Pass the Code Word Through the Door, Please Quiz

Answer: pass

"Pass" in this sense is thought to have originated in the 19th century and related to card games, probably euchre. It is still used in card games, but its use has been broadened considerably over the years.

Answer: past

Just as one might logically expect, "past" is a variant spelling of "passed", which was commonly used in Middle English, meaning, "gone by".

Answer: pant

When a dog pants, it increases the air flow over its tongue, which cools the area and also cools the blood flowing through the mouth and head. The cooler blood circulates through the dog's body and eventually cools down its whole body. It's not as efficient a cool down method as perspiring, but dogs have few sweat glands - mainly just in their paws - and panting does the job most of the time.

Answer: cant

The definition of "cant" meaning "to slant or lean" has a number of possible origins-Latin, Celtic, Dutch, French and German among them. Terms in all of these languages refer to the "bordering" of a circle or a wheel (and the edge of same); "corner", or "brink". These are all very old words and terms. By the 1400s in Scotland, the word was used in its present form.

Answer: cane

The use of the word "cane" as a walking stick originated in the 1500s.

Answer: cone

According to the International Dairy Foods Association, the ice cream cone was invented in 1896 by one Italo Marchiony who had emigrated to New York City a few years before, from Italy.

Credit for the first ice cream cone has also been given to a serendipitous incident at the St. Louis World's Fair in 1904. An ice cream vendor at the Fair ran out of serving dishes, and a neighboring vendor, who was selling thin waffle-type creations, saw the ice cream seller's plight. He rolled one of his waffles into a cone shape and offered it as a receptacle for the frozen dessert. It was a hit, and the rest is history.

Answer: code

The term for the use of code to conceal the meaning of information is cryptography. As far back as about 4,000 years ago, in Egypt, hieroglyphs described as "non-standard" were engraved on some monuments. It is not known if these hieroglyphics were a serious attempt to conceal information, however.

About 400 years later, in Mesopotamia, someone encoded the instructions for creating a glaze for pottery, possibly to ensure that no competitors could use the secret technique. This may be the earliest-known example of deliberate cryptography.

Answer: core

"Core" is derived from Latin and Romance languages' word for "heart"--"coeur" in French, "cuore" in Italian, and "cor" in Latin.

Answer: fore

Traditionally, golf was to be played quietly, so as not to disturb the concentration of those lining up shots. "Fore" may be the only word that's appropriate to yell at top volume on the course!

Answer: ford

The verb "ford" has roots in Old German "furduz", which carried the same meaning. Its Proto-Indo-European root is prtu- , meaning "passage" or "going".

Answer: word

The word "word" is from Proto-German "wurdan". Its Proto-Indo-European root is "were-", which meant, "speak".

Now I'm wondering if werewolf means "talking wolf"...(I checked--it's a different root!)

Answer: wood

Or for a fireplace, a backyard fire pit, or a wood stove! No other fuel is as fragrant as wood...

Answer: mood

"Mood" is related to a number of old words: "mod" in Old English, Old Saxon and Old Frisian, with meanings like, "mind", "spirit", or "courage". The latter seems to have been among its earliest meanings.

Answer: moor

Moor's predecessors include "morass" and a number of roots meaning "swamp". In its present meaning, there is no longer an implication that a moor is wet, just that it's a tract of wild grass and shrubs, often in a hilly or mountainous area.

Answer: door

Got 'em all--pass, code, word, and door!