Languages Trivia

1. In France, a sure sign of a great achievement is when you break which part of a duck?

From Quiz Putting the Cat Among the Pigeons

Answer: Three legs

It's not anything to do with wings or beaks and ducks don't have horns so it can't be that, meaning the correct answer is the three legs of the duck. Wait a minute, ducks don't have three legs. This, though, is precisely what makes your achievement so noteworthy. Anyone can break one or two legs on a duck, but to break three takes a special talent. A phrase often heard is, "il ne casse pas trois pattes à un canard" meaning "it doesn't break three legs on a duck" which tells you that your feat is nothing special or nothing to write home about.

From Quiz Swahili and "The Lion King"

Answer: Friend

Rafiki is Mufasa's friend and then later he becomes Simba's friend as well. Helpful in Swahili is kusaidia, loyal is waaminifu and trustworthy is kuaminika. (Contributed by Ilona_ritter)

From Quiz Climbing the Tower of Babel, 8th Floor

Answer: winter

"Hiems" is Latin for winter, as is "igba otutu" in Yoruban, "invierno" in Spanish, "zima" in Russian, Slovenian and Serbian, "inverno" in Portuguese and Italian, and "hiver" in French. In a Season 5 episode of "Northern Exposure" called "First Snow," the residents of Cicely, Alaska, celebrate the arrival of the first snowflakes of winter by walking outside and greeting one another in French saying "Bon Hiver" (which they pronounce "BAH-nee BEHR") which they took to mean "Good Winter." The Modern English word winter descends from the Old English "winter" which compares to the Danish and Swedish "vinter" and the Old High German "wintar."

From Quiz Mai, Oh Mai

Answer: No fly ever entered a closed mouth

Figurative meaning: as a general rule, you're better off speaking less rather than more. This saying may be considered a cousin to "Loose lips sink ships" in English.

From Quiz Swahili - The Language of the Coast

Answer: Niger-Congo

Though linguists often disagree on the classification of the world's languages, everyone seems to agree on the existence of the Niger-Congo family - the largest in the world, with over 1,500 languages and an estimated 700 million native speakers. Swahili belongs to the Bantu subfamily, which accounts for about half of the Niger-Congo speaking population. Niger-Congo languages are spoken in most of sub-Saharan Africa, from Senegal to eastern South Africa. In terms of number of speakers, Swahili (also known as Kiswahili) is the family's most widely spoken language. Niger and Congo are respectively Africa's second- and third-longest river. As their name implies, Nilo-Saharan languages are also spoken in Africa, whereas Sino-Tibetan languages are found in East Asia, and Fenno-Ugric languages in Asia and Europe.

From Quiz Whimsical Wildlife Whatchamacallits!

Answer: cebra

All of the choices given are words in Spanish for animals that might be found in a zoo, but only the zebra ("cebra") fits the bill for being a striped equine. Because of how the stripes run on a zebra's body, I imagine that any zebra's jukebox could include the Simon and Garfunkel tune "Feelin' Groovy"! "Gato" is Spanish for "cat". "Leopardo" is Spanish for "leopard". "Caballo" is Spanish for "horse".

From Quiz Multilingual Countries

Answer: German, French, Italian

Switzerland is located in the middle of France, Italy, Germany, and Austria. The country itself is made of 26 cantons that were, at some point in history, independent. As a result, the populations of the different regions have differing cultural practices and speak languages that have been influenced by their neighbouring nations. Some cantons have one official language (German is the only official language in 17 of the Swiss cantons) and some cantons have a combination. French, German, Italian, and Romansh are official languages in at least one canton. Romansh is only an official language in the canton of Graubunden, where Italian and German are also official.

From Quiz A Red Hot Musical

Answer: French

The French language is a Romance language from Indo-European family. It can be traced back to the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire. Its roots lie in the Latin spoken in Northern Gaul, what is now known as northern France and Southern Belgium. It was also influenced by the Frankish and Celtic languages. The French language is an official language in countries spanning five continents around the world. Victor Hugo wrote "Les Miserables" in French and released it in 1862. It was a huge success which was quickly translated into English, Italian, Greek, and Portuguese. The original musical was written in French and debuted in 1980, running for three months in Paris. In 1985, a reworked English version was released on London's West End and became the worldwide phenomenon that is the musical "Les Miserables". It is this version of the musical that was subsequently re-translated back into French and 20 plus other languages. "J'ai fait un reve" is the French title of the English "I Dreamed a Dream", the solo by Fantine. There are actually two French versions of the song, the one from the original production and the re-translated one from the English version. This question was written by Phoenix Rising member tazman6619.

From Quiz Hot in Any Language

Answer: German

Other German words for candlestick include der Kerzenhalter and der Kerzenständer. German is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world, being the first language for in excess of 100 million people. It is the most commonly used language in the European Union after English. It is an official language in six countries; Austria, Belgium, Germany, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg and Switzerland. This question was ignited by Phoenix Rising team member pollucci19.

