Phrases and Terms from a Younger USA-2 Quiz

Answer: belittle-Thomas Jefferson

According to the Oxford English Dictionary (and a number of other sources), Thomas Jefferson was the first to use the term "belittle" as we know it today. He did so in 1788 in response to writings by one Count de Buffon, a French naturalist, who, in Jefferson's view, did not pay proper homage to the natural wonders of America. Noah Webster, upon hearing the newly-coined term, approved of it to the extent that it was included in the 1806 dictionary bearing his name.

There is evidence that the other three terms may indeed have been coined by the individuals listed, but none of them in 18th-century America.

Answer: No way--you might get sick, too!

"Wamble-cropped" meant sick to one's stomach, so you probably would not want to get too close! It also carried the meaning of being humiliated. The term appeared in the 1913 edition of Webster's Dictionary.

Answer: Yes-but not of paperwork

A "backlog" of the time was literally the log that was positioned at the back of the fire.

Answer: A hired bidder whose job it was to overinflate prices of auctioned goods

"Peter Funk" (origin uncertain) was a term used to refer to several types of swindles associated with auctions of the time--a bidder who was hired to raise the price of items above their true value, an auctioneer who claimed an item was genuine when it was what we'd today call a knockoff, or auction houses that displayed genuinely valuable items at the time of bidding, but who subsequently delivered imitations to purchasers.

Answer: Smoke it

Another thing they probably did to it was, misspell it!

Kinnikinnick was a blend of bark, leaves and other plant materials developed by Native Americans and used as a smoking mixture. It was popular in the American West for a time because tobacco was somewhat scarce, being produced at the other end of the North American continent. It is still produced for sale today.

Answer: False

Afterclaps were things that happened after an event was supposed to be over-with a connotation of unpleasant consequences. An afterclap would be more similar to an aftershock from an earthquake than a resurgence of applause for an actor's inspired performance. Dictionary.com lists its origin as Middle English or Low German of the 13th or 14th century, but it was still in use in post-Revolutionary America.

Answer: Your political party sustained a loss

The phrase is thought to have originated in the 1830s, and there are several stories of its origin. One is that in the 1832 election, Henry Clay hired a boat and driver to take him up the Ohio River to Louisville, Kentucky, where he was scheduled to make a speech.

The boatman, mistakenly or otherwise, steered him instead up the Salt River, which is a tributary of the Ohio. Clay missed his speech and subsequently lost the election to Andrew Jackson (although I don't believe anyone has theorized that the failure to give this one speech caused his loss!).

Answer: adverb

"All-fired" is a synonym of "very". According to the Oxford English Dictionary, it is thought to have arisen in the US as a euphemism for "hell-fired".

Answer: Walk on it

This one originated in England. Bocking was a coarse woolen fabric used as a floor covering, named for the village in England where it was first produced.

Answer: African slave referring to his/her master

"Buckra" was a term used mostly disparagingly for a white man who owned slaves, in pre-Civil War America. In the past it held connotations of a demon with much power. It survives today as a racially-loaded term for a white man, used by some African-Americans, but its use nowadays is not widespread.

The term originated in Africa. Some sources characterize the current use of the term as a reference to a poor white man. (Sources: Dictionary of Americanisms, Dictionary.com)