Etymology Trivia

1. This is a word derived from Yiddish, and is used of a female who has a nicely rounded and comely shape. Which is it?

From Quiz Zaftig?

Answer: Zaftig (or zoftig)

No matter how you say it, it sounds like itself - a warm, comfortable word with a little zip! The word is applied usually only to females and indicates, not fatness, but a pleasant feminine roundness and appeal. Voluptuous is the best synonym I can think of. A large bosom and thighsomeness with a noticeably smaller waist are usually implied. Mae West was probably the quintessential 'zaftig' woman. Twiggy is a perfect example of a woman who was not zaftig.

From Quiz Pseudograms - Fabricated Words

Answer: matrinomy

Matri- is the prefix for mother and -nomy is the suffix for a system of knowledge or rules of a specific field. The prefix patri- refers to father. MatriMONY is the state of marriage and is a real word.

From Quiz Searching for Words

Answer: Toxic

The word "toxic", which means "pertaining to, affected with, or caused by a toxin or poison", is derived from the Greek word "toxikòn", which is short for "toxikòn phármakon", which literally translates to "bow poison". According to a 2010 History Channel documentary, entitled "The Clash of the Gods: Hercules", there is thought to be an etymological link between the word "toxic" and the legend of Hercules. When Hercules slew the Hydra, he dipped his arrows in its blood, thus lining it with poison. This is one of the reasons put forward to explain the subsequent link between poison and the Greek word "toxon", which means "bow".

From Quiz Can You Rephrase That?

Answer: Making a purchase without examining it.

Sometimes, especially during medieval days of traveling fairs, certain dishonest folks would sell cats (which were plentiful and cheap) in a cloth bag or a brown paper sack, (the poke), instead of the baby piglet that they claimed was inside. They would then collect their money and quickly disappear into the crowd, leaving the hapless victim to open the bag only to discover that he had been duped. This is also where the phrase "letting the cat out of the bag" originated.

From Quiz Non-Indo-European Words in English

Answer: Hungarian

We know that goulash and paprika are Hungarian foods. Coach passes through German and French from the original Hungarian Kocs, a town in northwest Hungary where a certain type of carriage was made.

From Quiz Where Everyday Phrases Come From

Answer: Public execution by hanging

Back in the good old days of public hangings, the executioner had the right to keep the rope on which he had dispatched the condemned person. Executions, particularly those of the most notorious criminals, drew huge crowds of all ages, and vendors would set up stalls selling food and drink, as well as items said to be related to the crime - invariably fakes. A much sought-after souvenir was a portion of THE rope, offered by the hangman or his assistants. However; it is reckoned that, if all the pieces of rope sold as the genuine article were joined together, the length of drop given to the hanged man or woman would have been huge!

From Quiz Word and name origins

Answer: Estate of Snot's people

Despite beginning with an 'S', more by convenience than politeness the name at some time became abbreviated to Nottingham without the initial 'S'. 'Ingham' is a common Old English suffix for 'estate', and the prefix is whose estate it is. How the poor guy ended up with a name like 'Snot' is anyone's guess but I'm sure you can imagine.

From Quiz Word origins

Answer: Gimmick

This word originates from American English.

From Quiz Word Origins from Around the World

Answer: syrup

From the Arabic 'sharab', the word for a highly sweetened beverage, we get the English 'syrup'. Latin borrowed from the Arabic and used 'siropus', which became the Middle English 'sirop'; the spelling 'syrup' was first used in the 14th century. 'Sheriff' is a compound word; it conjoins the Old English 'scir' (shire) and the Old English 'gerefa' [reeve] and squashes them together to make 'sheriff'. 'Sahara' is from the Arabic 'sahra', meaning 'desert'. 'Carafe' is also from the Arabic, from the word 'garrafa', meaning 'drinking vessel'.

From Quiz The Quirkiness of the English Language

Answer: Aztec

Chocolate derives from Nahuatl, the language of the Aztecs. This language belongs to a group of Indian languages related to those spoken by the Comanche, Shoshone and other tribes of the western United States.

From Quiz Etymology - Words and Myths

Answer: without wax

In spite of the excellent state of Roman roads, statues would from time to time become cracked and chipped in transit. Disreputable stonemasons would hastily repair damaged statues with wax and send them on to customers. As soon as the goods were exposed to heat or jostled about a bit, the chicanery would become apparent. Hence, a dependable statue-maker who repaired the damage properly came to be known as being 'without wax', or sincere.

