Back to quiz

6. When the meaning of a word grows to include more things, e.g. 'holiday' was once only used for holy days.

  • Broadening
  • Acronym
  • Narrowing
  • Conversion

7. When the meaning of a word becomes more specific e.g. 'mete' used to refer to food in general, whereas now 'meat' means only one type

  • Narrowing
  • Blend
  • Archaism
  • Eponym
  • Borrowing

8. Words aquire new meaning when used metaphorically e.g. 'plain sailing'

  • True
  • False

9. Phrases that when said literally, make no sense 'over the moon' or 'under the thumb'

  • Abbriviation
  • Amelioration
  • Idiom
  • Euphemism
  • Narrowing

10. When alternative words and phrases are used to make something more pleasant e.g. 'kicking the bucket'

  • Standardisation
  • PC
  • Euphemism
  • Blend
  • Idiom

11. Overused phrases and words e.g. 'at the end of the day'

  • Borrowing
  • Euphemism
  • Eponym
  • Cliche
  • Coinage

12. Political Correctness is a drive to replace words and expressions that are considered offencive e.g. 'mixed race'

  • True
  • False

13. Words which are taken from other languages

  • Affixation
  • Acronym
  • Borrowing
  • Blend
  • Archaic

14. The creation of a new word, usually through fictional authors

  • Eponym
  • Compounding
  • Coinage
  • Pejoration
  • Affixation

15. Adding prefixes and suffixes to existing words to form new ones e.g. 'Euphem(ism)'

  • Affixation
  • Euphemism
  • Back-formation
  • Compouding
  • Conversion

16. When two words combine to make a new word, sometimes hyphonated e.g. 'blackbird'

  • Compounding
  • Acronym
  • Broadening
  • Weakening

17. When two parts of words are combined to make a new one e.g. 'smog'

  • Standardisation
  • Blend
  • Coinage
  • Back-formation

18. When the word class of a word changes e.g. a noun to a verb... 'bottle' becomes 'to bottle'

  • Conversion
  • Amelioration
  • Narrowing
  • Cliche

19. When a new word is formed by shortening a word e.g. 'ad' for 'advert'

  • Blend
  • Abbreviation
  • Broadening
  • Archaism
  • Compounding

20. Words formed by the initial letters of words e.g. 'NASA' or 'PLO'

  • Eponym
  • Acronym
  • Abbreviation
  • Archaism