Words About Words

Question 1

acronym

Answer 1

A word made up of the first letters of other words it describes. Examples: SCUBA (self-contained underwater breathing apparatus), UFO (unidentified flying object)

Question 2

adjective

Answer 2

A word that serves as a modifier of a noun to denote a quality of the thing named. Examples: happy, strong, thin, green.

Question 3

adverb

Answer 3

a word serving as a modifier of a verb, an adjective, another adverb, a preposition, etc., which often but not always ends in -ly. Examples: slowly, sadly, well, often.

Question 4

alliteraton

Answer 4

Repetition of the same sound beginning several words in sequence. Example: “Veni, vidi, vici.”-Julius Caesar

Question 5

anagram

Answer 5

A word that is formed when the letters of a word or phrase are rearranged. For example, Minnesota is an anagram of nominates.

Question 6

article

Answer 6

One of a small set of words or affixes (a, an, and the) used with nouns to limit or give definiteness to the application. English has an indefinite article (a, an) and a definite article (the).

Question 7

conjunction

Answer 7

A word that joins together sentences, clauses, phrases, or words. There are two kinds of conjunctions: coordinating conjunctions (such as and and or) and subordinating conjunctions (such as although and because).

Question 8

consonance

Answer 8

Recurrence or repetition of consonants, especially at the end of stressed syllables without the similar correspondence of vowels. Example: stroke of luck.

Question 9

diaeresis

Answer 9

( ¨ ) Two dots placed side-by-side over a vowel (like an umlaut), indicating that the vowel is considered a separate vowel, even though it would normally be considered part of a diphthong. Example: coöperation.

Question 10

diphthong

Answer 10

A gliding, monosyllabic speech item that starts at or near the articulatory position for one vowel and moves to or toward the position for another (as the vowel combination that forms the last part of toy).

Question 11

hyperbole

Answer 11

Exaggeration for emphasis or for rhetorical effect.

Question 12

intransitive verb

Answer 12

A verb that does not act on an object (unlike a transitive verb). For example, sleep is intransitive. I sleep. I do not sleep it.

Question 13

irony

Answer 13

Expression of something that is contrary to the intended meaning; the words say one thing but mean another.

Question 14

metaphor

Answer 14

Implied comparison achieved through a figurative use of words; the word is used not inits literal sense but in one analogous to it. Example: “Life’s but a walking shadow; a poor player, That struts and frets his hour upon the stage.”-Shakespeare, Macbeth

Question 15

noun

Answer 15

A word that is the name of something (as a person, animal, place, thing, quality, idea, or action).

Question 16

onomatopoeia

Answer 16

Use of words to imitate natural sounds; accommodation of sounds to sense. Examples: hiss, whack, hum, cough, scratch.

Question 17

oxymoron

Answer 17

Apparent paradox achieved by the juxtaposition of words that seem to contradict one another. Examples: jumbo shrimp, random order.

Question 18

palindrome

Answer 18

A word spelled the same forward as backward. Examples: radar, kayak.

Question 19

plural

Answer 19

More than one, often (but not always) indicated with the letter s at the end of a word. Examples: stars, dogs, boxes, geese, mice.

Question 20

paradox

Answer 20

An assertion seemingly opposed to common sense but that may have some truth to it.

Question 21

person

Answer 21

A segment of discourse that pertains to the speaker (first person), to the one spoken to (second person), or the one spoken of (third person).

Question 22

portmanteau

Answer 22

A word created by blending two words together to form a new word that is related to both of the original words. Example: brunch = breakfast + lunch.

Question 23

possessive

Answer 23

A grammatical case that denotes ownership or a relation analogous to ownership. Example: owner’s manual. Examples of possessive pronouns: hers, his, my, mine, your, yours, our, ours, their, theirs, its, whose.

Question 24

predicate

Answer 24

The part of a sentence or clause that expresses what is said of the subject and that usually consists of a verb with or without objects, complements, or adverbial modifiers. The predicate excludes the subject itself.

Question 25

preposition

Answer 25

A (usually small) word that combines with a noun, pronoun, or noun equivalent to form a prepositional phrase that modifies part of the sentence. Examples: after, at, before, by, for, with.

Question 26

prepositional phrase

Answer 26

A phrase that starts with a preposition. With a preposition is a prepositional phrase.

Question 27

pronoun

Answer 27

A word that is used as a substitute for a noun or noun equivalent, takes noun constructions, and refers to persons or things named or understood in the context. Examples: I, you, he, she, it, we, they, me, him, her, us, them.

Question 28

simile

Answer 28

An explicit comparison between two things using like or as. Example: “Let us go then, you and I, / While the evening is spread out against the sky / Like a patient etherized upon a table…“-T.S. Eliot, “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”

Question 29

subject

Answer 29

The part of a sentence that indicates what acts upon the verb. It is always a noun, pronoun, or noun clause. For example, Skiing is the subject of the sentence “Skiing is one of my favorite activities.”

Question 30

superlative

Answer 30

The degree of grammatical comparison that denotes an extreme or unsurpassed level or extent, denoted usually by an -est ending. Examples: best, worst, fastest, smartest.

Question 31

tautology

Answer 31

Repetition of an idea in a different word, phrase, or sentence. Example: “Cease and desist that activity.”

Question 32

transitive verb

Answer 32

A verb that can act upon an object. One might say that a transitive verb is one that is object oriented. Examples: see, buy (I saw my friend when I bought a bagel.).

Question 33

verb

Answer 33

A word that expresses an action, occurrence, or mode of being. It is the grammatical center of a predicate. For example, make is a verb in the sentence “It is possible to make a verb out of any noun.”