Time for another vocabulary test. Answers are located at the bottom of this post. But don't cheat -- see how many of these you get correct!
1. epitaph: (a) a characterizing word or phrase accompanying or occurring in place of the name of a person or thing; (b) a work of art (as a novel or drama) that resembles or suggests an epic; (c) an inscription on or at a tomb or a grave in memory of the one buried there; (d) a riddle.
2. round-robin: (a) a written petition, memorial, or protest to which the signatures are affixed in a circle so as not to indicate who signed first; (b) a bill of sale returned to the buyer to memorialize the transaction; (c) slang for bird flu; (d) rockin-robin's sedentary sibling in the play Bye-Bye Birdie.
3. cairn: (a) battlefield; (b) a heap of stones piled up as a memorial or as a landmark; (c) a song or hymn of grief or lamentation; especially one intended to accompany funeral or memorial rites; (d) a burial vault.
4. buffalo soldier: (a) an African-American soldier serving in the western United States after the War Between the States; (b) a soldier dispatched to secure fresh meat for troops; (c) a scout; (d) an American pop singing group of the 1960s.
5. propitiation: (a) fortification; (b) an antagonistic military maneuver; (c) an atoning sacrifice; (d) something pleasing to the senses; especially, something aromatic.
6. antebellum: (a) existing after a war; especially: existing immediately after the American War Between the States; (b) an antitoxin to a venom; (c) serving to prevent, derail, or alleviate war; (d) existing before a war; especially: existing before the American War Between the States.
7. wraith: (a) the exact likeness of a living person seen usually just before death as an apparition; (b) an existence after death; (c) abundance of valuable material possessions or resources stored in eternity; (d) destitute.
8. Valhalla: (a) a memorial service; (b) the great hall in Norse mythology where heroes slain in battle are received; (c) in memory of; (d) the great hall in Norse mythology to which villains slain in battle are banished.
9. copperhead: (a) a white Southerner acting in support of the reconstruction governments after the American War Between the States often for private gain; (b) a shroud; (c) a member of an escort or honor guard; (d) a person in the northern states who sympathized with the South during the American War Between the States.
10. ultima ratio regum: (a) death is the final reward; (b) the final argument of kings, i.e., war; (c) if you wish peace, prepare for war; (d) the king remembers the most.
With Memorial Day on the horizon, we all start to think of summer. But let's not forget the real meaning of Memorial Day. ProofreadNOW encourages you to fly your flag this Memorial Day, thank a war veteran, and send a message of gratitude to a military person on active duty somewhere.
Answers: 1:c 2:a 3:b 4:a 5:c 6:d 7:a 8:b 9:d 10:b
