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What is transferred epithet? How is it used in the phrase "A terrified yelp" in the 9th stanza in the poem 'The tale of Custard the dragon '?

Dear student,

Here is the answer:

Transferred epithet, is the trope or rhetorical device in which a modifier, usually an adjective, is applied to the "wrong" word in the sentence.

In the stanzas its not the yelp that's terrified but the dog. The dog is terrified of the pirate and yelps in reaction.

Regards

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A figure of speech in which an epithet (or adjective) grammatically qualifies a noun other than the person or thing it is actually describing.
for example: i have had such a wonderful day.
in this example, 'day' was not wonderful, but the experiences that you had that day made you feel wonderful. The feeling of wonderfulness has been transferred from you to the day. 
in the same way, transferred epithet is used in "a terrified yelp" . 

hope this helps.
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Hello....koi h
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