Q 01/05

Which American term for a student is popularly explained as a Greek compound meaning wise fool?

A) Freshman

B) Sophomore

C) Valedictorian

D) Alumnus

Answer · why

B) Sophomore

Sophomore is often read as Greek sophos, wise, plus moros, foolish, a dig at second-year students who think they know it all. Etymologists trace it to...

Q 02/05

Which musical instrument has a full Italian name that joins the words for soft and loud?

A) Piano

B) Oboe

C) Viola

D) Piccolo

Answer · why

A) Piano

Piano is short for pianoforte, from an Italian phrase meaning harpsichord with soft and loud. The harder a key is pressed, the harder its hammer hits ...

Q 03/05

Which 1994 spy comedy starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jamie Lee Curtis has an oxymoron for a title?

A) Total Recall

B) Last Action Hero

C) True Lies

D) Kindergarten Cop

Answer · why

C) True Lies

True Lies casts Schwarzenegger as a government agent hiding his double life as a spy from his unknowing wife. Its screenplay reworks La Totale!, a 199...

Q 04/05

Which fantasy author believed his own surname came from a German word meaning foolhardy, a literal twin of oxymoron?

A) CS Lewis

B) Terry Pratchett

C) Ursula K Le Guin

D) JRR Tolkien

Answer · why

D) JRR Tolkien

JRR Tolkien believed his name came from tollkühn, foolhardy, an idea researchers now call a false etymology. He even slipped himself into one story un...

Q 05/05

Which Shakespeare play has its lovesick hero reel off a string of oxymorons, including cold fire and sick health?

A) Twelfth Night

B) As You Like It

C) Much Ado About Nothing

D) Romeo and Juliet

Answer · why

D) Romeo and Juliet

Romeo and Juliet has its hero pour out the clashing phrases in the very first scene, while he is still pining for a girl called Rosaline. The speech l...