Vocabulary Trivia

31. Everybody knows what it means to be in the dog house, but which book gave it the meaning we know?

From Quiz Who Let the Dogs Out?

Answer: 'Criminalese'

While many etymologists subscribe to the 'Peter Pan' theory, it is extremely unlikely that Mr. Darling spent any time in the dog house, since the term was not in use in Edwardian era England. J. M. Barrie consigned Mr. D to Nana's kennel. No, the term was first widely used in the U.S. - where dog kennels are known as dog houses - and its use as a term to describe one who has been cut off from enjoying the society of others because of some perceived misdoing is first recorded in James J. Finerty's 'Criminalese'. 'Criminalese' is a dictionary of underworld slang, published in 1926. Evidently, while there may be no honour among thieves, there is a form of a code of ethics and those who violated the code ended up "in the dog house". I tried to find out more about Mr. Finerty, but not one scintilla of information could I find. Maybe he was "rubbed out" by those who disliked having their slang translated for the general public.

From Quiz What Did Shakespeare Mean By That?

Answer: Nice

"Nice" isn't so nice in Shakespeare - one example of the archaic usage is in "Julius Caesar", where Cassius complains to Brutus that "in such times as these it is not meet that every nice offense should bear his comment," meaning that any little, trivial infraction shouldn't be harshly punished. It is not a "nice" offense in the way we use the word today.

From Quiz I've Got Mono

Answer: monochromatic

While the question might remind some of supernatural or maniacal themes, the prefix "mono" means one, and "chromatic" refers to color, so "monochromatic" is the correct response.

From Quiz CDO

Answer: Cauldron

A cauldron is a large metal pot used to cook over an open fire.

From Quiz The Dog Ate My Dictionary!

Answer: Marsh

"Slough" is truly a versatile word! A slough (usually pronounced "slew") can be a mud pit, a swampy marsh or bayou, or an inlet, depending on where you live. Also, the "Slough of Despond" has been used in literature to describe deeply depressed spirits; the phrase originated in the allegorical novel, "The Pilgrim's Progress" (1678). Or, to slough (changing pronunciation to "sluff") can be to shed, as in snakes shedding their skin. Replacing the "i" that Lexi chewed up brings us back to our theme: the Sloughi is a North African sighthound.

From Quiz Mind-addling Animal Adjectives

Answer: Doves

'Columbine' means relating to, or having the characteristics of doves. The word 'columbine' comes from the Latin 'columba' meaning 'dove'. Source: Oxford English Dictionary

From Quiz Gimme Sympathy

Answer: syndactyly

Syndactyly (etym. Greek) - the condition of having two or more fused digits. Syndactyly is most commonly known as webbed fingers, although it can occur in the toes as well. This condition happens during development in the womb where the digits do not completely separate. There are varying degrees of syndactyly: Incomplete Simple Syndactyly (where only a web of skin separates the digits), Complete Simple Syndactyly (where the digits are joined to the tips but have separate bones), and Complete Complex Syndactyly (where adjacent digits are completely joined with the bones being fused).

From Quiz More Bottle for your Wine

Answer: One quarter

The piccolo holds one quarter of a standard bottle or 0,1875 litres. The bottle is also known by other names such as quarter bottle, pony, snipe or split.

From Quiz Am I Clumsy, Unlucky or What? Part Three!

Answer: Hollow area above the buttocks

A pilonidal dimple is a little hollow area just at the very top of the crease that goes between the buttocks or sacral area of one's bottom. I'm telling you, that really does hurt when you clobber that part of your rear end! I didn't think that I would be able to ever sit down again.

From Quiz Words I like

Answer: Nimrod

Nimrod is from the Bible (Genesis 10, v 8-10), a son of Cush who was a mighty hunter and ruler. A knave is a boy servant or a crafty person. A dorking is an English domestic fowl. Funk originally meant "to be frightened, to flinch, to shrink back".

From Quiz As Shakespeare Might Have Said...

Answer: a blessing

Benison has the same Latin root as benediction (another word for a blessing) - benedictionem. In one of his poems, Rupert Brooke (one of my favourite poets) lists the ordinary, everyday things that make life a joy, and one of these is "the benison of hot water". I presume he was writing in the bath.

From Quiz Strictly Speaking

Answer: All three words

I find affect/effect to be a particularly vexing pair of words. "Affect" is used as a noun only when describing a person's apparent mood. As a verb, "affect" means "to influence". "Effect" as a noun refers to the results of an action; and used as a verb, "effect" means "to accomplish". Strictly speaking, "continuous" means the action is unceasing whereas continual allows for breaks in the action being performed. A stream of water can be continuous; a drip may be described as continual, with breaks between successive, seemingly interminable, drops. My search is presumably conducted in fits and starts, not a constant state of mind! "Founder" means "to sink" whereas "floundering" refers to the ineffectual thrashing about in the water of a person who may or may not, ultimately, sink. "Floundering" is the appropriate metaphor for a desperate and generally unproductive struggle to achieve some goal. I may struggle in my search, but it is not likely to send me literally underwater.

