Giovanni's English Muddles Trivia Quiz

Answer: Abasement

A basement is the bottom floor of a building, usually found in colder locations such as the United States or Europe. Also known as a cellar, it is used to store all kinds of bits and piece and is the site of the house fittings such as boilers, fuse boxes, water heaters and the like. Or coal. During the World Wars basements were used as air raid shelters, and in climates where tornados and typhoons are a common occurrence, they are sturdy sites to which to flee for safety. Australians or Kiwis don't have basements - or attics - to their homes, as the vast majority of houses in these country are single storey dwellings.

Abasement, as English speakers understand the word, is a condition of humiliation, disgrace or degradation. Giovanni, however, thinks, it's the bottom of a house.

Answer: Headspace

Headspace is the unfilled section in any container of food, drink, or other product, between the lid and the top of the product contained therein. The example that most immediately springs to mind is a bottle of cola. There's always an inch or so between the content of the bottle and its lid. A bottle of shampoo is the same, or a container of baby powder, and so on. Manufacturers tell us this space is the result of the product settling into place after the container has been sealed. That's as likely a story as any.

Some people also use this term informally to refer to a period of solitude they have requested in order to think various problems through, but poor old Giovanni has interpreted the word literally and thinks it is where his brain is located.

Answer: Abetter

An abetter is someone who aids and abets another person or persons in the carrying out of a criminal act. While not the main offender in the crime, they are deemed just as guilty in many countries because of their knowledge before, during, and after the crime.

Giovanni thinks that abetter is a state of returning to good health after an illness. "How are you feeling today, Giovanni?" and "I much abetter, Creedy. Grazie."

Answer: Dogmatize

Dogmatize is a stubborn sticking to an undeniable truth in the mind of a very black and white thinker. While correct in its assertion, it fails to allow for different circumstances. This type of person is somewhat unpleasant to be around, as he or she operates under the principle that it's this way or the highway.

Giovanni, however, thinks that dogmatize is the acting of keep his dog on a leash whenever they go for a walk.

Answer: Yowling

Yowling is a sound associated with sorrow or distress in some cases. It's a kind of keening and wailing combined. In English speaking countries, we tend to associate the word with the cat next door that, at certain times of the year, thinks it's his duty to yowl under one's bedroom window, the fiend. In fact cats and yowling are so closely linked that one of the great Italian composers, Gioachino Rossini (1792-1868), wrote a most excellent piece on it. All it comprises are two sopranos yowling the word "meee-owwwww" in dubious harmony all the way through - and it's hilarious. Known in Italian as the "Duetto buffo di due gatti", it's referred to in English as the "Duet for Two Cats", or "The Cat's Chorus".

"Can you define Yowling please, Giovanni?" and "Sure thing, Signora Creedy, IT IS THIS!"

Answer: Merciful

Anyone who is described as merciful is compassionate, forgiving and lenient when it comes to forgiving a wrongdoer of an offence. There aren't too many merciful people around these days though, alas.

Giovanni however is quite certain that merciful is a very grateful French person - and why? Because "Merci" is the French word for "Thank you".

Answer: Lather

Leather is a durable and long lasting material made from the tanned skin of cattle or horses for the most part, although the skin of other animals can be utilised for this as well. An amazing number of products can be made from this wonderful material - from shoes, to furniture coverings, handbags, coats. Leather can even be made from crocodile and snake skin if you're into the high risk occupation of farming it.

Giovanni informed me quite seriously, as he was shaving, that he really liked the new lather shoes his wife had bought him for his birthday.

Answer: Disruption

A disruption is an interruption or disturbance that interferes with any activity, speech, or process that is underway. Usually to make a protest of some sort, disruptions can also be caused accidentally of course, such as an over enthusiastic actor striding about on the stage taking one step too many and falling into the orchestra pit.

"Do you think you'll ever go back home to Naples, Giovanni?" and "No, no Signora Creedy, I lived near Pompeii and Vesuvius may have the disruption again any day."

Answer: Highway

A highway is a major and important road of more than two lanes for the most part, that connects large cities and centres of population.

Giovanni, however, thinks he is going to go to heaven eventually because he lives his life on the highway.

Answer: Goodbye

Goodbye is a term to express good wishes on the parting of one person or persons from present company, as he or she leaves to go elsewhere. This word, in all the different languages throughout the world, always expresses the same sentiment.

Giovanni, though, is still bragging about his new lather shoes and thinks his wife really got a goodbye when she purchased them.