Familiar Words at Christmastime! Quiz

Answer: Antlers

Antlers are bony appendages that are on the heads of males of most deer species. Reindeer (a domesticated type of caribou) and wild caribou are the only member of the deer family whose males and females sport antlers. Antlers are covered with a vascular skin called velvet. The velvet supplies the growing bone with oxygen and nutrients.

Answer: Boughs

The Christmas carol "Deck the Halls" sings about decorating (decking) the halls with boughs of holly. In the eighteenth century the composer, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, used the tune from "Deck the Halls" for a violin/piano duet. Boughs are the main branches of trees as well as other branches.

Answer: Chestnuts

Chestnuts roasted over an open fire are a very tasty treat. There is also a Christmas carol called "The Christmas Song" and subtitled "Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire". The music and the lyrics were composed in 1946 by Torme and Wells. The chestnut is a type of tree from the beech family. The nuts that they produce are called chestnuts and are edible.

Answer: Three

Donner, Dancer and Dasher are the three reindeer with names that start with the letter "D". The eight reindeer from "T'was the Night Before Christmas" (1855) by Clement C. Moore are: Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen.

A trio of singers is made up of three people.

Answer: Grinch

In 1957 Dr. Seuss had his story "How the Grinch Stole Christmas!" published. The Grinch was mean, bitter and grouchy. He was against Christmas and went to "Whoville" to steal Christmas. When he realized that the people believed that Christmas was being with the ones you love, not about presents, the Grinch's heart grew and he returned all of the gifts and decorations.

In 2000, Jim Carrey starred as the Grinch in the movie "How the Grinch Stole Christmas". The word grinch is a noun.

Answer: Lights

Lights are used to decorate Christmas trees all over the world. People use strings of lights with many different colors and some people prefer to use lights of just one color. To illuminate is a verb that means to light up.

Answer: Myrrh

The three Wise Men were also known as the Magi or Three Kings. They followed the star of Bethlehem and visited Baby Jesus after he was born. The Wise Men brought gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. Myrrh is a fragrant gum resin. It comes from trees of the Commiphora genus of South Africa and Asia.

Answer: Nutcracker

"The Nutcracker" was a ballet originally choreographed by Petipa and Ivanov. It premiered in St. Petersburg, Russia at the Marinsky Theatre in December 1892. Tchaikovsky wrote the musical score for the two-act ballet. The original production was not at all successful. Tchaikovsky's twenty-minute suite of music was a success. Since the late 1960s "The Nutcracker" has been performed by many ballet companies.

There is a crow called a nutcracker. This bird is from the genus Nucifraga and it feeds on the seeds of conifer trees. They live in Eurasoa and in western North America.

A nutcracker is also a tool used for the purpose of cracking nuts open.

Answer: Parcel

Parcels are delivered all over the world at Christmas time. These parcels often contain presents from family members who live too far away to be able to come and visit in person. Parcels are delivered all year round, but they are especially nice to receive at Christmas. Some synonyms of parcel are package, container and carton.

Answer: Ribbon

Ribbon is a nice touch when a person wants to wrap a gift. Ribbon comes in many colors, can have different patterns on it, can be made of various materials such as satin and chiffon and they can be used to tie any size of gift. A ribbon is usually a long and narrow strip of fabric that is used for tying things and also for decorating things.