The Big Quiz on Figures of Speech in Advertising Slogans

Since ancient times, the figures of speech have served three main purposes:

1. to instruct and entertain people through the play of language,
2. to persuade people of the truth or value of the message that a figure conveys, and
3. to help people remember both the meaning of the message and its figurative expression.

In this review quiz, we have collected 35 of the best known slogans (sometimes called taglines or straplines) introduced by advertisers over the past century. Most have been drawn from American print and television ads, though a few are British and some are practically universal.

Your job is to choose the one figure of speech (from a list of three) that each slogan most clearly illustrates. (To review a definition, simply click on the term to visit our glossary.) When you're done, compare your answers with those on page two.

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1. "I am stuck on Band-Aid, and Band-Aid's stuck on me."
   (Band-Aid bandages)
   a. epiplexis
   b. tricolon
   c. chiasmus


2. "No bottles to break--just hearts."
   (Arpege perfume)
   a. tricolon
   b. diatyposis
   c. syllepsis


3. "Born in fire, blown by mouth, and cut by hand with heart."
   (Waterford Glass)
   a. tricolon
   b. syllepsis
   c. synathroesmus


4. "If you think asparagus has a lot of iron, you don't know beans."
   (Van Camp's Pork and Beans)
   a. pun
   b. erotesis
   c. dehortatio


5. "Don't leave home without it."
   (American Express)
   a. chiasmus
   b. epizeuxis
   c. dehortatio


6. "For a treat instead of a treatment, I recommend Old Gold cigarettes."
   (Old Gold cigarettes)
   a. hypophora
   b. polyptoton
   c. exclamation


7. "Is this any way to run an airline? You bet it is!"
   (National Airlines)
   a. hypophora
   b. tricolon
   c. dehortatio


8. "Everyday vehicles that aren't."
   (Suzuki automobiles)
   a. hypophora
   b. ellipsis
   c. synathroesmus


9. "Everything you want, nothing you don't."
   (Nissan automobiles)
   a. polyptoton
   b. diatyposis
   c. isocolon


10. "If gas pains persist, try Volkswagen."
    (Volkswagen automobiles)
    a. simile
    b. pun
    c. onomatopoeia


11. "Sleeping on a Seely is like sleeping on a cloud."
    (Seely mattresses)
    a. simile
    b. diatyposis
    c. dehortatio


12. "Plop plop, fizz fizz, oh what a relief it is!"
    (Alka-Seltzer)
    a. epiplexis
    b. polyptoton
    c. onomatopoeia


13. "Make mine Miller."
    (Miller beer)
    a. alliteration
    b. epizeuxis
    c. synathroesmus


14. "Wherever you are, whatever you do, wherever you may be, when you think refreshment, think ice-cold Coca-Cola."
    (Coca Cola soft drink)
    a. litotes
    b. tricolon
    c. synathroesmus


15. "Melts in your mouth, not in your hand."
    (M&Ms candy)
    a. antithesis
    b. erotesis
    c. dehortatio


16. "Look Ma, no cavities!"
    (Crest toothpaste)
    a. simile
    b. tricolon
    c. exclamation


17. "Aren't you glad you use Dial? Don't you wish everybody did?"
    (Dial soap)
    a. chiasmus
    b. erotesis
    c. onomatopoeia


18. "See yourself as a king"
    (Virginia Slims cigarettes)
    a. epanalepsis
    b. syllepsis
    c. diatyposis


19. "Don't be vague. Ask for Haig."
    (Haig whisky)
    a. metaphor
    b. zeugma
    c. dehortatio


20. "The few, the proud, the Marines."
    (United States Marine Corps)
    a. assonance
    b. tricolon
    a. polyptoton


21. "Be all that you can be."
    (United States Army)
    a. epanalepsis
    b. epizeuxis
    c. synathroesmus


22. "Plymouth--isn't that the kind of car America wants?"
    (Plymouth automobiles)
    a. erotesis
    b. understatement
    c. meiosis


23. "Put a Tic Tac in your mouth and get a bang out of life."
    (Tic Tac breath mints)
    a. litotes
    b. isocolon
    c. dehortatio


24. "When it rains, it pours."
    (Morton salt)
    a. chiasmus
    b. diatyposis
    c. pun


25. "Fast, fast, fast relief"
    (Anacin pain reliever)
    a. litotes
    b. epizeuxis
    c. syllepsis


26. "Should a woman have to worry about tires? Goodyear says no!"
    (Goodyear tires)
    a. hypophora
    b. zeugma
    c. hyperbole


27. "The night-time sniffling, sneezing, coughing, aching, stuffy head, fever, so-you-can-rest medicine."
    (NyQuil medicine)
    a. antithesis
    b. ellipsis
    c. synathroesmus


28. "You like it. It likes you."
    (Seven-Up soft drink)
    a. chiasmus
    b. understatement
    c. synathroesmus


29. "Calgon! Take me away!"
    (Calgon soap)
    a. diatyposis
    b. exclamation
    a. polyptoton


30. "Obey your thirst."
    (Sprite soft drink)
    a. erotesis
    b. diatyposis
    c. meiosis


31. "Grace . . . space . . . pace."
    (Jaguar automobiles)
    a. metaphor
    b. tricolon
    c. anaphora


32. "Takes the 'lug' out of luggage"
    (Karry-Lite luggage)
    a. polyptoton
    b. anaphora
    c. dehortatio


33. "Lipsmackin' thirstquenchin' acetastin' motivatin' goodbuzzin' cooltalkin' highwalkin' fastlivin' evergivin' coolfizzin' Pepsi."
    (Pepsi Cola soft drink)
    a. rhetorical question
    b. epizeuxis
    c. synathroesmus


34. "Please don't squeeze the Charmin."
    (Charmin toilet tissue)
    a. antithesis
    b. tricolon
    c. dehortatio


35. "Does it make sense to jump out of a warm bed into a cold cereal?"
    (Quaker Oats cereal)
    a. anaphora
    b. syllepsis
    c. dehortatio

Answers to the quiz are on page two.

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