Link the Cats Trivia Quiz

Answer: Catching

Besides the physical act of catching objects, animals or people, the word can also be used in a more metaphorical sense. The grammar of this use is somewhat unusual: while a contagious disease can be called catching (implying that the disease is the active subject of the action), the actual act of the infection has the patient catching the bug - a direct reversal of the roles of actor and object.

Answer: Caching

Caching is a vital concept in computing, providing fast temporary storage of data currently being used. You will find caches at nearly all levels, from the processor (buffering main memory) to disk drives (holding recently accessed data and buffering write operations) to computer systems and networks (particularly holding data transferred from web pages so it does not have to be reloaded from the server every time).

Answer: Aching

There is probably not much to say about things that are aching - you certainly have more experience with that than you'd care for. However, it might be of interest that Aching - pronounced quite differently than the English word - is the name of several villages in Austria and Bavaria.

Answer: China

The term china, used for the ceramic material also known as porcelain, is directly derived from the country's name. Until the early 18th century, porcelain in Europe was strictly a Chinese import as no one in Europe could produce it. This changed in 1708/1709 when Ehrenfried von Tschirnhaus and Johann Böttger managed to create the material in Meissen, Germany. Today, the discovery is ascribed almost exclusively to Böttger because von Tschirnhaus died before the process had become reliable enough to present to Duke Augustus II.

Answer: Inch

Measuring 25.4 millimeters in SI units, the inch is the smallest commonly used length unit in the Imperial system. Historically, it was not the smallest, but defined as three barleycorns (which were, indeed, grains of barley) - the base unit from which all longer units were derived.

Answer: Chi

Chi is the 22nd and third last letter of the Greek alphabet. It resembles an X and was pronounced as an aspirated k, although some Western Greek dialects used the "ks" pronunciation also common in English. Modern Greek pronounces it as "sh" (similar to the "sh" in "wash") or the "ch" in the Scottish "Loch", depending on what vowel precedes it.

Answer: Hi

Among the many greetings customary in the English language, "Hi" is certainly the shortest. It was the official title of Israel's 1983 Eurovision song, performed by Ofra Haza - but that was actually the Hebrew word and means "alive". The song finished second, losing by only eight points to Luxembourg's "Si la vie est cadeau".

Answer: H

H is the symbol for hydrogen, the lightest chemical element and the most abundant one in the universe. About three quarters of the detectable mass of the visible universe is hydrogen with the remaining quarter mostly being helium. All the other elements, including those that make life possible, form a mere sliver of the universe.

Answer: Eh

While few Canadians will think much when uttering an "eh?" and most other nations make their share of jokes about its use, linguists actually claim that the interjection serves a real function and the listener is expected to respond with some acknowledgement that they are still paying attention. A mumbled "mm" or "okay" should suffice.

Answer: Her

"Her", on its own, is a surprisingly common title for songs. Richard Buckner, Eels, Stan Getz, Guy, Musiq Soulchild, Swans, Tindersticks and Aaron Tippin have all recorded a song of that name.

Answer: Here

Apart from its common use as an adverb, "here" is also an archaic term for a raiding party or army, an alternate name for a red wine grape, a web mapping company and an American premium television network.

Answer: Ether

Ether (specifically diethyl ether) was one of the first widely used surgical anesthetics. It was very dangerous to use, not only because of possible side effects and a relatively narrow therapeutic range, although it was better in this regard than the previously used chloroform, but more so because of its extreme flammability.

Answer: Tether

A tether is different from a leash in that it is used to connect an animal (or an object, such as a balloon) to a fixed point while a leash is used when the animal is led by a person. Tethers are often used to give farm animals a grazing range when no fence is available.

Answer: Theater

The origin of the word "theater" is the Greek "theatron", meaning "a place to view". The meaning has not changed significantly over the millennia, a theater still being a place where a public performance of a work of culture, involving both visual and auditory elements, takes place.

Answer: Catheter

The most commonly used type of catheter in medicine is the urinary catheter inserted into the bladder when it is impossible or impractical for a patient to pass water the normal way.