Tom Hanks Teaches Vocabulary Trivia Quiz

Answer: hairlike growth on a plant

While I was stranded, I had time to look at the plants. Some plants are a bit fuzzy. I looked into it and learned that fuzzy stuff is called tomenta. The tomenta can act as an insulation to keep the plant from becoming too hot and also protect it from getting direct sunlight.

Answer: stupid

Back in the Middle Ages, anyone thought to be lacking in intelligence as a child was given the name Thome Fole. But over time, it was shortened to Tom Fool. And then it just came to mean someone stupid.

Answer: small round green or purple tomato-like fruit

Tomatillos came from Mexico but can now be found in southern states too. At first, I thought it was just a funky-looking tomato, but it's not; it is a different food altogether, although they are related.

In Mexico, where they grow naturally, they have been around for at least one thousand years. And tomatillo is Spanish for little tomato.

Answer: Iran

The rial is the official currency of Iran. However, if you have one toman, it is the same as having ten rials. It is like the United States having a dime or ten pennies, more coins with the pennies, but it's worth the same.

Answer: fish

Tomcod are marine fish. There are two kinds of them, the Atlantic and Pacific kinds. Since the film takes place in New York City, I would have seen the Atlantic variety, which is also known as winter cod.

Answer: gambling

Tombola is a raffle ticket-type game. The tickets are pulled out from a giant spinning drum. The drum is also called a tombola. It's a lottery where they mix the tickets and then pull out a winner. Uncle Ned was never interested in tombola, that spinning wouldn't help his head with those hangovers he often had.

Answer: nonsense

Tommyrot means foolishness or nonsense. It was first used in 1884.

Of course, it wasn't tommyrot at all, and she felt bad when he learned I was telling the truth. I sure did love Susan when I was Josh, but I grew up again, the natural way, not by a Zoltar machine, met a nice woman, and we got married had two kids and a cat. So it all worked out. I am making this up of course, the writers of "Big" didn't tell me what happened to my character, but logic said he grew up so I'm going with that.

Answer: to have been promiscuous

Tomcatted comes from the noun tomcat, which is a male cat. It is often called Tom, much like me; my first name is Thomas, but most just call me Tom. As the tomcat roams in alleys, they think nothing of going from one female cat (Molly) to the next. Tomcatted is, therefore, the past tense of the verb form of this word.

Answer: large book

Tome, despite the silent e at the end, is still pronounced like my name, Tom.
When you add an e to my name, the o changes from short to long, so they do not rhyme. The word tome has been used since the 1500s and is often seen in scholarly books such as pre-med. Students might have an organic chemistry tome. Also, it can be works of multiple volumes because a work that is multi volumes is one book cut into pieces. In fact, the word is related to the Greek word for cutting which is "tomi".

Answer: tomboys

The word tomboy comes from the 16th century. Back then, the name Tom was used to describe rather rude boys. Toward the end of that century, it was also applied to girls who were also rude, and it stuck with the girls, not the boys. However, it doesn't mean the girls are rude, just that they act like boys.