Demonyms and Nicknames Around the World Quiz

Answer: Glasgow, Scotland

"Weegie," short for Glaswegian, is the name given by the "refined" citizens of Edinburgh to their cousins on the other side of the country. There is no similarly succinct name given by Glaswegians to people from Edinburgh, at least not one that is printable in a respectable quiz! However as a young Edinburgh-born reporter at a Glasgow radio station in the 1970s, I learned that "ToffeenosedEdinburghGit" is ONE word in Glaswegian rather than THREE...

Answer: A Gaelic-speaking Highlander or Islander

The etymology of "Teuchter" (pronounced "choochter" with the first "ch" as in "church" and the second as in "loch") is obscure. Most people think it comes from the fact that spoken Gaelic, to a Lowlander, sounds like "heuchter-teuchter"...in other words a succession of nonsense syllables. However, another theory holds that it derives from the Gaelic word "deoch" ("drink"). This would be entirely appropriate given the legendary thirst of the many thousands of Highlanders and Islanders who make their homes in Glasgow.

Almost all Scots, Highland or Lowland, will refer to an English person as a "Sassenach" (Gaelic for "Saxon"), although in past times it is how Highlanders also referred to Lowlanders.

Glaswegians will sometimes call an Aberdonian a "Furry Boots," because in the almost impenetrable Aberdeen accent, that is how the word "whereabouts" (as in "whereabouts are you from") comes out. "Fit like" (literally "What like") is the usual greeting in Aberdeen.

People from Dundee are called Dundonians.

Answer: Barbados

Pronounced to rhyme with "Cajun" the word "Bajan" in this context is a contraction of "Barbadian" and has nothing to do with "Baja," the Spanish word for "low."

Barbados is an island in the Caribbean Lesser Antilles group, famous for its rum and as the birthplace of the distinguished cricketer Sir Garfield "Gary" Sobers, and more recently of the singer Rihanna.

The origin of the name, meaning "bearded ones," is disputed but may refer to the hanging roots of the Bearded Fig Tree which is common on the island. The barbed trident on the Barbados national flag is something of a vexillological in-joke.

The Hungarian town of Baja is best-known for its fish soup. Thousands of people converge on Baja every year for the annual Fish Soup Boiling Contest.

Answer: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh has a number of unique dialect words, of which "Yinz" (the second person plural pronoun, like "Y'all" in the Southern states or "Yous" in New Jersey) is perhaps the best known.

All three words are thought to derive from the Scots or Scotch-Irish settlers of the 18th and 19th centuries.

Answer: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Although the word "Rio" is included in "Carioca" this is little more than a coincidence. The term actually comes from an indigenous Tupi word meaning "White Man's House".

Carioca applies to someone from the City of Rio. Natives of the State of Rio de Janeiro are called Fluminense, from the Latin "flumen" (= river = Rio).

Answer: Connecticut

The origin of "the Nutmeg State" as a nickname for Connecticut is reputedly due to the sharp practice of early residents, who were said to carve fake nutmegs out of wood and sell them as genuine...although there are other explanations!

Nutmegs are grown mainly in the Molucca (or "Spice") Islands of Indonesia, and were once the centre of a worldwide trade controlled mainly by the Dutch.

Mace is a separate spice made from the dried covering of the nutmeg nut.

Answer: Newcastle, England

There are many conflicting theories as to why citizens of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and indeed of the Northeast of England in general, are called "Geordies."

As a diminutive of "George" it may refer to a very common local given name, or perhaps to the Hanoverian sympathies of the locals in the 18th Century, who supported King George rather than the Jacobites.

Most of the "Georgetowns" in former British colonies are also named for the Hanoverians, as is Fort George near Inverness.

The Eurasian nation Georgia, on the other hand, is named for St. George.

Answer: Mexico City

Like so many of the more obscure demonyms, there is no single agreed etymology for Chilango. One possible origin is from the Nahuatl word "Chilanco" meaning "the place of the red people" and referring to inhabitants whose skin was reddened by the cold.

Whatever its origin, the word "Chilango" is now very widely used to refer to the people, culture and especially cuisine of Mexico City.

Answer: Wiltshire

Wiltshire, in particular the town of Devizes, was once on a route much used by smugglers transporting contraband from the coast to the centre of England. The Crammer, a large pond in the centre of Devizes, was a temporary hiding place for smuggled goods, and the story goes that revenue officers once surprised a group of men in the act of retrieving such goods with rakes.

The men claimed they were trying to rake in some cheeses from the pond, pointing to the reflection of the full moon in the water.

After a good laugh at the stupidity of the local yokels, the revenuers went on their way, little suspecting that the joke was really on them, and that "Moonrakers" would henceforth be a nickname celebrating the canniness of Wiltshire folk...

Answer: Puerto Rico

The term is derived from "Boriken", the name given to the island of Puerto Rico by its original inhabitants, the Taino, who like other Caribs and Amerindians were almost totally wiped out by the twin scourges of slavery and disease. The word is now used proudly to describe themselves and their culture by people of Puerto Rican origin, who may be of Spanish (especially Canarian), African, Corsican, Dutch or Jewish descent, among other ethnicities.

Costa Ricans are often called "Ticos".