Front

What is an oxymoron?

Back

A phrase that combines contradictory terms, such as 'bittersweet' or 'deafening silence.'

Front

What is a pun?

Back

A form of wordplay that exploits multiple meanings of a term or similar-sounding words for humorous effect, e.g., 'Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana.'

Front

What is hyperbole?

Back

An exaggerated statement not meant to be taken literally, e.g., 'I’m so hungry I could eat a horse.'

Front

What is an idiom?

Back

A phrase or expression that has a figurative meaning different from its literal meaning, e.g., 'It’s raining cats and dogs.'

Front

What does 'it’s written all over your face' mean?

Back

Feelings or emotions are easy to see on your face.

Front

What is an allusion?

Back

A reference to a well-known person, place, event, or work of literature, e.g., 'He has the Midas touch.'

Front

What is alliteration?

Back

The repetition of the same initial consonant sounds in a sequence of words, e.g., 'She sells sea shells by the sea shore.'

Front

What is personification?

Back

Attributing human characteristics to non-human things, e.g., 'The wind whispered through the trees.'

Front

What is imagery?

Back

Descriptive language that appeals to the senses and creates a mental picture, e.g., 'The golden sun set over the calm, blue ocean.'

Front

What is a metaphor?

Back

A figure of speech that makes a comparison between two unlike things without using 'like' or 'as,' e.g., 'Time is a thief.'