Homograph Quiz

You’re listening to A Way with Words, the show about language and how we use it. I’m Grant Barrett.

And I’m Martha Barnette. And joining us now is our quiz guy, John Chaneski. Hey, John.

Hey, Martha. Hey, Grant. How are you guys?

Hey, bud.

You know, we’ve done quizzes before about homophones and, of course, and homonyms, I’m sure. I’ve lost count.

But I think this is the first time I’ve attempted a quiz about homographs.

Now, as you know, homographs are two words that are spelled the same,

But have different meanings and sometimes often different pronunciations.

All the pairs we’re talking about today have different pronunciations.

For example, suppose I commissioned a painting of the planets,

But the artist included the imaginary lines about which each planet rotated.

I might ask him to get rid of those.

Then I’d have to wait while he axes axes.

Got it?

Yeah.

Now, that’s not a good example, I know, but I’ve saved the best for the quiz.

So here we go.

Okay.

I was watching a movie about a medieval siege of a castle,

And they had these tall, multi-tiered constructions on wheels

Which were yanked up to the castle walls.

Now, what would you call a serf whose job it was to pull along

One of these portable, mass-like structures?

A serf who pulled one of these structures.

They would be…

Is this a military term?

No, no, no. This is just a common word.

What do you call a tall, multi-tiered structure?

Oh, it’s not the name of the serf, it’s the name of the structure?

Well, we’re going to say what it is this guy is doing.

I know what it is.

Oh, I see.

What do you got, Mark?

It’s a tower tower.

He’s a tower tower.

Yes, nicely done.

All right.

Hey, remember those novelty fish trophies that used to sing songs?

Suppose you purchased one and you found you had a very, very low vocal range.

What is that?

It’s a bass bass.

Bass bass, yeah.

If you’re a ship’s captain with a certain flair,

You might eschew a figure of a woman for the prow of your ship

And instead opt for a colorful ribbon tied in a fancy knot.

What’s that?

A bow bow.

A bow bow, yeah, or bow for your bow, a bow bow.

I’m writing a book about the periodic table,

Including short articles for each of the elements.

What I need is a strong opener for the article about the heavy metal

Whose atomic number is 82.

What would that be?

Lead lead?

Lead lead?

My lead lead, yes, exactly.

Not that I know all the elements.

I was just thinking about that word.

I happen to know that one.

Very good.

Now we all know what number 82 is.

There we go.

You know how they say time flies when you’re having fun?

Well, I’ve only been with you guys for about 60 seconds,

But it seems like a very, very, very tiny amount of time.

What’s that?

A minute minute.

A minute minute, yes.

Now, of course, we live in the future.

When I was in grade school, I had to create dioramas and show them on my desk.

Now, my kids can make them online and use a computer to display images of them on the wall.

What does it do?

Project projects?

Yes, it projects projects.

Nicely done.

And those are my homographs for today.

I hope you like them.

You were great, John.

Thanks.

This show’s about language and everything related to it.

Give us a call.

We’ll talk about it.

Slang, new words, grammar, something weird you heard, something the grandkids said,

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