From Quiz Love a Good Ending?-- Greek Suffixes

Answer: -oid & oid

Think about the following words: humanoid, trapezoid, sphereoid, and then think about what the word is resembling.

From Quiz S - T- R - E - T - C - H Your Vocab

Answer: Tenet

Tent plus e is tenet.

From Quiz Words.......Words........Words

Answer: In clumps

This is a plant which grows in tufts or clumps, for example the little seaside plant 'thrift' or 'sea pink'.

From Quiz Double sound words live. Get on your "Gee-Gee"!

Answer: to pour scorn or disdain on something or somebody

The single word "pooh" is defined as an expression of contempt. Thus to "pooh-pooh" someone means to show no appreciation for someone's ideas or feelings.

From Quiz Double sound words yet again.Now don't go "gaga" !

Answer: when talking of a scantily clad and perhaps erotic dancer

There's a line in a country song where a dancing girl warns a middle-aged man on the prowl that he shouldn't "do-si-do with a go-go" if he doesn't actually mean it. Perhaps a "go-go" dancer would wear a "ra-ra" skirt.

From Quiz Definitely Daffy!

Answer: Flammable Inflammable

Both adjectives mean the same thing!

From Quiz So You Think You Know Words?

Answer: Hypocrisy

I believe this is the only word in English that ends with these three letters.

From Quiz Do You Know Your Diphthongs?

Answer: Amoeba & amoeba

Amoeba, the plural is amoebae (two diphthongs)! Again, Americans drop the 'o' and spell amoeba, 'ameba'. However, I've been told by an American 'Quizzylander' that she's/he's never seen this spelling - but the Cambridge Dictionary states same as American usage! Anyway, amoeba is from the Greek, via modern Latin, 'amoib' meaning change, from its changing shape!

From Quiz Stretch Your Vocabulary

Answer: hypocritical person

After the Dickens character in "David Copperfield".

From Quiz Meta-Linguistics: Words About Words

Answer: a dispute over words

From the Greek 'logos' (word) and 'machia' (battle). The term is frequently used to characterize a dispute that has shifted from a more essential substantive matter to a conflict over semantics.

From Quiz Laughter, the Best Medicine

Answer: cackle

This is the laugh you hear in teachers' rooms, at family gatherings, quite a bit.

From Quiz Cool Words

Answer: circinnate

From Quiz Watch Your Words Mate

Answer: cleave

Cleave means to join together and also cut apart.

From Quiz In the Words of Shakespeare

Answer: Gossip

The word "gossip" originated from an Old English word "godsibb", which had connections to childbirth; the original meaning had to do with the godparents of a child, or the parents of a godchild. Shakespeare was the first to use it as a verb, and it appeared in two of his plays: In "All's Well That Ends Well" (1623), he uses the line, "With a world of pretty, fond, adoptious christendoms, that blinking Cupid gossips". The word also appears in "The Comedy of Errors" (1594) with the line, "With all my heart, I'll gossip at this feast". Only since the 16th century, has the term "gossip" been associated with a negative connotation. This question was created by cardsfan_027 after gossiping with his fellow Phoenix Rising teammates.

From Quiz Villainously Yours

Answer: unbeliever

Miscreant comes from the Old French "mescreant", in turn derived from the Latin verb "credere" ("to believe"). Originally an adjective that meant disbelieving, in the Middle English period this word denoted a non-Christian, thus synonymous with infidel or heathen. In those times, someone who did not believe in God, or held heretical beliefs, was considered a bad person - hence the word's current negative connotation, which dates from the late 16th century. In modern French, "mécréant" has kept its original meaning of unbeliever, as has the Italian "miscredente".

From Quiz Words' Worth

Answer: hoi polloi

The hoi polloi are the masses, the common people. For some reason, perhaps because of the similarity in sound, many people confuse it with 'hoity-toity' which means snobbish or haughty, condescending and patronizing.

From Quiz Who Let the Dogs Out?

Answer: His bouts of depression

Winston Churchill lived with bouts of depression for most of his life, a condition which he called his "black dog". It is interesting to note that two of the greatest political leaders of modern times - Abraham Lincoln and Winston Churchill - both suffered from depression. Churchill found that his hobby of painting helped him to deal with his "black dog". Clement Attlee, the Labour Party leader who succeeded Churchill as Prime Minister in 1945, was never referred to by Churchill as a black dog, but Winnie did once say that Mr. Attlee was a sheep in wolf's clothing. Rufus wasn't a Lab; he was a miniature poodle, much beloved by Churchill, and, as far as I know, no ghostly hound haunts Chartwell, Churchill's home in Kent.

From Quiz What is the Right Word for Such People?

Answer: Pontificator

While the word "pontificator" has its main roots in religious terminology, i.e. the state of being the pontiff (Pope), it also has developed a secular meaning of behaving or speaking dogmatically. Pontificators are not usually good conversationalists. They are far too concerned with forcefully stating their opinions and ideas and will brook neither opposition nor interjection. Avoid your fence I say!

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Last Updated Dec 28 2024 5:46 AM

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