what can happen in one battle. I am a comical figure with my cropped ear but not so comical when I try to breathe. I beg of you to heed my advice. Do not enlist now.

EXPLANATORY NOTES

Comic adj. 1. Causing people to laugh, mirth-provoking; laughable, amusing or intended to amuse; humorous, e.g. a ~ paper, a ~ song, a ~ strip (a series of cartoons, as in a newspaper, usually telling a humorous or adventurous story). 2. Pertaining to comedy, e.g. a ~ writer, a ~ actor, a ~ opera (an opera with humorous situations); a ~ play; a ~ film.

Comical adj. Amusing, ludicrous, odd, queer, e.g. a ~ old hat, a ~ face, a ~ appearance.

Derivative: comically adv.

Comic and comical are synonymous adjectives meaning respectively комический, юмористический, смешной, комедийный and комичный, смехотворный, потешный. Comic is applied to that which contains the elements of comedy (especially in a dramatic or literary sense) and amuses one in a thoughtful way, evoking thoughtful laughter or amused reflection. Comical applies not so much to the character of that which evokes laughter as to the impression it produces on the observer; commonly, the word suggests unrestrained laughter as its effect.