Funny Cide Trivia Quiz

Answer: nepoticide

The word 'nepoticide' stems from the Latin word for nephew, nepos, which also gives rise to the more familiar word nepotism. Nepotism originally referred to nephews, but now has the more general meaning of favouring relatives or other chosen people in the fields of politics, business etc. The suffix -cide originates from the Latin verb caedere, meaning to cut or kill.

All the above choices refer to the killing of a family member: patricide means the killing of one's father, uxoricide refers to a wife and avunculicide to the killing of an uncle.

Answer: monarch

Again a word taken from Latin, rex is the word for a king and regis means 'of the King'. The term regicide can refer to the killing of any ruling sovereign, and also, as with many -cide words, the person guilty of the killing. The term was originally used in the UK for the execution of a monarch, which had been decreed following their trial. The execution of King Charles I of England in 1649 was an early example.

There are also references to regicide in literature. A couple of the most well-known come from the works of Shakespeare - in 'Macbeth', where Macbeth kills King Duncan and later gains the throne of Scotland, and also in 'Hamlet', as Hamlet's uncle Claudius had killed his brother and married the widow in order to accede to the throne of Denmark.

Answer: Elizabeth, her sister

Sororicide is the word given to the killing of one's sister, hence in this instance Elizabeth would have been the guilty party. Had she killed one of the other relatives listed, it would have been one of these: avunculicide means the killing of an uncle, and patricide and matricide refer to the killing of one's own father or mother respectively.

A literary example of sororicide comes from Shakespeare's 'King Lear', in which King Lear's daughter Regan is killed with poison by her elder sister Goneril.

Answer: her husband

Uxoricide means the killing of a wife by her husband, and the word mariticide refers to the killing of a husband by his wife. A very famous case of uxoricide in England in 1910 was that of Dr Crippen, who was executed by hanging after being found guilty of the murder of his wife.

The case also made history as being the first case where a criminal had been caught by information received by wireless telegraphy, as the captain of the liner on which Crippen, an American citizen, and his mistress were sailing to Canada recognised him as a wanted man and contacted the British authorities.

The pair were returned to England to stand trial, which resulted in Crippen being found guilty and executed, although his mistress was acquitted.

Answer: worms

Not a pleasant subject, but a vermicide is a drug given to kill intestinal parasitic worms of which there are many varieties, including tapeworm, roundworm and threadworm. The drug can be used for people or for animals, and is designed to kill the parasite whilst leaving the human or animal host relatively undamaged. Many different types of drugs are available depending on the type of worm involved. Vermicide is the term covering the killing of parasitic worms in general, and there are other -cide words for particular species, including taeniacide, which relates to tapeworms.

Answer: pulicide

Pulicide (also pulicicide) is the name used for the killing of fleas, which will make pets much more comfortable during hot summer days, although flea control is recommended all year round. Products can range from wearing a 'flea collar' impregnated with a pulicide or a simple can of spray (the average cat generally has full knowledge of the sound that particular cupboard door makes when opened and mysteriously disappears). More modern methods generally preferred by cats and owners alike include administering a tiny phial of a liquid flea-killer to the back of the pet's neck at specified intervals, which is much easier! There are many products for flea control on the market which are effective and bring relief to both pets and their owners.

Of the other three choices, fungicide relates to the killing of fungi and their spores, raticide relates to the specific killing of rats although rodenticide is the term used to cover rodents in general, and an aphicide would be used by a gardener or farmer to control aphids, which can be terribly destructive to plants and crops.

Answer: wasps

Although wasps have a bad reputation and are often regarded as pests, they can be useful as a method of natural pest control in agriculture, as some parasitic species prey on other insects which can harm crops, thus keeping their numbers down. Some species can also act as pollinators, in a similar way to bees.

If wasps are a problem in the home or garden, they can be killed by a vespacide, which can be administered into their nest by an official from your local Council, wearing protective clothing. Alternatively, the task can be carried out by the adventurous householder, done up to the nines in several thick layers of clothing including a fetching item of headgear which had once seen life as a net curtain. The first option is considerably easier.

Problems with flies are solved by the use of a muscicide, ants by a formicide and mites by an acaricide, also known as a miticide.

Answer: ecocide

The word ecocide means the destruction of the environment, and it is a vast and important subject. There are many factors which have had a detrimental impact on the world's ecosystems, such as habitat loss for animals, deforestation, pollution, climate change, and unsustainable use of natural resources, to name but a very few.

Parricide is the murder of a person by a close member of their own family; more specific terms, as mentioned earlier, are matricide, patricide, fratricide etc. Vaticide is the word given to the murder of a prophet and cimicide is a preparation designed to kill bedbugs.

Answer: felicide

Vulpicide relates to the killing of a fox, tauricide a bull and avicide birds. Felis is the Latin word for cat, so Pluto was a victim of felicide at the hands of his owner. Edgar Allan Poe's short story 'The Black Cat' was published in 1843. The central theme is the overwhelming guilt felt by the narrator for his actions which have also indirectly led him to stab his wife to death. Suffice to say, in true Poe style, the tale does not have a happy ending.

Answer: famicide

Famicide refers to slander, legally defined as a malicious or defamatory spoken statement, which is false, about another person. Libel is the word given to a like statement made in writing.

Hospiticide is the killing of either a guest or a host. Algicides (also spelt algaecides) are methods used to kill algae, often by chemical means, and herbicides are used similarly for unwanted plants and weeds. These products can have harmful effects on the environment and waterways, but there are also many natural algicides and herbicides used by organic farmers and gardeners, although opinion is divided as to their success. These can include using a water aerator to reduce algae in ponds and vinegar (for its acetic acid content) as a herbicide to eliminate weeds in the garden.