Language Use Trivia

1. If a cyclist is described as going "a bloc", what is he doing?

From Quiz Interesting Cycling Terms

Answer: Going as hard as possible

Going "a bloc" means that a rider is giving everything he has and going as fast as he possibly can during a race. This is a strategy that can of course result in a win, but if put into place too early, can see the rider running out of puff and being eventually overtaken.

From Quiz The Department of Redundancy Department

Answer: Long

Hares are known to have long ears (normally even longer than rabbits). Saying "long-eared hare" is definitely redundancy. One could use this sentence to try to mean a hare with especially long ears, but the sentence does not specify that so it is still redundant.

From Quiz U.S. Military Communications

Answer: Over and Out

"Over" means "I am finished with my message and an waiting for a reply", while "Out" means "I am finished, no reply expected". So, "Over and Out" may sound official to civilians, but it is incorrect and grates on the nerves of military communicators.

From Quiz Military Chow-Down

Answer: Midnight Rations

Midnight Rations are a small meal prepared around 2300 (11pm) on ships underway. This light meal is meant to help the oncoming Midnight-4am watch (Mid-Watch) to be alert during the wee hours of the night. Those going off watch at midnight may also be able to grab a bite. The truly lazy who don't stand watch will get up just to eat MIDRATS!

From Quiz Ten People Were Wrong

Answer: a lot

If you want to visit a town in India, then that town could be Alot. If you assign a portion, as in time, then allot that time. However, if you have a large number of something, like allotted time in a Alot, India, then that would be 'a lot'. Get it? Got it. Good!

From Quiz Popeye Sez: "Watch Yer Pronunski-Ayshun!"

Answer: mohv (long o, one syllable; rhymes with Jove)

Yeah, this one surprised me, too. For years, I pronounced the word MAWVE when I read it. According to www.yourdictionary.com, "this word has not moved far enough enough from French to assume an English pronunciation."

From Quiz A Lesson in Retronyms

Answer: World War I

It would seem rather silly to call the Great War by its retronym without having a second world war to compare it to. If someone had done so during the 1920s, they would have implied a second world war long before it ever happened.

From Quiz Self-Descriptive Rhetoric

Answer: Hyperbole

Hyperbole is gross exaggeration used for emphasis.

From Quiz Figure out the Figure.

Answer: Onomatopoiea

The examples given are frequent in comics, but of course there are other more noble examples of onomatopoiea. Take Tennyson: "the moan of doves in immemorial elms,
 And murmuring of innumerable bees." Can you hear the drone in the sound of these verses? No? Well...

From Quiz How to Address Your Peers

Answer: Your Grace

Henry VIII decided that the form of address for the reigning sovereign should become "Your Majesty" after it had been adopted by the Holy Roman Emperor in 1519. The style had formerly been used to refer to God. However, although it became the most commonly used form of address in England, it was not exclusively used. "Your Highness" and "Your Grace" were both used in official documents after the new style was adopted. It wasn't until the reign of James I that "Majesty" became the exclusive style. Henry was keen on creating new adopted styles: at the commencement of his reign the style of the sovereign was "By the Grace of God, King of England and France and Lord of Ireland"; by his death, through several changes, his precise style had become, "By the Grace of God, King of England, France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith and of the Church of England and also of Ireland in Earth, under Jesus Christ, Supreme Head". Your Grace was still used as the only form of address of the Kings and Queens of Scotland up until the Act of Union in 1707 when the royal houses of England and Scotland were merged. After the Act of Union the full official style of office of the sovereign combined the two styles and became "His/Her Most Gracious Majesty".

From Quiz The Impossible Quiz

Answer: I will extol

Most psalms change voice often. Some verses directly address God, while some speak about God. Psalm 145 begins with no less than six "I" statements in the first third of the psalm - with none to follow in the final 15 verses. The first letter of every verse of Psalm 145 starts with a consecutive letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

From Quiz Are You Proper Posh?

Answer: What?

The use of "Pardon" is the single greatest linguistic sin for the upper and upper-middle classes. It is considered far worse to say "pardon" than to be heard uttering a four-letter word. Lower middle and middle middle classes will use pardon. Upper-middle say "Sorry?". Upper and working classes tend to say "What?"