From Quiz What in the World...?

Answer: Mah

'Mah koreh' would mean 'what's going on'. it can also be written as 'meh' or 'maw'. It first appears in Genesis 2:19 and in Hebrew looks like this - מה.

From Quiz Climbing the Tower of Babel, 7th Floor

Answer: Nose

Nariz is the Portuguese, Spanish and Galician word for nose, as is nez in French, Nase in German, Nef in Icelandic, deguns in Latvian and trwyn in Welsh. The Modern English noun nose derives from the Old English noun nosu. It, in turn, descended from the Old Nose nos, the Old Frisian nose, and perhaps the Old High German nasa. To have one's "nose out of joint" is an expression dating from the 16th Century.

From Quiz Everybody Speaks a Little Yiddish

Answer: Bagel

The correct answer is bagel (pronounced BAY-g'l). Bagels have become a breakfast staple in North America, and they're perfect with cream cheese. The word 'bagel' is derived (as are a great many Yiddish words) from low German. Bagel comes from beugel, the German word for a round loaf of bread. According to Leo Rosten, and I quote, "The first printed mention of bagels...is to be found in the Community Regulations of Krakow, Poland, for the year 1610 - which stated that bagels would be given to any woman in childbirth." An old Yiddish saying runs, "Er ligt in drerd und bakt bagel", which literally means "He lies in the ground and bakes bagels." Colloquially, it means "He's not doing very well." Challa is a braided loaf of white bread, glazed with egg white, and it is a Sabbath and holiday delicacy. Blintzes are pancakes, rolled around a filling, usually cottage cheese, and Latkes are delicious (and in my case habit-forming), crisp potato pancakes which were originally served only at Chanukah but now are eaten as often as one can get one's hands on them!

From Quiz Climbing the Tower of Babel, 6th Floor

Answer: bathroom

Bainugela is the Basque word for bathroom, as is badkamer in Dutch, vannituba in Estonian, Badezimmer in German, bagno in Italian, banheiro in Portuguese and yokugezela in Zulu. The English noun/adjective bathroom is compounded from bath and room meaning a room where a toilet is located. It is interestingly not necessarily a room where a shower is located (e.g. shower room) nor does it necessarily mean that one can bathe there. Euphemisms are like that.

From Quiz Climbing the Tower of Babel, 5th Floor

Answer: Pencil

Olovka is the Croatian word for pencil, as is blyant in Danish, potlood in Dutch, crayon in French, lápiz in Spanish and blyertspenna in Swedish. Long before the English invented the graphite pencil in the 16th Century, the French term pincel described an artist's brush so fine that it could be used to write. The term meant little tail which was appropriate to a tiny bunch of fine hairs used for writing. The derogatory term "pencil pusher" arose in 1881 to describe those who did not do manual labour but rather worked in offices.

From Quiz Climbing the Tower of Babel, 4th Floor

Answer: Dictionary

Slovník is the term for dictionary in Slovak, as is woordenboek in Dutch, sanakirja in Finnish, Wörterbuch in German, lexikon in Swedish and vortaro in Esperanto. The English noun dictionary derives from the Medieval Latin dictionarium, which derives from the Latin dictio meaning to speak or say. Ambrose Bierce, in his "Devil's Dictionary" (1911), cynically describes it as "A malevolent literary device for cramping the growth of a language and making it hard and inelastic".

From Quiz Climbing the Tower of Babel, 3rd Floor

Answer: Flower

Bloem is the Dutch word for a flower, as kukka is in Finnish, fiore in Italian, zieds in Latvian, kwiat in Polish, flor in both Spanish and Portuguese. The Old French flor crossed into English around 1200. Compare to the Modern French fleur and the Latin florem. Flower is also the skunk in Walt Disney's 1942 motion picture "Bambi".

From Quiz Climbing the Tower of Babel, 2nd Floor

Answer: Dog

Perro is the Spanish word for dog, as is hund in Swedish, cachorro in Portuguese, cane in Italian and chien in French. It would make better etymological sense if the English word for dog was hund, from the old Germanic languages. Exactly how the Old English docga became the Modern English word for a canine in unclear. The title of the 1962 Italian film "Mondo cane" literally means "A Dog's World" but figuratively is an expletive.

From Quiz Climbing the Tower of Babel, 1st Floor

Answer: Butterfly

Papillon means butterfly in French, as does borboleta in Portuguese, mariposa in Spanish, schmetterling in German, farfalla in Italian and sommerfugl in Danish. The English word butterfly derives from the Old English buttorfleoge but the connection between the insect and butter is obscure. The term "butterfly stroke" in swimming appeared in about 1935; "butterflies in the stomach" from about 1908.

From Quiz Official Languages of the World

Answer: English

According to the CIA World Factbook, over 50 countries had English as one of their official languages at the turn of the 21st century. French and Arabic were next most popular (over 20 countries with each).

