Language Terms

Front 1

Alliteration

Back 1

the occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words.

Front 2

assonance

Back 2

resemblance of sound between syllables of nearby words, arising particularly from the rhyming of two or more stressed vowels, but not consonants (e.g. sonnet, porridge ), but also from the use of identical consonants with different vowels (e.g. killed, cold, culled ).

Front 3

emotive language

Back 3

Emotive language refers to words or phrases that change the feel of a sentence through evoking a particular emotional reaction from the reader. In particular, adjectives can alter how a sentence is read so that the idea comes across more positively or negatively than it would have without that descriptive word.

Front 4

colloquial

Back 4

used in ordinary or familiar conversation; not formal or literary.

Front 5

slang

Back 5

a type of language consisting of words and phrases that are regarded as very informal, are more common in speech than writing, and are typically restricted to a particular context or group of people.

Front 6

jargon

Back 6

special words or expressions used by a profession or group that are difficult for others to understand.

Front 7

neologism

Back 7

a newly coined word or expression.

Front 8

cliché

Back 8

a phrase or opinion that is overused and betrays a lack of original thought.

Front 9

rhetorical questions

Back 9

A rhetorical question is a figure of speech in the form of a question that is asked to make a point rather than to elicit an answer.

Front 10

Simile

Back 10

a figure of speech involving the comparison of one thing with another thing of a different kind, used to make a description more emphatic or vivid (e.g. as brave as a lion ).

Front 11

metaphor

Back 11

a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable.

Front 12

idioms

Back 12

a group of words established by usage as having a meaning not deducible from those of the individual words (e.g. over the moon, see the light ).

Front 13

personification

Back 13

the attribution of a personal nature or human characteristics to something non-human, or the representation of an abstract quality in human form

Front 14

Hyperbole

Back 14

exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally.

Front 15

allusion

Back 15

an expression designed to call something to mind without mentioning it explicitly; an indirect or passing reference.

Front 16

symbolism

Back 16

the use of symbols to represent ideas or qualities

Front 17

synechdoche

Back 17

a figure of speech in which a part is made to represent the whole or vice versa, as in England lost by six wickets (meaning ‘ the English cricket team’).

Front 18

metonomy

Back 18

the substitution of the name of an attribute or adjunct for that of the thing meant, for example suit for business executive, or the turf for horse racing.

Front 19

Sarcasm

Back 19

the use of irony to mock or convey contempt

Front 20

irony

Back 20

the expression of one's meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous or emphatic effect.