From Quiz Words of Warning

Answer: Fore

The origin of "Fore!" may be from "before," meaning the time when it is said.

From Quiz So You Know Your Figurative and Poetic Language?

Answer: Alliteration

Alliteration - repetition of the same consonant sound (note: doesn't have to be in the beginning of the word). This example of alliteration is also called sibilance, since the alliterative sound is 's'. Another example of alliteration: Four furry fish ate french fries on Friday after their coffee break.

From Quiz Literary Techniques

Answer: Simile

Similes are a type of metaphorical language which make comparisons between two basically unlike things, normally using the words "like" or "as" to make the comparison. In this example, the sun is being compared to a large ball of butter.

From Quiz This is to That...

Answer: Bread

The linking theme here is ingredients. Vegemite is made from yeast extracts, just as flour is the main ingedient in bread.

From Quiz What Did They Really Mean?

Answer: Pinnacle

This is an example of the original Mrs. Malaprop in the play "The Rivals" by Richard Sheridan.

From Quiz The Four Types of Writing

Answer: exposition

Exposition writing "explains" or "informs." Most of the writing we do is expository. When we write exposition, we are exposing the reader to specific information.

From Quiz What Was That?

Answer: metaphor

A metaphor is a comparison that doesn't use "like" or "as".

From Quiz Mangled Metaphors, Malapropisms, and More!

Answer: Tallulah Bankhead

Tallulah Bankhead (1902-1968) appeared in over twenty films, including "The Tarnished Lady" and "Die! Die! My Darling." The quote "My father warned me about booze and men, but he never mentioned a word about cocaine and women," is also attributed to her.

From Quiz Language Tricks And Parlour Games

Answer: palindrome

An example of an anagram is 'enraged' for angered; 'to love ruin' for revolution; 'voices rant on' for conversation. Spoonerisms are what the Rev. William Archibald Spooner was famous for. He was Warden of New College in Oxford from 1903 to 1924. He reproached one of his students that the student had 'hissed his mystery lessons', wanted to be 'sewn to another sheet' and called a Welsh harp a 'harsh whelp'. Spoonerists might ask people to 'form up a fill' and 'well-oiled bicycles' became 'well-boiled icicles'. In other words he permanently mixed up sounds and syllables. The word laser is an acronym, a word formed from the first letters of the words to which it refers (Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation).

From Quiz Identify These Figures of Speech

Answer: metaphor

A metaphor is an implied comparison, as contrasted with a simile which is an explicit comparison using either 'like' or 'as'. The passage is from Robert Frost's 'Bereft'.

From Quiz Words About Words

Answer: alliteration

From Quiz Pleonasms

Answer: male boy

Of course, all boys are males and all girls are females. Statistics show that boys do better at math than girls. The reason is because boys tend to have better spatial skills. Since 1972, the average SAT math score for boys is 530, while for girls, it is 499.

From Quiz Interesting Cycling Terms

Answer: The child of a cyclist

The child of a rider is given that name because it means the rider is anchored to the home in which the child lives, and can't, perhaps as he did in his single days, live all over the globe following the tours. Nor can he tote a school-age child with him wherever he goes. He still gets to and from the tours of course, but usually by plane.

From Quiz The Department of Redundancy Department

Answer: Wet

Marshes are a kind of wetland. All marshes are wet. Thus, the sentence (if filled in with "wet") is redundant because marshes are already defined as wet, so you don't have to describe a marsh as wet again.

From Quiz U.S. Military Communications

Answer: Say again

"Say again" means to repeat the entire message. If you only missed part, you can use "Say all after (last word heard)".

From Quiz Capitonyms

Answer: China/china

While on vacation in China, Raymond brought an expensive set of china. The pronunciation is the same for both uses of the word China/china.

From Quiz Litotes Aren't That Bad

Answer: The weather is not unpleasant at all

"The weather is not unpleasant at all" is another way of saying "The weather is very pleasant". The two negative words in this sentence, "not" and "unpleasant", are expressed as a positive.

From Quiz Military Chow-Down

Answer: Noon meal

"Noon meal" is certainly descriptive, if bland. I was raised in the Midwest to call this meal "dinner", and heard "lunch" only at school - thus the need to standardize.

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Last Updated Dec 21 2024 5:46 AM

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