Lobcocks And Forfexes Trivia Quiz

Answer: To embezzle money

To defalcate is to embezzle money, especially as carried out by someone whose job gives them responsibility for it. An example would be a finance officer in a business who transferred money secretly from a company account to their own. The first recorded use of the word is in 1541.

It traces its origin back to the Latin "de falx", meaning to lop off or cut down, "falx" being the Latin for a sickle or scythe.

Answer: The rung of a ladder

A rundle is another word for the horizontal rung of a ladder. It has its origin in the Old French word "rond", meaning "round". Its first recorded use in English was in 1565.

Answer: Finding it tough to get out of bed in the morning

Yes, there is a proper word for that common feeling when you really don't want to get up and face the world. However, it is not an officially-recognised medical condition in itself, and is generally regarded as a symptom of a more serious condition such as severe depression.

Answer: A pill for bad breath

A "cachou" is a pill or lozenge that you might suck to sweeten your breath. The word has entered the English language through French and Portuguese and ultimately traces its origin back to the Malaysian word "kacu", which is a species of acacia plant.

Answer: A dull, clumsy or boring person

We've probably all met someone who we'd describe as a "lobcock". The word's origins are obscure, but it may be a collation of the archaic word "lob" (meaning a loutish fellow) and the familiar slang word for a certain part of the male anatomy.

Answer: A pair of pincers, especially as seen on an earwig

The correct word for those rather nasty-looking pincers on the tip of an earwig's abdomen is "forfex", although you may also see them referred to as "cercus" and "forceps". The word "forfex" first appeared in English in the eighteenth century and has its origin in the Latin word for scissors.

Answer: Flakes of dandruff

Another name for those awkward white flakes that gather on your shoulders when you are suffering from dandruff is "furfur". It can also refer to any flaky particles that form on the skin. The term first appears in English around the seventeenth century and is derived from the Latin word for bran.

Answer: A container with holes in it for keeping fish alive in the water

Any fishermen playing this quiz would probably recognise the word "corf", which is a box that is placed in the water and then filled with live fish, eels or crustaceans as and when they are caught. Sometimes spelt "cauf", it is a Middle English word that is ultimately derived from the Latin "corbis", meaning "basket".

Answer: An elaborate hookah pipe

A narghile or hookah is a large Middle Eastern or Oriental smoking pipe, which draws the smoke through water in order to cool and filter it. The word "narghile" was originally a French word, derived from the Persian word for a coconut, as the earliest narghiles had bowls made from them.

Answer: An urgent pathological desire to eat

Limosis is more serious than just feeling hungry because you skipped lunch. It is specifically a voracious hunger for food, that is specifically the result of an illness or disease. It has its origin in the Ancient Greek word "limos", meaning hunger.