1000 Words on Brevity Trivia Quiz

Answer: Dyspnoea

Dyspnoea, which is sometimes referred to as "air hunger", produces laboured breathing as a result of some underlying heart or lung condition. Subjectively it may also be a symptom of some form of heavy exertion.

Dysentery relates to inflammation of the large intestine, dyspepsia is indigestion and being dysgenic means you are causing the degeneration of a race or a strain.

Answer: Abbreviation

Put simply, abbreviation is the act of shortening, or, if you look at it as a noun, the end result of a shortening. A good example of this is using Dr in place of doctor. Perhaps the town should have named their shortening expert "Abbrev". All of the hobbies we described above that Poll's neighbour indulges in are, in some way, forms of reduction. We should have mentioned that Poll's mate also enjoys reading a good précis or summary and is delving into the fine art of compression.

An aberration is an imperfection or something that has deviated from what is expected. It is seen as something wrong. Abysmal indicates that something is bad, very bad and abnegation is self denial.

Answer: Ignorant

Dopey (or ignorant), at times, looks and sounds like he's a few tiles short of a roof but that's because he hasn't taken the pains in educating himself on the matters he wishes to express an opinion on. In a similar manner, he has not been fully informed or he lacks an understanding about what the subject is. Careful here, we're not saying that he's retarded or has an intellectual disability. Dopey is an intelligent being, though, in our case, he simply wishes to shoot his mouth off without making himself fully aware of the situation.
The problem with ignorance is that it can lead to misunderstandings, from there to disenchantments and possibly even conflict. There is an old saying that says "ignorance is bliss", however, Henry Ford described it better when he said "what we call evil is simply ignorance bumping its head in the dark".

Answer: Bankrupt

Too bad for Poll, his friend is broke. He's been declared financially insolvent, he doesn't have any liquid capital and his credit rating is no longer credible. Bankruptcy is generally associated with a state of financial impoverishment; however, that is taking a narrowed view.

It can also be applied to one who is bereft of ideas or, alternatively, one who is lacking in valuable qualities such as morals or ethics.

Answer: Colour

By the looks of her skin it appears that Blanche may have spent a lot more of her time in solitary confinement than out in the exercise yard, because the lack of exposure to the sun has left her looking pale and quite sickly, which is another way of saying she is etiolated. Etiolating is a term that is more readily used in botany, describing plants that lack colour as a result of a deprivation of sunlight which has created an inability to generate chlorophyll. You may also pale the colour in vegetables by blanching them in hot water.

There's that name Blanche again, (oops) did I give away a subtle hint in the question?

Answer: Incontinent

A lot of people's first reaction would be to associate incontinence with the loss of control of the body's excretory functions and they would be correct. Being incontinent also shows a lack of moderation or a shortness of control, hence it's not uncommon to hear of an unchaste person being seen as an incontinent. It can also be used to describe a temper tantrum; for example, "he flew into an incontinent rage".

To be insouciant is to be care-free or happy go lucky. Whilst it describes a degree of nonchalance it doesn't indicate a lack of control. An insomniac is one who struggles with sleep and innuendo is an expression that usually carries some form of derogatory implication.

Answer: Lying flat

Orthopnea has links to the lung ailments of asthma and emphysema. It is also known to occur to people with some form of abdominal obesity, polycystic liver issues or suffering from angina pectoris. Not being able to lie flat presents sufferers with sleep issues. Accordingly they will need to prop their upper body up with pillows.

Answer: Yes

Short has a wide range of meanings and its relationship to size is just one of them. Displaying a shortness in manner is the same as cultivating an air of rudeness, producing an attitude that lacks (is short of) courtesy or promoting a brusque behaviour that's tinged with abruptness and/or intolerance.

As a postscript to this, and going back to the size issue, the inhabitants of the Land of 1,000 Dwarves, could use irony by nicknaming their giant resident "shorty".

Answer: Incertitude

As the word implies, incertitude equates to a lack of certainty. and poor old Thomas has been badly afflicted by it. It has left him in a state of dubiety and mental reservedness. The consequences of this are that he struggles to make decisions, he's become the town's sceptic, we feel that he has issues in saying words such as "I love you" and he has doubts about other people's honesty.

Incipient means beginning to become apparent, incendiary means capable of causing arson or fire and indifference indicates a lack of concern, importance or significance.

Answer: Pliant

One who is pliant is supple, yielding and lissom. The other three, steely, iron and brassbound, are all indicators that their owners are short on flexibility and elasticity. Oh dear, I can still hear that foreman unleashing a steady stream of invective that describes their rigidity ... "why you obstinate, unyielding, intractable little taut boots, you dogmatic, stiff necked, dyed-in-the-wool little so and ..." (I think we'll leave now).