All I Want for Christmas is 'U' Quiz

Answer: The internal organs: heart, lungs etc.

To eat humble pie is to admit a wrongdoing and be apologetic in doing so. Umble pies which were given to members of a household staff while the household members dined on the choice cuts of an animal. Umbles, what we call offal now, was used as a general term for the innards of an animal, particularly venison. The word 'umbles' came from the French 'numbles' meaning the internal organs of a deer. Over time, the 'n' was lost from the word and they became 'umbles'.

The word 'humble' also came from Old French and meant menial or lowly. Given the similarity of 'umble' and humble, it's easy to see how eating humble pie became a figure of speech representing humility and contrition.

Answer: Conspicuous

If someone has an ulterior motive they aren't making it conspicuous! The word 'ulterior' comes originally from the Latin 'ultra' meaning 'beyond' or 'more remote'. Ulterior motives are those that aren't seen easily: they are hidden or disguised. Its use in the current form dates back to the mid-1600s.

Whilst 'ulterior motives' seems to be the most common usage of the word, it has been used in other phrases such as 'ulterior purpose' and 'ulterior ends' as documented by the 'Oxford English Dictionary'.

Answer: Umiak

Umiak can be spelt a number of ways including umiaq, umialak, oomiac and onguik, but they mean the same thing: an open boat made with a wooden or bone frame which has a type of animal skin forming the shell. A kayak might hold one or two people while out hunting but a umiak could hold up to thirty people. Oil from an animal, usually a seal, would waterproof the vessel which is generally used to ferry people from one seasonal hunting ground to another.

A umiak is often 9-10 metres long (30-33 feet) and up to two metres wide (6' 7"). One great advantage of the umiak's design is its lightness despite its size. It remains light enough to carry over shore ice or sand banks. They can even be towed by a snowmobile to reach another area more rapidly. Umiaks measuring 18 m (60 ft) have been reported. Another advantage of the design is that the skins are easily replaced once worn out (about every 2-3 years). Whilst a relic in many Arctic areas, umiaks are still frequently used by Alaska's indigenous population.

A U-boat was a German submarine, ukiyo-e refers to a Japanese school of art, and umfaan is a young Xhosa-speaking man in Africa.

Answer: Ulster

The Ulster coat began life as a working man's overcoat. Originally designed with a cape over the shoulders, it resembles something Sherlock Holmes might have worn. The cape has essentially disappeared, but the other features of an Ulster coat remain. These include being double-breasted, notched lapels (to allow easier wearing when buttoned up to the top), patched pockets, contrast stitching, cuffs, an adjustable back belt and long pleats in the back for ease of movement. As a working coat, it was made of durable material such as tweed, with Donegal tweed being the choice for a genuine Ulster coat.

Ulster in Ireland is a province of the island rather than a political boundary. It encompasses all of Northern Ireland plus the counties of Cavan, Donegal and Monaghan in the Republic of Ireland. The largest city of the region is Belfast which is the capital of Northern Ireland.

Answer: No

'On your uppers' refers to the upper part of a shoe. If your shoes' soles are worn out and you can't afford to repair them or buy new shoes, then you're said to be 'on your uppers' or in other words, broke! The saying has been around for over a century with 'Harper's New Monthly Magazine' quoting it in 1896.

Answer: Maize

To make ugali you take some cornmeal, millet or sorghum flour (or a blend) and cook it with water over heat until it has a dough-like texture. It's given to the diner as a ball on their plate and eaten with the hands. You take a lump of ugali from your serving and form it into a smaller ball with an indentation. Using the ugali in your hand, you dip it into the sauces and/or the meat and/or the vegetables on the table. The indentation allows you to bring the accompanying food to your mouth as though it were a spoon or a piece of flatbread.

With a name derived from Swahili, ugali is called by other names such as sima or posho in different regions of Africa. Ugali can be made with other starches, but the name will change depending on the region. It is a staple part of the diet for sub-Saharan Africans, who use it to fill out a meal without great expense.

Answer: Noodles

Udon noodles are most commonly known as thick, round, wheat noodles from Japan. Across Japan, there are regional variations in udon noodles. The Akita Prefecture has naniwa udon which are thin, round noodles while in the Saitama Prefecture, Konosu kawahaba udon noodles are up to five centimetres wide.

Other varieties of udon noodles can be stiffer, softer, flatter or even shaped like ears. They are often served in a broth or simply served with a topping of meats and/or vegetables. Udon noodles can be served hot or cold depending on the season and have been around in Japanese cuisine for centuries.

Answer: Ubuntu

Ubuntu is a philosophy from the southern areas of Africa which has become more well-known due to the prominence of the notable South Africans Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandela. Both have spoken of ubuntu as a way of relating to people, of linking with others who are part of humanity. Tutu explained ubuntu in this manner in 2008: 'Ubuntu speaks particularly about the fact that you can't exist as a human being in isolation. It speaks about our interconnectedness. You can't be human all by yourself, and when you have this quality - Ubuntu - you are known for your generosity.'

Ubuntu cola has been sold in the UK and mainland Europe as a fair trade product, the first soft drink in the UK to be Fairtrade certified. The Ubuntu operating system for use with Linux began in 2004 and is a free software in the spirit of ubuntu. The company which developed Ubuntu software, Canonical Ltd., creates income from technical support and other services for Ubuntu's operating system.

Answer: Uvea

If you take an orange and cut it in half, the zest of the peel equates to the sclera of the eye. The flesh of the orange is the centre of your eye, and the white pith of the peel equates to the uvea (though not to scale). Between the uvea and the centre of your eye is the retina. The uvea is the middle layer of the three outer layers of an eye and consists of the choroid, the iris and ciliary body. There is a gap in the iris, the pupil, which allows light to enter the eye, giving us the wonder of sight.

Blood vessels in the uvea supply blood to the ciliary body and iris. It also plays a part in how we see: the uvea reduces the amount of reflected light in the eye which helps to make images clearer by reducing contrast. The uvea also controls the production of aqueous humour (one of the fluids inside the eye) and the ability of the eye to focus (accommodation).

The ulna is one of the bones in the lower arm. The ureter is the connection between the kidneys and bladder while the urethra is the pathway for urine to move from the bladder for expulsion.

Answer: Umber

Pigments such as sienna, ochre and umber have been used by man since the Neolithic period. Given a rich colour by iron and manganese oxides, umber is quite a dark pigment with a range of colours from deep yellows to reds and browns. Its colours can be enhanced with heat and are then called burnt umber.

Originally extracted in the Italian region of Umbria, its name comes from the Italian name for umber which is 'terra di ombra' or 'earth of Umbria'. Artists such as Caravaggio, Rembrandt and Vermeer used umber to create rich, intense and varied browns.

The mottled umber moth has a range extending from northern Scandinavia to the Far East and down to the northern Mediterranean.

Ubiquitous means that an object or person is found everywhere, unlike the umber moth. Ullage refers to the quantity remaining for a container to be considered full, while ujamaa is a co-operative system working to improve the lives of Tanzanian villages.