Vocabulary: An Arm and a Leg Trivia Quiz

Answer: The ships were part of an invasion

Armada is the Spanish word for a naval fleet. What we call the Spanish Armada was a fleet of 130 ships sent to assist in an invasion of England in 1588. The Armada was beset by difficulties - the English fleet was more agile and inflicted damage. Part of the Armada had to go north to escape, and hit terrible weather. Thousands of men died and only 67 ships survived.

Answer: legacy

When Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, saw an obituary published on the erroneous impression that he had died, he was devastated. "The merchant of death is dead". He determined to give himself a better legacy by donating his fortune to set up the set of prizes that would be awarded annually after his death. A legacy is something left behind for future generations.

A legacy could also be a sum of money or other material left to somebody in a will. So you could say that Nobel left a legacy, to be used to set up prizes that would leave him with a better legacy, I guess.

"Legacy" is also the label IT professionals give to applications that have been working for a long time, but don't fit with the current technical landscape.

Answer: the armoured mammals live in the New World

Armadillos are mammals, but they look unusual because they have a leathery armour-like covering. The name, armadillo, means "little armoured one" in Spanish. There are around 20 species of armadillo, all found in the Americas. Armadillos are used in the study of leprosy, because they are one of the few animals other than humans that can contract the disease.

Flanders and Swann wrote and performed comic songs. "I was somewhat disconcerted by this curious affair, For a single Armadillo, you will own, On Salisbury Plain, in summer, is comparatively rare, And a pair of them is practically unknown."

Answer: the violinist played notes connectedly and smoothly

When music is played legato, the notes are connected and the melody goes smoothly between them. It comes from the Italian for "tied together" and could be considered the opposite of pizzicato. Itzhak Perlman playing the start of the 2nd movement of Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto is a nice example. What a piece, and what a musician!

Answer: armiger

An armiger was the next level down from a knight. They would be entitled to their own coat of arms, hence "arm bearer". The role of armiger is still respected today in certain countries for people who can show descent from those allowed a coat of arms, or "heraldic achievement".

Armiger-class knights are a thing in the fantasy war game "Warhammer", apparently.

Answer: skill at fooling others

Legerdemain comes from the French "light of hand". It is the ability of someone to trick or deceive, originally with their hands, such as a conjurer would do, but now used more generally. In his book, from which the quote in the question comes, "The World Crisis, 1911-1918", Winston Churchill went on to describe examples of legerdemain - manoeuvres and tactics that military leaders used to mislead their opposition.

Answer: Wardrobe or cupboard

An armoire is an elaborate, showy, wardrobe or cupboard. It is a borrowed French word, that originally came from the Latin for arms or tools, because they were originally used for storing weapons. A carved wooden armoire from the Louis XIV period could set you back thousands of dollars.

C. S. Lewis's novel, "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe", was first published in 1950.

Answer: Balinese dance

A legong is a dance from Bali, in Indonesia, usually performed by girls who have not reached puberty. It features elaborate hand gestures, footwork, finger movement, and facial expressions. There are 15 types of legong dance, each telling a different traditional story, and they are accompanied by the Indonesian gamelan music.

Answer: Barmy Army

The word "army" comes from Latin (armata: armed force), via French (armee). An army is an organised military force that fights on land. In the UK, there are three armed services, the Royal Navy, the Royal Airforce, and the Army. Army has also come to mean a large number of people working together, who aren't military. The Salvation Army is a Christian organisation that uses some of the trappings of a military army.

The Barmy Army is known for following the England cricket team all over the world. They are vociferous, and humorous, and often sunburned.

Answer: legumes

The word legume can be used for the plant itself or the seed of the plant. Legumes are important agriculturally for producing food from their seeds, whether dried or fresh, for the use of fodder for animals, and for their ability to improve soil by "fixing" nitrogen. Legumes include green beans, soy beans, lentils, alfalfa and clover. Lupins, plants grown in gardens for their decorative flowers, are also legumes. Quiz setters can't get enough of the fact that the peanut is a legume, and not a nut.