Exonyms and Eponyms Trivia Quiz

Answer: none

All are place names for Germany: in Danish (Tyskland), French (L'Allemagne), Chinese (Déyìzhì), Czeck (Nemecko), in Estonian (S'aksamaa), Latvian (Vuokiteje), and in Polish (Niemcy). It's hard to say, but this could be because Deutschland is hard to say.

Answer: east

Gasshukoku is what the Japanese call the United States. "Gasshukoku, Gasshukoku, God shed his grace on thee..." just doesn't have that same ring to it.

Answer: Constantinople

At the urging of local governments, Saigon became Ho Chi Minh City in 1976. Nahavand, Iran was formerly named Laodicea after Laodice of Macedonia. Dubris is what the Romans called Dover, but it didn't stick - most likely because of the difficulty of rhyming with it. "There'll be joy and hubris at the white cliffs of Dubris" just doesn't warm the heart in quite the same fashion. Istanbul, however, is still called Constantinople in Greece despite the name having been changed in Turkish (and other languages) in the 1920s. According to the Four Lads in 1953, "Evr'y gal in Constantinople is a Miss-stanbul, not Constantinople, so if you've date in Constantinople, she'll be waiting in Istanbul" - unless, of course, she's Greek!

Answer: Vietnam

Vietnam is virtually identical in every language: Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Khmer, Laotian, Maltese, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Thai, and Turkish to name a few. Surprisingly, the three peoples that can't seem to negotiate the pronunciation: the Chinese (Yuènán), Japanese (Betonamu) and Koreans (Beteunam).

Answer: Danish

While Wales and Northern Ireland are part of the United Kingdom, their linguistic roots, like Brittany's are in Celtic, hence, England is referred to as 'Lloegr' in Welsh, 'Bro-Saoz' across the channel in Brittany and 'Sasana' in Irish Gaelic.

Answer: It depends on the category

I couldn't resist a trick question here. The Nobel prizes are all awarded on the anniversary of Alfred Nobel's death, December 10 each year. The Prize for Peace is presented in Oslo, Kongeriket Noreg (Norway), while the rest are given in Stockholm, Konungariket Sverige (Sweden). Finland (Suomen Tasavalta) usually passes the day still recovering from Itsenäisyyspäivä - Independence Day (December 6).

Answer: No

"Confoederatio Helvetica" is Latin for "Swiss Confederation". Switzerland has no ocean going ports and, in fact, 'Dolus' is Latin for 'deceit'. Heather would be passing pictures of toy boats in her birdbath around the office in a vain effort to save face with her co-workers.

Answer: Durrës, Albania

Shqipëria is Albania to the Albanians. Albania is where Gjergj Skenderberg defeated the Ottoman Sultan Murad II in 1450. You'll be so busy trying desperately to hire a donkey cart to haul you through several war zones to reconnect with your tour group who are enjoying gondolier rides under the Bridge of Sighs that you won't notice the ancient groves of olive trees and the many lime kilns dotting the beautiful landscape.

Answer: North Korea

Ambassador Smith launched his diplomatic initiative from Tokyo, flew to Seoul, then to Beijing, China so that he could enter North Korea. Exiting North Korea, he could only travel through China and returned to Japan and then to Washington DC with a quick stop in South Korea to report the results of his efforts to the South Korean government. North Korea is Joseon. Japan is Nihon. South Korea is Hanminguk and China is Jhongguó.

He was taken, tongue-tied, to Walter Reed Army Hospital in Bethesda, Maryland, right from the plane.

Answer: Zagreb, Croatia

The Hrvati (Croatians) are the southern slavs of the Balkan peninsula who, for the most part, adhered to Roman Catholicism, not converting to the eastern Slavic church (Serbs) or to Islam (Bosnians). Approximately nine million Croats live in many parts of the world, but only fifty percent live in Croatia, their homeland.