Why Is There an Echo in This Place Name... Name... Quiz

Answer: Baden-Baden

Located in the south-western part of Germany in the foothills of the Black Forest, Baden-Baden is a spa resort town, whose hot springs were popular in Roman times for bathing. It is also home to The "Festspielhaus", Europe's second largest concert hall.

I made up Bonnbonn, and Lipsk-Lipsk doesn't exist, though Lipsk is the old Slavonic form of Leipzig in Germany. The word 'berg' means mountain.

Answer: Walla Walla River

Many place names that contain a word twice, as in this case, refer to the size of the defining feature. The word repeated for emphasis often indicates that the feature is particularly large. In this case, the repetition indicates it's small. So, if it was merely 'Walla' it would be River - the fact that it's 'Walla Walla' indicates a small river. Adding the word river at the end is really redundant! It becomes 'river river river'!

Each of the remaining options are also tautological: Loch Loch is in Scotland; Guadix River is another instance of 'river river river' - it is made up of the Arabic and Phoenician words for river, as well as the English word. 'Kil' in Fishkill Creek means "small waterway creek" in Dutch.

Answer: Crows

Wagga Wagga is a lovely inland town in New South Wales, Australia, standing on the Murrumbidgee River. It's approximately midway between Sydney and Melbourne, and was once considered for site of the nation's capital. Interestingly, a large number of Australia's elite athletes hail from Wagga Wagga, leading to what is known as 'the Wagga effect'.

A drongo is a bird, but if an Aussie calls you a drongo, it's an insult aimed at your intelligence - or lack thereof.

Answer: Burkina Faso

Bobo-Dioulasso is the second largest city after the capital of Burkina Faso, Ouagadougou. It was always a centre of trade, leading to its importance to colonising French forces. It is now a modern city, with remnants of its history visible in outlying pockets, culturally very diverse with many language and people groups represented.

The word 'Bobo' actually refers to a language of Burkina Faso, which in turn divides into a number of dialects, including red, white, and black. While some similarity exists in these languages, they are considered separate languages due to the large percentage of differences.

Answer: True

The calm port or sheltered bay of Honolulu has been home to Polynesian people for about 1000 years. In the modern era, it has developed into a thriving tourist centre, with Diamond Head and the USS Arizona Memorial popular attractions.

The beach at Waikiki is subject to erosion and thousands of cubic yards of sand are brought in regularly in order to replenish the beach.

Answer: Society

The islands of French Polynesia and the Society Islands in particular, were overseas territories of France, originally claimed in 1843, but explored first by the Portuguese and named by Captain Cook in 1769.

Author James Michener referred to Bora Bora as "the most beautiful Island in the world". The beauty of the islands inspired many of Paul Gauguin's paintings.

Answer: Paw Paw

The town of Paw Paw is located to the east of the southern end of Lake Michigan. Paw Paw got its name from the fruit trees which grew along the Paw Paw river. While some paw paw trees still grow there, many have died off with the clearing of the taller trees that afforded them protection.

The papaya, often also called pawpaw outside the USA, is a different fruit.

Answer: Limpopo

The name Limpopo derives from the Sepedi words meaning 'strong gushing waterfalls', the tautological emphasis not as great in this case.

Limpopo has a thriving agricultural sector, attractive to foreign investment. It also enjoys the benefits of some of the world's largest deposits of diamonds, coal and platinum, and the world's largest reserves of antimony. It also has a developing eco-tourism industry.

Answer: Marble

The significant deposits of marble in the Marmaris region made it an important port for the trade of marble for centuries. For this reason the town, known as early as the 6th century BC as Physkos, was the site of conquest by invading forces.

These days Marmaris is a tourist destination, enjoying long hot summers and a thriving night-club scene.

Answer: Alburquerque

Alburquerque, a Spanish town close to the Portuguese border, derives its name from the Latin meaning white oak, though the Latin for 'oak' is quercus, rather than the repeating 'querque'.

The gift of the town of Alburquerque was granted in 1424 by Enrique IV of Castile, creating the title of Duke of Alburquerque. In 1562 'Marquesado de Cuéllar' was designated as the title the heirs to the duchy of Alburquerque would take, joining both titles.

The name of the city in New Mexico, Albuquerque, is thought to be either a corruption of the name of the Spanish town, or a derivative of the Arabic word for plum or the Spanish word for apricot.