No Pro, All 'CON-' Trivia Quiz

Answer: CONcourse

Concourses occur when roads or pathways converge into a centralized spot, so you would be very likely to traverse a concourse if you head to a transit terminal. Airports, train stations, and bus terminals are good examples of these since they operate with people coming and going from different directions and means.

The Grand Central Station concourse in New York City, for example, can connect people to the trains leading out of the city, the subway system, the streets outside, and even adjacent buildings.

Answer: CONvey

Convey actually has more than one meaning, but by and large it's a word used to describe the transmission or moving of one thing to another, so while it can regard the communication of an idea or message, it could also refer to carrying of one physical thing to another place (potentially on a convoy). For instance, a conveyor belt can transport an item from one end to another along a line or you can convey information over the phone.

Answer: CONtessa

Another word for 'countess', the word Contessa is a title bestowed upon a woman who is married to a Count or an Earl in a noble sense. Today, the term is rarely used. You're more likely to hear the word Contessa in relation to fictional characters as they give a sense of the exotic and mysterious. Alternatively, you may know of Ina Garten, the American cookbook author and cooking show personality who goes by the name 'Barefoot Contessa'.

Answer: CONclave

Generally the word 'conclave' doesn't get used all too much, even when referring to normal gatherings. You'd be most likely to hear the term when a new Pope is to be determined because it's the Papal Conclave that casts the votes to determine who ascends to the highest seat in the Catholic Church. Said conclave is housed in the Sistine Chapel and, due to the lengthy tenure of most Popes, does not meet for formal duties all too often.

The number of voters in the Papal Conclave varies, but they tend to come from around the world to assist in making the decision, declaring the new Pope when a two-thirds majority is found.

Answer: CONtiguous

If something is contiguous, it touches on another and continues the chain that it creates. When discussing geography and land borders, contiguity is fairly easy to spot out; a land border simply means it is contiguous. Most Americans would hear the term more than most since many different things regard the Lower 48 (states) as contiguous for the sake of legal needs or, in some cases, prize winning criteria. Alaska and Hawaii, for instance, are part of the U.S. but are non-contiguous.

Answer: CONcierge

The concierge doesn't need to be at a hotel either; the word refers to anyone who works the front desk, be it a hotel, a spa, an office, an apartment, or otherwise. It's not truly known where the word 'concierge' originated though there are two possibilities, one of which involves being derived from the Latin word 'consergius', meaning 'fellow slave', and the other of which is French in origin, specifically a blend of the phrase 'comte des cierges', referring to the person who lit candles in a castle.

Answer: CONtinue

To continue something means to proceed unabated and without pause. The word has taken on further meaning in the world of video gaming as a player who loses all of their lives can choose to use a continue to resume where they left off. Continuity refers to the consistency of components of a fictional work, implying that if something proceeds in a narrative, it should make sense structurally and temporally to suit the rest of the story.

Answer: CONdor

Amongst the largest birds of the Americas, condors appear in only two regions in the wild, the Andes Mountains of South America and the coastal mountains of California. Similar to vultures in that they eat carrion, these creatures have a massive wingspan with the largest reaching ten feet across, wingtip to wingtip. Some condors, out in the wild, live longer than many humans.

Answer: CONdensation

Part of the water cycle along with evaporation and precipitation, the process of condensation occurs when water vapor transforms into water proper. The reverse of this process is called vaporization; in the water cycle, this would occur when water is heated enough to evaporate. Something that is condensed is similar to something that's compressed; there's more of it in a given space. Condensed milk, for instance, is milk with less water in its mixture, thickening the liquid.

Answer: CONcatenation

A concatenation is a sequence of things appended end to end. The term here is typical in computer programming wherein concatenation is used to create a string of items or words or characters or code. When linked in the way they are, these items should have a particular, stable output.