Quiz Guy John Chaneski has been puzzling over metaphors that involve an action performed on a noun. For example, say he’s writing an essay and suddenly gets some new ideas that inspire him. It’s not literally that he was traveling in a car that was suddenly reoriented 90 degrees and is now traveling on a new street. But what, metaphorically, would you say John did? This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Not Taking Metaphors Literally Quiz”
You’re listening to A Way with Words, the show about language and how we use it.
I’m Martha Barnette.
And I’m Grant Barrett. And what is this? He looks like a ska champion. Black and white checked outfits, a cap on backwards. He’s jamming out.
It’s our quiz guy and ska world leader, John Chaneski.
It’s me, Chaneski, one step beyond.
That’s me.
All right, so today’s quiz is called Verbed a Noun. But it’s not about verbing nouns like when people use nouns as verbs. For example, beer me, Marge. That’s not like that. This is about metaphors where an action is performed on a noun. For example, I was having trouble writing an essay when suddenly I got some great ideas. But I wasn’t literally in a car, and I didn’t literally reorient it 90 degrees into a new street. But what do we say happened?
I did a 180.
No, I blanked a blank. I verbed a noun.
You pulled a…
I had some great ideas suddenly, so I was having a hard time, but I had some great ideas. So I reoriented my car 90 degrees into a new street.
Did a U-turn?
Turned is there.
I turned a corner.
Oh, U-ey.
Turned a corner.
Yeah, I turned a corner. I verbed a noun.
So all of the answers here are a past tense verb, A, just the letter A, and then a noun, okay? I’ll describe, you deduce. Here we go.
I saw my high school sweetheart on the street. Now, I’m completely over her, but when I wasn’t, it’s not like I literally transported a brazier from place to place for her. But what do we say I did?
Well, you carried a torch or not.
Right, I carried a torch. But no longer do I carry a torch for this sweetheart.
Brian didn’t know who it was, but he could tell that someone on his work team was leaking trade secrets. It’s not like he could literally sense the aroma of vermin, but what do we say he did?
He smelled a rat.
He smelled a rat somewhere in the company. He smelled something fishy.
Yes, very good.
Now, thanks to some leaked trade secrets, Rachel lost a lot of money in her investment. It wasn’t like she literally plunged into a tub full of water, but what do we say she did?
She took a bath.
She took a dive.
She took a bath.
She took a dive.
Took a bath. Took is the past tense verb there, even though it isn’t ED, but it is past tense.
We got the heck out of there fast, but it wasn’t as if we literally stood there wiggling a limb. In fact, that would have made it harder to get out of there, but what do we say we did?
You shook a leg.
We shook a leg is right.
We danced. Oh, how we danced. It was not as if we danced so hard and fast we damaged the flooring, but what do we say we did?
You cut the rug.
Yeah, I cut the rug.
We cut a rug, yes. I can only imagine dancing that hard.
Now, this one may be destined for complete extinction, but I have to include it. When I discovered that Audrey had leaked the trade secrets, I turned her in. But it’s not as if I literally put a coin on a pay telephone and called the authorities. What do we say I did?
You dropped a dime on her.
That’s right.
I dropped a dime on the dame.
Ouch.
Man, I think there may still be one phone booth somewhere in New York City. They keep there just so people can look at it. But even then, I think the sign on it says 25 cents. But, yeah, back in the day, you dropped a dime on someone when you wanted to call the authorities on them.
Anyway, you guys did very well in that verb-denoun quiz. Great job.
Thank you, John.
And we hope you’ll boogie on over to your phone and give us a call to talk about language, words, and how we use them. The number is 877-929-9673 or send us an email. That address is words@waywordradio.org.
