Figurative Language

Question 1

Synesthesia

Answer 1

Describing something with a sense not usually associated with it (warm colors, smooth sounds, silent sun, cold personality, tasted green)

Question 2

Consonance

Answer 2

A repeated consonant sound anywhere in multiple words

Question 3

Alliteration

Answer 3

A repeated sound at the beginning of multiple words

Question 4

Non-Sequitur

Answer 4

A statement does not logically follow (If an organism is a mammal, then it has hair and produces milk. Coconuts have hair and produce milk. Therefore, coconuts are mammals.)

Question 5

Polysyndeton

Answer 5

Series of words connected by the over-use of the same conjunction (Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor…)

Question 6

Asyndeton

Answer 6

Deliberate underuse of a conjunction (I came, I saw, I conquered)

Question 7

Oxymoron

Answer 7

Figure of speech combining two opposite qualities to create a new meaning (icy hot, jumbo shrimp, virtual reality, original copy, feather of lead, bright smoke, cold fire, sick health)

Question 8

Antithesis

Answer 8

Looking at same thing or event from different perspectives “one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind” “don’t look at the glass half empty, look at it half full” “a penny saved is a penny earned”

Question 9

Paradox

Answer 9

Opposite things that superficially seem impossible or untrue “A person who trusts cannot be trusted” “deep down, you’re really shallow” “you have to be cruel to be kind”

Question 10

Juxtaposition

Answer 10

Put two different ideas next to each other and compare “trump v clinton and trump v biden”

Question 11

Internal Rhyme

Answer 11

Rhyme occurring in the middle of a line of poetry. “Jack and JILL went up a HILL”

Question 12

Assonance

Answer 12

Repetition of vowel sounds without repetition of consonant sounds

Question 13

Slant Rhyme

Answer 13

Consonance or assonance but not both (ways and grace) (found and wound)

Question 14

Zeugma (zoog-muh)

Answer 14

Word when two definitions are used at the same time (she broke his car and his heart)

Question 15

Idioms

Answer 15

A widely used saying with a figurative meaning not parsable by looking at the individual words (cat got your tongue?)

Question 16

Synecdoche

Answer 16

A figure of speech in which part of something is used to signify the whole because it is physically a part of the thing it is representing or vice versa (offer your hand in marriage, hungry mouths to feed–the hand is a synecdoche of person, the mouth is a synecdoche of person,)

Question 17

Metonymy

Answer 17

Figure of speech in which the use of a name of one thing for that of another of which it is an attribute or with which it is associated; using something that symbolically represents something that describes it (the pen is mightier than the sword: pen represents literature, sword represents war)

Question 18

Hyperbole

Answer 18

Exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally (I walked a million miles to get here)

Question 19

Litotes (lai-tuh-tees)

Answer 19

Understatement in which a negative expresses the opposite meaning (you’re not wrong, the soup was not too hot, you’re not that ugly)

Question 20

Verbal Irony

Answer 20

speaking contradictory to what they really mean; sarcasm

Question 21

Cosmic Irony

Answer 21

The idea that fate, destiny, or a god plays with human hopes and expectations (Oedipus Rex–Laius and Oedipus tried to escape their fates but caused it)

Question 22

Situational Irony

Answer 22

The opposite of what you would expect happens

Question 23

Onomatopoeia

Answer 23

A word representing a sound (there was a loud THUD at the door)

Question 24

Apostrophe

Answer 24

Refers to a speech or address to a person who is not present or to an object (Oh, Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo. Twinkle, twinkle, little star, how I wonder what you are.)

Question 25

Euphemism

Answer 25

mild or indirect word or expression for considered to be too harsh or blunt to say directly (we’re going to have to let you go; my grandfather passed away)

Question 26

Dysphemism

Answer 26

substituting a meaner, more offensive word or phrase for something neutral (cancer stick)

Question 27

Appositive

Answer 27

Renaming a noun before or following it (my brother’s car, a sporty red convertible with leather seats, sped down the highway; a genius, Einstein developed many theorems.

Question 28

Epithet/Kenning

Answer 28

Any word or phrase applied to a person or thing to describe an actual or attributed trait (Alexander the Great, Eric the Red, Mr. Philanthropy)

Question 29

Simile/Metaphor

Answer 29

Metaphor: figure of speech in which a word or phrase literally denoting one kind or object or idea is used in place of another to suggest a likeness or analogy (time is money)
Simile: figure of speech comparing two unlike things introduced by like or as (slow as a slow)

Question 30

Chiasmus /ki’æzməs/

Answer 30

an inverted relationship between the syntactic elements of parallel phrases (let us never negotiate out of fear, but let us ever fear to negotiate; pleasure’s a sin, and sometimes sin’s a pleasure)

Question 31

Jargon

Answer 31

The complex language used by experts in a certain discipline or field. This language helps experts communicate clearly and precisely but may be difficult for others to understand (PR, dek, voiced alveolar trill, suppletion)

Question 32

Cliché

Answer 32

An overused phrase that has lost its power and betrays a lack of original thought (woke up on the wrong side of the bed, there’s plenty of fish in the sea)

Question 33

Aphorism

Answer 33

A concise, forceful, and clever observation that contains a general truth (if it ain’t broke don’t fix it; that which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet)

Question 34

Conceit

Answer 34

An unconventional, logically complex, or surprising metaphor that often uses multiple metaphors, juxtapositions, or similes to create and enhance the comparison

Question 35

Pun

Answer 35

Humorous use of a word or phrase that has several meanings or that sounds like another word. Frog parking only, all others will be toad. Always trust a glue salesman, they tend to stick to their word.

Question 36

Analogy

Answer 36

Comparing two different things through simile or metaphor based on the similarity of one aspect (one grapples with consciousness as one grapples with a lost bar of soap.)