Chew on These Compound Words Trivia Quiz

Answer: watermelon

Watermelons are originally from southern Africa. The fruit of the watermelon vine is something scientists refer to as a pepo, which is a berry with a thick, hard outer rind or shell.

Answer: meatloaf

Meatloaf is, of course, ground meat, usually hamburger, mixed with eggs and bread crumbs and baked in a pan, usually a rectangular one. Some bake it with a topping, like ketchup. This meal came to us originally from Germany and Belgium and its original recipe is very closely related to the Dutch meatball.

Answer: strawberry

Scientifically speaking, the strawberry is not really a berry but rather what botanists refer to as an aggregate accessory fruit. Blueberries, cranberries, grapes, and tomatoes are some examples of true berries because their seeds are inside the fleshy part of the fruit rather than on the outside.

Answer: eggplant

The eggplant is a member of the nightshade family of plants and, thus, is related to tomatoes and potatoes. The eggplant is named what it is because in the 1700s Europeans cultivated a variation of the plant that produced white and yellow fruits that resembled the eggs of chickens and geese. Most of the eggplants we buy and eat today are, of course, richly purple.

Answer: chickpea

The chickpea is a legume whose seeds are very high in protein and are ground into a paste and mixed with sesame seed paste to make hummus. The remains of chickpeas that date back 7,500 years ago have been found in the Middle East.

Answer: doughnut

Some say the doughnut was created by Dutch settlers in North America. However, an American by the name of Hanson Gregory claimed to have invented the ring-shaped doughnut with a hole in the middle during the late 1840s. Supposedly, he grew tired of the grease-soaked solid doughnut, whose middle was also often raw after frying, and decided to punch the middle out.

The first recording of the word "doughnut" was in an American short story from 1808 while the first recording of the word "donut" was in another American story from 1900.

Answer: pineapple

In the 14th and 15th centuries, Europeans referred to what we call "pine cones" as "pineapples". When European explorers encountered pineapples in the tropical locations of their travels, they called them "pineapples" because they thought they were really pine cones. Confusing, huh? The oldest name we know for the fruit is "ananas", a word derived from the native South American word "nanas", which means "excellent fruit".

Answer: corndog

A corn dog is a hot dog sausage surrounded with corn meal batter and deep friend on a stick. Most people dip them in mustard or ketchup, and some bake them for a healthier version. The corn dog should not be confused with the Pronto Pup, which looks like a corn dog but does not use corn meal but rather a pancake batter, whose recipe is owned and prepared by Pronto Pup Company in Portland, Oregon.

Answer: peppermint

The peppermint plant is actually a hybrid plant; specifically, it is a cross between the watermint and the spearmint plants. Because it is a hybrid, it typically does not produce seeds and thus does not reproduce. Peppermint can be used by humans to soothe indigestion and nausea, and peppermint oil is a natural pesticide.

Answer: cupcake

The English call them fairy cakes while some Australians call them patty cakes, but Americans have called them cupcakes since at least 1796, according to a recipe in "American Cookery". Americans even have "Cupcake Wars", a United States reality TV production in which four challengers compete to see who can create the best cupcakes.