Which expression, such as 'The ball is in your court,' is a figure of speech whose meaning is not the literal words?

• A. Idiom
• B. Irony
• C. Metaphor
• D. Foreshadowing

Answer: (A)

Figurative language where the meaning isn’t the literal words is being tested here, focusing on idioms. An idiom is a fixed expression whose overall meaning cannot be deduced from the individual words. “The ball is in your court” is used to mean it’s your turn to take action or make a decision, not about a literal ball or a tennis court. The phrase has a meaning that has been learned through common usage, so you interpret it from context rather than from the words themselves. Irony would involve saying the opposite of what you mean, which isn’t the case here. Foreshadowing points to future events in a story, which this expression does not. A metaphor makes a direct comparison between two things, whereas this idiom conveys a specific, culturally understood idea as a whole phrase.