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Quiz about Meet Tom Swifty
Quiz about Meet Tom Swifty

Meet Tom Swifty Trivia Quiz


Do you like puns? So you'll like this peculiar kind of word play called Tom Swifty. Explanation given in the first question.

A multiple-choice quiz by zordy. Estimated time: 3 mins.
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Author
zordy
Time
3 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
258,636
Updated
Feb 25 23
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Average
Avg Score
7 / 10
Plays
58229
Awards
Editor's Choice
Last 3 plays: psnz (10/10), Guest 86 (3/10), garydart (9/10).
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Question 1 of 10
1. A Tom Swifty -or Swiftie- is a sentence in which an adverb (but also a verb or a noun) relates both properly and punningly to a sentence of reported speech. An example: "I need a pencil sharpener" said Tom bluntly. Now, if you have enough sense of humor, you'll easily complete the following Tom Swifties choosing the correct adverb.

"This is mutiny!" said Tom...
Hint


Question 2 of 10
2. "I'd like some Chinese food", said Tom...
Hint


Question 3 of 10
3. Not only an adverb can produce a Tom Swifty, but also a noun, as in the following example: "I am wearing a ring" said Tom with... Hint


Question 4 of 10
4. "I play tennis every Saturday" said Tom...
Hint


Question 5 of 10
5. Now let's do it with a verb. Choose the correct one to complete this: "May I sing in church Sunday?" Tom...
Hint


Question 6 of 10
6. "I have a split personality" said Tom...
Hint


Question 7 of 10
7. "I love newborn kittens" said Tom
Hint


Question 8 of 10
8. "I'll read a fairy tale" said Tom ... .
Hint


Question 9 of 10
9. "I've struck oil" said Tom ...
Hint


Question 10 of 10
10. "I dig it" said Tom ... Hint



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Most Recent Scores
Today : psnz: 10/10
Mar 25 2024 : Guest 86: 3/10
Mar 24 2024 : garydart: 9/10
Mar 23 2024 : Guest 209: 7/10
Mar 16 2024 : mamacash: 5/10
Mar 15 2024 : Jane57: 10/10
Mar 11 2024 : pusdoc: 10/10
Mar 06 2024 : Guest 81: 7/10
Mar 06 2024 : kaybee678: 3/10

Score Distribution

quiz
Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. A Tom Swifty -or Swiftie- is a sentence in which an adverb (but also a verb or a noun) relates both properly and punningly to a sentence of reported speech. An example: "I need a pencil sharpener" said Tom bluntly. Now, if you have enough sense of humor, you'll easily complete the following Tom Swifties choosing the correct adverb. "This is mutiny!" said Tom...

Answer: bountifully

I won't explain the puns out of respect for the player. Instead I report the definition of the Random House Dictionary of the English Language, 1st edition (1966) defines a "Tom Swifty" as:
"a play on words that follows an unvarying pattern and relies for its humor on a punning relationship between the way an adverb describes a speaker and at the same time refers significantly to the import of the speaker's statement."
2. "I'd like some Chinese food", said Tom...

Answer: wantonly

Tom Swifties are an evolution of the Wellerism. This is the definition given in the Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable :

Sam Weller in Charles Dickens' "Pickwick Papers" (1836-7) was prone to producing punning sentences such as: 'Out with it, as the father said to the child when he swallowed a farden [farthing]'. This type of verbal play, involving a metaphorical and a punningly literal sense, soon gained popularity under the name of wellerism, and a craze for devising such expressions rapidly sprang up on both sides of the Atlantic. A crude example familiar to children is: 'I see, said the blind man, when he couldn't see at all.'
3. Not only an adverb can produce a Tom Swifty, but also a noun, as in the following example: "I am wearing a ring" said Tom with...

Answer: abandon

Here we have a noun with a preposition transformed in another noun
(a band on = abandon)
4. "I play tennis every Saturday" said Tom...

Answer: weakly

Tom Swift is also a fictional character, or better two fictional characters: Tom Swift Sr. and Jr., protagonists in a series of books for young readers from the beginning of XXth Century to this day. But it seems that none of the Swifts, although very witty, made use of the eponymous pun.
5. Now let's do it with a verb. Choose the correct one to complete this: "May I sing in church Sunday?" Tom...

Answer: inquired

And here we have a nice case of homophony.
6. "I have a split personality" said Tom...

Answer: being frank

Only "being frank? actually makes sense. It's a bit like "the importance of being Earnest".
7. "I love newborn kittens" said Tom

Answer: literally

Cryptically would be appropriate in "I love to visit tombs". Boldly instead would make a pun after "I'd like to use another font". Darkly: "Who turned off the lights?"
8. "I'll read a fairy tale" said Tom ... .

Answer: grimly

Grimly being the only real adverb, I made up the others, forgive me, from other authors' names, including Collodi who wrote "Pinocchio" (there's a fairy in it).
9. "I've struck oil" said Tom ...

Answer: crudely

"I am a priest", said Tom reverently. "I've been reading Voltaire" said Tom candidly. "I need a slugger" said Tom ruthlessly.
10. "I dig it" said Tom ...

Answer: gravely

"I am gifted" said Tom presently. "I just had a lobotomy" said Tom absentmindedly. "I don't like 7Up" said Tom in a spritely manner. Hope you like it. Ciao
Source: Author zordy

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor agony before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.
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