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Yoshinori Shigematsu
Question from a movie "Captain America: Civil War"
Scene:
Peter Parker and Tony Stark are talking in Peter's room for the first time. Tony is trying to get him to join the team.
Tony: As walnut date loaves go, that wasn't bad. Whoa, what do we have here? Retro tech, huh? Thrift store? Salvation Army?
Peter: Uh, the garbage, actually.
Tony: You're a dumpster diver.
Peter: Yeah, I was... Anyway, look, um, I definitely did not apply for your grant.
Tony: Ah-ah! Me first.
Peter: Okay.
Tony: Quick question of the rhetorical variety. That's you, right? (showing him a youtube video of spider man swinging)
Peter Parker: Um, no. What do you. What do you mean?
What does Tony mean by "rhetorical variety"?
Feb 28, 2020 1:09 PM
Answers · 5
4
A rhetorical question is a statement that is in the FORM of a question, but the speaker isn’t really looking for an answer but instead is using the “question” to state or suggest a fact. Example: “Are you crazy?” — not really a question, but rather a way of saying “You are acting crazy.” Or, a politician says “Can we trust my opponent to run the country?” — not really a question, but rather a way of saying “We can’t trust him to run the country.” Here, Tony is asking a question “That’s you, right?” — but really he is making a statement of fact “That IS you — don’t bother denying it.”
February 28, 2020
thank you so much for your help!!
February 29, 2020
Hello! He means that the 'quick question' is 'rhetorical' (it doesn't require an answer).
(The word rhetorical is a bit nonsensical here because it seems he does want an answer.)
So you could say 'a story of the funny variety' which would mean a funny story.
Or 'a dog of the hairy variety' which would mean a hairy dog.
Phrasing a sentence like this is light humour I would say.
I hope that helps and makes sense!
February 28, 2020
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Yoshinori Shigematsu
Language Skills
English, Japanese
Learning Language
English
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