Q 01/05

Which figure of speech takes its name from a Greek verb that literally means to strip off the flesh?

A) Satire

B) Parody

C) Sarcasm

D) Innuendo

Answer · why

C) Sarcasm

Sarcasm comes from the Greek sarkazein, to strip off the flesh as dogs do, which came to mean sneering. English borrowed the word in the 1570s in its ...

Q 02/05

Which Canadian singer's hit 'Ironic' set off a long debate over whether its unlucky scenes are irony at all?

A) Alanis Morissette

B) Sarah McLachlan

C) Chantal Kreviazuk

D) Shania Twain

Answer · why

A) Alanis Morissette

Alanis Morissette later said she and co-writer Glen Ballard never checked that every line was technically ironic. Comedian Ed Byrne joked that the onl...

Q 03/05

Which figure of speech has a Greek name meaning 'sharp-dull', so that the word itself is an example of the device?

A) Paradox

B) Oxymoron

C) Irony

D) Allegory

Answer · why

B) Oxymoron

Oxymoron joins the Greek oxys, sharp, and moros, dull or foolish, so the term contradicts itself just as 'bittersweet' and 'jumbo shrimp' do.

Q 04/05

Shakespeare's "All the world's a stage" speech in As You Like It is a much-cited example of which figure of speech?

A) Simile

B) Allusion

C) Paradox

D) Metaphor

Answer · why

D) Metaphor

Metaphor is itself one: the word comes from a Greek term for carrying something across. The speech goes on to call men and women 'merely players' with...

Q 05/05

Which figure of speech flashed on screen as 'Pow!' and 'Biff!' during fight scenes in the 1960s Batman TV series?

A) Onomatopoeia

B) Internal rhyme

C) Consonance

D) Sibilance

Answer · why

A) Onomatopoeia

Onomatopoeia means 'name-making' in Greek, and covers words such as bang, beep and zoom that imitate the sounds they name. Cartoonist Roy Crane pionee...