I Can't Find What I Need! Trivia Quiz

Answer: Arabic

In spite of my cleverly planned coup on the chessboard, I'm hearing another word of Arabic origin - "CHECKMATE!" from 'shak mat' = the king dies. Perhaps I should give up before I develop a BEZOAR (an undigested mass of odds and ends) in my digestive tract. Better yet, I'll have a mint JULEP with a little SUGAR and SODA, and then lie down on my MATTRESS.

It seems that my ZENITH was an absolute ZERO!

Answer: Dutch

I must be a DOPE, I BLINK and my PICKLE is gone. I hear the guys from BROOKLYN SNICKERING, the SCUM! Well, I'm no GEEK. I'll go back to HOBOKEN and get my BAZOOKA. Then we'll see who's BOSS! O, mustn't forget my WALRUS; he's CRUISING around in the bathtub.

Answer: Hebrew

My CAMEL, "Wheels", is a regular MAUDLIN MOMSER (overly dramatic moping illegitimate offspring) at times. But it's his JUBILEE today so we'll celebrate with some spicy dishes loaded with CUMIN and CINNAMON.
When we get home, I'll take off my JACKET and have a nice BATH, providing the GOLEM isn't in the tub!
LEVIATHAN is a monster, usually of the sea. BEHEMOTH is also a monster. CHERUB has come to mean a chubby child angel. BROUHAHA is a noisy fight, usually over something pointless.

Answer: True

The Algonquin language also gave us SUCCOTASH, PECAN, PERSIMMON, TOBOGGAN and TOTEM. Eight U.S. states derive their names from Algonquin: Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Michigan, Missouri, Wisconsin and Wyoming. Three Canadian provinces, Quebec, Manitoba and Saskatchewan, are also derivations.

There are thousands of cities, towns, rivers and mountains in North America that come from Algonquin, which has contributed more to the English language than all other Amerind tribes combined. Manhattan, Ottawa, Weehawken, Hackensack and Milwaukee are just a few.

Answer: Hawaiian

We've adopted into many languages the beautiful words from Hawaii, like WIKI, meaning fast, HULA, a dance originally performed by men to show their masculinity, and TABOO - a forbidden item or activity. We are usually not inclined to take words such as Hawaiian for the reef triggerfish, which is HUMUHUMUNUKUNUKUAPUA'A. Try saying that WIKI WIKI!
The Hawaiian hula is a slower and less vigorous dance than the Tahitian version.
From the few words we know of Hawaiian you can easily figure out which letters are in their alphabet.

Answer: False

It is one of the words borrowed from Welsh, and its meaning is a session, usually of friendly competitive singing. Estonia, too, enjoys public singing as a pastime. Other Welsh words are CWM (the W is sounded as OO), valley; FLANNEL, a soft fabric; CRWTH, pregnant or swelling; and WRASSE, a brightly colored fish. The 'Official Word List' for Scrabble in the U.S. recognised CWM and CRWTH as acceptable plays many years ago. Welsh also gave us BALDERDASH, FRECKLE and PENGUIN.
Welsh is related to the Cornish and Breton languages.

Answer: Australia

We've also gotten to know BUNYIP (a water monster, now used to mean an imposter), QUOKKA (small cat sized marsupial), YABBER (talk), WILLY WILLY (dust devil) and MIN MIN (strange lights on the ground reported from remote areas). HUMPY, WURLIE and MIA MIA are all huts.
A BUDGERIGAR is a small bird, usually called a 'budgie'. The DINGO is a wild dog.

Answer: Swedish/Norwegian

Swedish and Norwegian tend to use the same words: the home of KRILL, LEMMINGS, SKI, TELEMARK, (a type of skiing named for a county in Norway) and the dreaded KRAKEN (a sea monster), SLALOM (skiing again), FJORD (water inlet shaped by a glacier), FLOE (a large chunk of ice floating in the sea) and QUISLING (a Norwegian traitor). Seagoing words, like MAELSTROM, abound in all Scandinavian languages. OOFDA is an exclamation that serves many purposes.
Sweden takes credit for TUNGSTEN (literally 'heavy stone' = tung sten), also called VOLFRAM, and for ANGSTROM (named for a Swedish physicist).
OMBUDSMAN is one who represents the people in a town or community. LUTEFISK is whiting soaked in lye, GRAVLAX is literally 'buried salmon', SURSTROEMMING is fermented herring. These fish delicacies are known for their pungent odor. AKVAVIT {fire of life}is the icy firewater enjoyed in the northern countries and elsewhere. It helps settle the stomach. SKAAL! is the traditional toast.

Answer: West African languages

Oh, yes, MAMBO, SAMBA, TANGO and MERENGUE originate in West African countries.
We also have JUMBO and ZOMBIE. These words have all migrated to the Caribbean and other areas and enjoy plenty of usage.

Answer: Chinese

Chinese, which helped form other far eastern languages, is the origin of many words in general use. The verb to SHANGHAI (impressment of sailors into service), BRAINWASH (how descriptive!), GO and TONG also come from the far east. The name KOWLOON comes from Chinese, and means 'nine dragons'.