Q 01/05

Which Greek city-state, whose people were famed for pithy replies, gave English the word 'laconic'?

A) Athens

B) Corinth

C) Sparta

D) Thebes

Answer · why

C) Sparta

Sparta lies in Laconia, the region behind the word. When a Macedonian king warned what he would do if he invaded, the Spartans are said to have sent b...

Q 02/05

Which device, Greek for 'sharp-dull', does Romeo pile up in cries like 'O brawling love! O loving hate!'?

A) Tautology

B) Oxymoron

C) Pleonasm

D) Solecism

Answer · why

B) Oxymoron

Oxymoron joins two contradictory terms, and Romeo strings thirteen in a row in Romeo and Juliet. The word practises what it names, since its two halve...

Q 03/05

Which term for a distraction comes from a pungent lure William Cobbett said could pull hounds off a scent?

A) Stalking horse

B) Wild goose chase

C) Smoke screen

D) Red herring

Answer · why

D) Red herring

Red herring is a strongly smoked kipper, and in 1807 William Cobbett told of using one to draw hounds away from their quarry. The story was probably i...

Q 04/05

Which Athenian orator is said to have cured a stammer by rehearsing speeches with pebbles in his mouth?

A) Pericles

B) Demosthenes

C) Themistocles

D) Isocrates

Answer · why

B) Demosthenes

Demosthenes also strengthened his voice by speaking on the seashore over the roar of the waves. Or so the ancient lives say, and Plutarch adds that hi...

Q 05/05

Which device, Greek for 'name-making', gave the cuckoo, the chickadee and the whip-poor-will their names?

A) Personification

B) Portmanteau

C) Onomatopoeia

D) Synaesthesia

Answer · why

C) Onomatopoeia

Onomatopoeia builds a word from the sound it describes, which is why so many birds are simply named after their calls. The cuckoo's two-note call gave...