United We Stand: Formation of Words Online Trivia | Brain Teasers

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Add one letter to a word meaning our local star to make it a description of a ship or vessel that has disappeared beneath the waves.

Answer: Sun

Although the star that keeps us all alive with its heat and warmth is called The Sun, every star is a sun (and every sun is a star) so technically we should really call the sun something else. It has been referred to as Sol, which is Latin for (anyone?) sun! Still, I suppose it's easier to say "great to see a day with sun" rather than "great to see a day with NCK5067-333-XA!"
(Note: if, like me, you live in Ireland, you should not recognise the above phrase and seldom if ever have occasion to use it.)

2. Add two letters to a disfiguring or ugly mark on the body to turn it into an insect sacred to the ancient Egyptians.

Answer: Scar

A lot of things were sacred to the ancient Egyptians, including cats, one of whom was the god Bast. My cats would have been very happy there. Mind you, they think they're gods anyway! Scarab beetles turn up a lot in Egyptian jewellery, even now, but can you really imagine wearing such a thing? "That's a lovely brooch. What is it? Really? A dung beetle?" (Pause while person thinks about how not to offend the wearer) "Oh, lovely weather we're having isn't it? NCK5067-333-XA is really shining today."

3. Add two letters to a word meaning "beneath" to give you the reason most pirates went to sea.

Answer: Under

Ah pirates! Or, as Queen Elizabeth I would tell you, privateers, assuming they were a) English and b) authorised to work for her, usually against the Spanish. The difference between a buccaneer, who could swing from a yard arm if caught, and a privateer? The Queen's seal. Very well trained it was too.

You know, I used to think that old song "Fifteen men on a dead man's chest" was ridiculous. How, I asked myself, could fifteen men fit on one man's chest? Much later I realised they were singing about a trunk, a pirate's chest in which he keeps all his treasure! D'oh! Me hearties!

4. Add two letters to a word which means a place of operation, a central command or a headquarters, to make a word which means to devalue something and make it less.

Answer: Base

Base can also of course be spelled B-A-S-S, in which case it's referring to the low, rumbling tone you get at one end of the musical scale, or indeed the guitar that bears its name. Mind you, the same spelling gives you bass, which is a kind of fish. And used to be a lager. Now you know.

5. Add one letter to a word which means to travel on a bicycle or motorbike, to make a woman who has been, or is about to be, married.

Answer: Ride

I'm never quite sure if the "status" of a bride only lasts while she is getting married, or shortly after. You'll hear people say "Meet my bride", of course they say "Here comes the bride" and the priest will say "You may kiss the bride", but after they've been married do people still refer to their other half as their bride? Even though it's a slowly-vanishing word now, but still in use for the ceremony, I doubt anyone married more than a year says "Oh this is Susie, she's my bride." Well, especially if they're married to Jenny. Now THAT would be awkward!

6. Add two letters to a word for a popular item of women's clothing to make a word that shows where you live.

Answer: Dress

We should be more PC about this I guess: not only women wear dresses these days, but had I not made the distinction then it might have confused you. Nothing wrong with guys wearing skirts or dresses, of course: as long as they have a sense of style and fashion. And great legs of course...

7. Add one letter to a word which means low, flat surface or aircraft to make a word which means, well, a world.

Answer: Plane

Why did they have to demote Pluto? It's so unfair. So it's a little small for a planet, so what? Is this not one of the worst cases of discrimination based on size in human history? For shame, human race! For shame!

8. Add one letter to a word meaning not heavy to make a word meaning not very well built.

Answer: Light

"Not heavy". I often wonder why, when the word "heavy" became part of the counterculture and later part of all culture, a word to signify something that was bad, serious, or otherwise important ("That's such a heavy thing to happen, man" - you've always got to add the "man". You just do, all right?) the same didn't happen for its opposite. Nobody ever says "Oh that's such a light situation" or "That's the lightest gig I've ever been to." Odd. Maybe. On we go. Nearly finished now, don't worry.

9. Add two letters to an item of women's lingerie to make it a type of hairstyle.

Answer: Bra

It's odd how the original word, from the French, brassiere, sounds so cultured and lovely and attractive, while the shortened, more popular one that has passed into everyday use, "bra", just sounds a little seedy maybe? Or is that just me? But then I suppose most words sound better in French don't they? There's just such a lyrical quality to the language. No wonder it's said to be the language of love.

10. Add one letter to a word which means to sulk (mostly for girls) to make a word which means a part of a watering can.

Answer: Pout

Pout is a great word. It has that real onamatopoeiac feel to it doesn't it? You can just envisage a little girl (or, indeed, an older one) standing there with arms crossed, brows bent down and those lips thrust outward in a gesture that everyone knows means trouble.

Source: Author Trollheart2016

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor spanishliz before going online.
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United We Stand: Formation of Words Quiz

From the description of each, make a new word by adding one (or in some cases, two) letters to the original word.

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