'Tar' and Feather Trivia Quiz

Answer: Taradiddle

Taradiddle has two meanings which are not actually that dissimilar. The first meaning is as a word used to describe pretentious nonsense or silly talk. Think tommyrot, baloney, hogwash and twaddle and you'll get the idea. Basically, a load of old rubbish. The second meaning is to describe a petty and trivial lie, what today we would probably call a white lie or a fudging of the truth.

If someone tells you that they know how and where taradiddle originated, they are probably using it; in both senses of its meanings. The origin is simply unknown. It first appeared in a 1796 book detailing colloquial language so it had probably been around for a while before that. There have been a few theories, but none that have been proven to be definitive. Some think that it it is derived from the verb "diddle" which means "to swindle or cheat", while others have tried to link it to the Old English verb "didrion" which meant "to deceive". The problem with this theory is that, by the time, tardiddle showed up, "didrion" had been disused for a number of centuries. One thing is for sure though, taradiddle is still very common in the world.

Answer: Tarentella

A Tarantella is "The Dance of the Spider"; a folk dance that originated in the south of Italy around the 15th century, supposedly as a cure for the effects of the bite of a tarantula or wolf spider found in the area. Legend and lore have it that it was believed that someone who had been bitten by one of these spiders would suffer from a form of hysteria that could only be cured by frenzied dancing. The name comes from the port of Taranto that lies on the heel of the boot of Italy. It has also given its name to the spider. So if you have ever mixed up the two words or wondered what the difference is, here is your answer.

Over the years, the Tarantella evolved from this solo "cure" into a lively, brisk dance for a couple. It is set in fast time of 6/8 and is characterised by light, quick steps and flirtatious behaviour by both dancers. It is usually accompanied by tambourines. It is one of the most recognised dances in Southern Italy and each area has a special name for their variation of the dance.

Answer: Tarboosh

At first glance, a Tarboosh (or tarboush) looks very much like what is commonly known today as a fez and the two words are often used interchangeably in modern times. A tarboosh is a close fitting, small, brimless cap with a tassel at the back that is usually made of felt and is, more often than not, bright red in colour. However, the tarboosh is actually a predecessor of the fez. The tarboosh itself came about during the Ottoman Empire when the traditional turbans worn by Muslim men were banned on the combat field. Men took to wearing their turbans with a small cloth cap covering and the tarboosh was born. It became a cultural symbol, denoting both the power and status of the wearer. In the early 19th century, the wearing of a turban underneath the cloth cap fell out of fashion and the smaller fez as we know it gained in popularity.

Tarboosh comes from the Arabic word "tarbus" or "tarbus" that in itself originates from the Persian word "sarbus", which simply means head covering. The first known use of tarboosh in English dates from 1702. The rise of Nationalism across countries such as Egypt and Turkey led to a decline in the use of the head coverings. However, in more recent times, they have seen a resurgence of popularity.

Answer: Tarlatan

In the early and mid 1800s, tarlatan was the 'miracle' fabric that allowed women to wear crinoline skirts in summer without the discomfort of the heavy metal hoops required to support heavier fabrics such as silk and taffetta. Tarlatan is a thin open weave muslin made from cotton. This is then stiffened by the addition of a stiffening agent such as starch, glue or even a cornflour and water mixture that is allowed to dry. As it is pliable and flexible when damp, it was ideal for curving into the voluminous shapes that the day's fashion dictated. It was also ideal for petticoats and undergarments that needed a firm shape.

Tarlatan comes to English via the French word "talatane" which is thought to be derived from "tanatane", a cloth that originated in India. It first appeared in English around 1720. The popularity of tarlatan in the fashion industry declined as synthetic fabrics became available. However, it is still used extensively in the printing industry as it is very absorbent and is used to clean the ink off printing plates.

Answer: Tarn

Technically a tarn is formed when a cirque or bowl-shaped depression carved by a glacier in a mountain side fills with melted glacial water to form a pool or small lake. They are usually smaller than lakes and are steep sided. They are also known by the term "corrie loch". Tarns are founded anywhere in the world where glaciers have been active. The word comes via Middle English from the Old Norse word "tjorn" which means "small mountain lake with no tributaries".

The first recorded use of tarn in English came between 1300 and 1350 and was originally confined to dialects from the north of England, especially those areas that had been settled by Danish invaders. Thanks to the work of the Lake Poets such as William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, the use of tarn spread far and wide.