From Quiz Word Histories

Answer: headofficer of the stable

Comes is the modern word "count", originally a high ranking officer at the palace.

From Quiz Hidden Meanings

Answer: Milan in Italy

Milliners first were producers of ribbons and fancy cloth. Later the word got the more limited meaning of hatmakers. Milan in Lombardy was a banking-centre, but also a centre of fashion as it is still today.

From Quiz Word Origins

Answer: Sri Lanka

The word derives from a Persian legend of the "Three Princes of Serendip", now Sri Lanka, and was coined by the author Horace Walpole in 1754. Horace had read about the story as a boy and was enthralled by the tales of miraculous coincidences experienced by the princes in their travels. He thought it wise to come up with the word to reflect the spirit that characterised the Princes' adventures.

From Quiz Word Origins

Answer: mouth

The stomach was seen as the mouth of the digestive system. By the way stomatitis is not stomach infection, but mouth infection. Words relating to the digestion of food are gastronomy; gastritis etc.

From Quiz Ancient Word Origins

Answer: knowledge

'Gignosko' is the Greek term for knowledge.

From Quiz Neologogenesis: Words That Don't Exist, But Could

Answer: cave-dwelling

From the Greek 'spilaion' (cave) and 'oikos' (house). 'Spilaion' is also the root of the word 'spelunking', while 'oikos' is also the root of such words as 'ecology' and 'ekistics'. English already has a word meaning roughly 'cave-dwelling,' namely 'hypogean' (or 'hypogeal'), from the Greek 'hypo' (under) and 'gaia' (earth), but 'hypogean' is a technical term applying to animals and plants which make their habitat in subterranean spaces, and applied to humans would imply some form of troglodyte rather than a hermit who has elected to make his house in a cave. Ang Lee is a Chinese film-maker who has enjoyed enormous success in the West.

From Quiz What 's In A Word ?

Answer: It comes from the Spanish 'saca', meaning extraction.

Sherry is a fortified wine originally produced near the Spanish city of Jerez de la Frontera, from which the word sherry is derived. The process involves a number of steps, culminating on the extraction of a batch of sherry from the final barrel in the process. There is a brand of whisky that calls itself 'Cutty Sark'. Sark is an altogether different word and refers to Robert Burns's Tam o'Shanter poem and the 'cutty sark' (short shirt) a particular young witch was wearing as she danced with the Devil.

From Quiz Words ... words ... words

Answer: an apple full of seeds

The grenade was named after the pomegranate, not the other way round.

From Quiz Word Links

Answer: The link is not with drawing but with withdrawing

A drawing room was the large and comfortable room where you 'withdrew' with your guests.

From Quiz True Word Origins

Answer: Amethyst

'Methystos' means drunk ... 'methus' from Greek or 'methuskein' to intoxicate. 'Lithos amethusetos' hence means the anti-intoxicant stone.

From Quiz Words With A Story

Answer: it's their rutting season

Most hares that hibernate do so in the deepfreezer.

From Quiz Surprising Words and Word-Origins

Answer: ostler

From Quiz Interesting Word Origins

Answer: Tartarus

From Quiz Surprising Links

Answer: Muslin

This cotton fabric got its name from the place it originated from: Mosul-in gives us muslin.

From Quiz Words Tell Stories

Answer: Syria

One of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus, the capital of Syria, was for a long time a hub for the manufacture and trade of many different goods. This resulted in its name being used to denote various highly prized items, such as a richly-figured, woven fabric with a reversible pattern, which is believed to have originated in China in the early Middle Ages. Though damask was not produced primarily in Damascus, in the 12th century the Syrian capital - located on the Silk Road - was the main centre of trade where people from Western Europe were able to purchase the fabric. The name damask also denotes a muted, dusty rose colour, and an ancient, strongly scented rose hybrid. The name of the damson, a dark blue, oval variety of plum, is derived from the adjective "damascene". Steel blades ornamented with wavy patterns were called Damascus steel, though it is not clear whether the name stems from the resemblance of the patterns to damask fabric, or because the blades were actually made or sold in Damascus.

From Quiz Origins of Some English Words

Answer: foot and a half long

Derived from the Latin 'sesqui', meaning 'half as much again', and 'pes', meaning 'foot', so it literally means 'words a foot and a half long'.

From Quiz Word Origins From History

Answer: Cruelty

A great legacy: to be known forever as a tyrant.

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Last Updated Dec 21 2024 5:46 AM

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