(a) Drag-and-drop from the right to the left, or (b) click on a right
side answer box and then on a left side box to move it.
Questions
Choices
1. Hoi polloi
Hindi
2. Slogan
Old Norse/Norwegian
3. Algebra
German
4. Muscle
Arabic
5. Karaoke
Spanish
6. Howitzer
Gaelic
7. Berserk
Greek
8. Buckaroo
Latin
9. Shampoo
Japanese
10. Noodle
Czech
Select each answer
Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. Hoi polloi
Answer: Greek
The term 'hoi polloi' for the masses or common people comes from the Greek 'the many'. It became popular to use this way, by those who had studied Ancient Greek as the 'masses' could not understand them.
2. Slogan
Answer: Gaelic
The word 'slogan' comes from Scottish (or Irish) Gaelic for 'Sluagh' or army and 'gairm' or shout. It has been used for centuries. I suppose the modern term 'slogan' is a bit of a battle cry too.
3. Algebra
Answer: Arabic
The dead giveaway is the 'al' for 'the' or the definite article. Algebra comes from 'jabara' to restore. The term 'al-jabr' to restore or reunite the broken pieces. A treatise on this was published using the term in Arabic in Baghdad in 825.
4. Muscle
Answer: Latin
I've always found this one amusing as the word 'mus' is for mouse and then the word 'musculus' was used because the muscle resembled a mouse.
5. Karaoke
Answer: Japanese
This is the Japanese term for empty orchestra. Apparently you sing without one and make do as best you can.
6. Howitzer
Answer: Czech
This Czech term for artillery piece or short barreled canons comes from 'houfnice' or the word for crowd or heap. The weapon was used in the 1420s and 30s.
7. Berserk
Answer: Old Norse/Norwegian
The term 'berserk' goes way back to a wild warrior who went to battle without a shirt or chain mail protection but only an animal skin. The word 'ber' meaning bear and serk meaning shirt. The word entered English gradually (Sir Walter Scott is credited for using it) and came to mean someone who fights with abandon and now is used for someone going into a frenzy.
8. Buckaroo
Answer: Spanish
Buckaroo is the anglicized version of 'vaquero' or cowboy. The word for cow being 'vaca' the men who worked with cows were vaqueros.
9. Shampoo
Answer: Hindi
The original term was from Hindi and the imperative for 'press'. It's been used since the British colonial period.
10. Noodle
Answer: German
The German word 'Nudel' entered English in the eighteenth century.
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