Answer: Tarheel

Tarheel, or Tar Heel, is the nickname given to the state of North Carolina and its people. Like a lot of nicknames, there are various versions of how this particular nickname originated, but the most widely accepted one is as follows. In the period between 1720 and 1870, North Carolina was one of the leading producers of items such as turpentine, pitch and tar from the copious number of pine trees that grew in the state. Now, North Carolina gets quite hot in the summer so the poor workers who had to beaver away at producing these sticky products used to go barefoot and literally get tar stuck to their heels. This gave rise to the somewhat derogatory term Tarheel for people working in lowly paid, manual positions.

However, all this changed with the advent of the Civil War where North Carolina was a member of the Confederacy. The soldiers from North Carolina were proud to call themselves Tarheels as they were resolute in the face of the enemy and "stuck like tar on a heel to their task". The first written record of the word's use that still survives comes from the February 6 1863 diary entry from 2nd Lieutenant Jackson Lawrence who refers to the term. Apparently it became a badge of honour when General Robert E Lee proclaimed, after the Battle of Ream's Station in Virginia in 1864 where North Carolina soldiers had saved the day, "God Bless the Tar Heel Boys!". Since then the nickname has been worn with pride by North Carolina and its people.

Answer: Tarok

Tarok, or Tarock as it is sometimes spelled, is the group of card games that arose during the Renaissance period in Italy and then spread across central Europe where it is still popular today. Tarok games are played with both regular packs of cards as well as a set of of 22 tarot cards. The number of regular cards used is usually determined by which variation of the game, of which there are many, is being played and this can vary from 32 to 52. All variations are point trick taking games with the number of players also varying depending on the version. The Straw Man variation, for instance, only requires two players where as the Koningrufen one needs four active players and a fifth to deal the cards.

The term originated from the now obsolete Italian word "tarocco" and the first recorded use of it in English occurred between 1605 and 1615, although the game itself predates this by a couple of centuries. The famous psychologist, Sigmund Freud, was an avid and regular Tarok player and his personal box of Tarok cards were part of his hand luggage when he fled Austria after the Nazi invasion in 1938. They can now be found in the Freud Museum in London.

Answer: Tardy

If someone or something is later than expected in arriving or happening, then they can be said to be tardy. An example is when one's library books become overdue, then one has been tardy about returning them. The word, like so many in English, has evolved through the centuries. Its root is the Latin word "tardus" which means slow, sluggish or late. This later became "tardivus" in Vulgar Latin, and "tardif" in Old French before making its way into English in the 1600s.

The medieval collection of European fables from the 12th century called "Roman de Renard" or "Reynard the Fox", which bestows human characteristics to animals, has a character called Sir Tardy the Snail. The Bard himself, William Shakespeare, used tardy in his comedy "As You Like It" which was thought to be written between 1598 and 1600.

Answer: Tarpon

Tarpons are large, silvery, bony fish that have an elongated body. They belong to the genus Megalops where they are the only member of the Megalopidae family. There are two species of tarpon which is determined by where they live. Megalops atlanticus is found, as its name suggests, in the Atlantic Ocean while Megalops cyprinoides is found in Indo-Pacific waters. Tarpons will always been found in the warmer areas of the oceans as they do not thrive in cold conditions. They are highly prized by anglers as game fish for their acrobatic antics when snared on the end of a line. On March 20 2003 in Rubane, Guinea-Bissau, a world record was set for an Atlantic tarpon catch when Max Domecq snagged a beauty that weighed a whopping 286 pounds and 9 ounces.

Tarpons that have been caught by anglers are normally released back into the water as they do not making good eating due to the myriad small bones they have. Tarpons are also known as Silver Kings or Sabalos. The origin of the word tarpon to describe these fish is unknown with various suggestions put forward, including the Dutch word "tarpoen" as well as a number of words from the native languages of Central America such as "tarpam" in Miskito and "tahpam" in Sumo. The first known use of the word in English came between 1675 and 1685.

Answer: Tarragon

Tarragon is the common name for Artemesia dracunculus var. sativa. It is a perennial bushy plant from the daisy family whose narrow leaves are highly sought after for culinary purposes, especially the variation known as French Tarragon. In fact, tarragon is one of the four "fine herbes" in French cooking along with parsley, chives and chervil. With its faint licorice smell and taste, it is a fundamental part of any Sauce Bernaise and goes particularly well with fish, chicken and egg dishes.

The plant grows wild across great swathes of Eurasia and North America and is cultivated mainly by the splitting of its twisted rhizome roots. In fact the "dracunculus" part of its name means "little dragon" and is thought to refer to the way its roots coil round each other. Tarragon is actually known in both Swedish and Dutch as dragon. The word tarragon comes to English from the Middle French words "targon", but has an etymology dating back to the Arabic word "tarkhon" and the Ancient Greek word "drakon", both of which mean dragon. The first known use of tarragon in English dates back to 1538.