Words with a silver streak

Silver, the metal, is used in mirrors, coins, jewelry, and tableware. Silver, the word, is found in phrases describing a laugh or the use of a bribe. Can you identify these expressions that have a silver streak?

1. the brighter side of a situation (or cloud)

2. eloquently persuasive

3. motion pictures

4. a voice or laugh with a ringing sound

5. money used as a bribe (think 'fish')

ANSWERS

(1) silver lining; (2) silver-tongued; (3) silver screen (originally, the screen on which movie pictures were shown was distinctive for its silvery coating); (4) silvery (this clear, gentle resonance comes from the sense of pieces of silver being dropped on a hard surface); (5) silver hook. OK, this last one is obscure, but useful. If you have failed to catch fish by the usual means and have gone to market and bought some fish instead, you've 'angled with a silver hook,' or used money.

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