Multiple choice

Direction: Select the option with a similar meaning as per the context.

Quaint

Directions: Some words in the verse below have been highlighted. Select the best meaning for the corresponding word.

Had he and I but met
By some old ancient inn,
We should have set us down to wet
Right many a nipper kin!
But ranged as infantry,
And staring face to face,
I shot at him as he at me,
And killed him in his place.
I shot him dead because
Because he was my foe,
Just so: my foe of course he was;
That's clear enough; although
He thought he'd 'list, perhaps,
Off-hand like -- just as I
Was out of work -- had sold his traps
No other reason why.
Yes; quaint and curious war is!
You shoot a fellow down
You'd treat, if met where any bar is,
Or help to half a crown.

  1. Strange

  2. Killing

  3. Forceful

  4. Fierce

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A Correct answer
Explanation

Quaint means strange, peculiar, or curiously unusual. In Hardy's poem, he calls war 'quaint and curious' - meaning it's strangely absurd that you would kill someone you might otherwise treat as a friend. Killing, forceful, and fierce don't capture the meaning of odd or peculiar.