From Quiz A " Goodbye" World

Answer: India

"Namaste" is my Yogini's spiritual goodbye to her class which she says while bowing and having her hands in a prayer position. Her form of goodbye means "I bow to the divine in you". When "namaste" is used in many Southeastern Asian countries, it can mean "Hello" or "Goodbye". Because it is a divine form of goodbye, my Yogini would most likely not use the casual goodbye of "Jaldee milengae" (see you soon"), or "Phir milengae" (see you again). "Namaste is from Sanskrit and originated in India.

From Quiz Compelling and Creative Yoruba Names

Answer: Joy

"Ayodele" is a Yoruba name meaning "Joy has come home". Other Yoruba names which start with "Ayo" are "Ayodeji" (joy has doubled), "Ayotola" (joy is the worth of wealth) and "Ayokunle" (joy fills the house).

From Quiz Yet More Languages and Countries

Answer: Persian

Persian (also known as Farsi, Iranian, or Iranian Persian) is the native language of 64% of the population, and is the language most commonly used in government, education, and the media. There are over 70 languages spoken in Iran, making it a linguistically diverse nation, and Persian is the lingua franca.

From Quiz Languages and Countries

Answer: German

German is the official language in Austria, though many Austrians speak Austro-Bavarian (Austrian German) or Alemannic as their home language. English is the most-studied foreign language. Hungarian is a minority language.

From Quiz African Lingo

Answer: C/Q/X

C, CH, GC, NC are all called the dental clicks. Press the tip of your tongue against your front teeth and then take it away quickly. Imagine the "tsk" sound in English. The "Q" is the most difficult one to master and is not followed by the "U" as in English. Q, WH, GQ, NQ, QH are pronounced by depressing the tongue against the palate and making a sort of "ka" sound. The "X" is known as a lateral click and is pronounced at the side of the tongue as in the word "Khoisan". Other lateral clicks are X, XH, GX, NX.

From Quiz Language Family Values

Answer: Germanic

You might think Celtic, but English is actually a Germanic language. Anglo-Saxon, its linguistic grandfather, was a mixture of dialects spoken by various West Germanic tribes such as the Jutes, Frisians, Angles and Saxons, and also shared similarities with the Old Norse spoken by Viking invaders. It is part of the West Germanic group, along with German, Dutch (which actually gets its name from 'Deutsch', the German word for the German language) and Afrikaans. The North Germanic group, meanwhile, contains Icelandic, Danish and Norwegian, amongst others. There is also an East Germanic group, albeit one with extinct languages such as Gothic, which were spoken by various tribes from what is present-day Scandinavia, Germany and the Benelux countries. Compare the words for 'bread': 'Brot' in German, 'Brød' in Norwegian and Danish, and 'Brood' in Dutch.

From Quiz You Talk Too Much!

Answer: English

The correct answer is English. As a language English is very accommodating to foreign words and has absorbed a huge number of words from other languages. A Germanic language, English is related to both Dutch and German and shares much of its grammar and basic vocabulary with both of these languages. It has also adopted a lot of French and Latin leading to almost 700,000 recognized words in the language. That does not include slang.

From Quiz One, Dos, Trois

Answer: Eyns

"One-Eyed Jacks" was a 1961 American western starring Marlon Brando, Katy Jurado and Karl Malden. It was directed by Brando. Moja is Swahili for one. En is Danish. Un is French.

From Quiz "Four" (or More) Ways to Say That...

Answer: vier

The wrong answers given above are all ways to say "five": "five" is English, "cinco" is Spanish, and "cinq" is French. Only "vier" is a way to say "four" in both Dutch and German. The two languages also share many other words, including the one for "drunk", which is "Trunk". There is an expression in English for being extremely drunk that starts with the word "Four", "Four sheets to the wind". This strange turn of phrase is actually nautical slang, where the "sheets" don't refer to "bed coverings", but "ropes", and the number of "sheets" is the degree of drunkenness of a sailor. One "sheet" is tipsy, two "sheets" is feeling good, three "sheets" is drunk as a skunk, and four "sheets" is passed-out, knockdown drunk.

From Quiz Romance Languages Revisited

Answer: They are derived from Vulgar Latin, the language spoken by inhabitants of the Roman Empire and their descendants

The word "Romance" is derived from the Vulgar Latin adverb "romanice", which means "in the Roman vernacular" and contrasts itself to the adverbs "latine", or in Medieval Latin (already distinct from Romance languages by the 9th century AD), and "barbarice," or in "Barbarian," referring to non-Latin languages. The word "Romance" thus descends from "romanice", so that anything written "romanice" is written in "Romance", or any language derived from "Vulgar Latin."

From Quiz International Words and Phrases

Answer: I do not know what

The phrase is used in English to refer to an intangible or indescribable quality that a person or an object has. For example: "Her music is good. It has a certain 'je ne sais quoi' that makes it fun to listen to".

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