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Quiz about Sesquipedalian Logodaedaly Redux

Sesquipedalian Logodaedaly Redux! Quiz

Here we go with another set of questions for all you foot-and-a-half-long word wizards! (Er, that's the words that are a foot and a half long. Not the wizards.)

A multiple-choice quiz by ecoli23. Estimated time: 6 mins.

Author
ecoli23

Time
6 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
261,809

Updated
Aug 30 24

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Tough

Avg Score
5 / 10

Plays
609

Awards
Top 35% Quiz

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 10

1. Once again, we'll start off this quiz by giving you an answer! "Batrachomyomachia" means "a foolish altercation". It's a useful word for some of us logodaedalians, who find ourselves in silly quarrels a lot. But where does the word come from originally? Hint

A Victorian biology treatise

The Ancient Greek equivalent of "Mad" magazine

The early days of quantum mechanics theory

Leonardo da Vinci's notebooks

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Question 2 of 10

2. Having established in the first Sesquipedalian Logodaedaly quiz that you are a confirmed gynotikolobomassophile, you change the subject and whisper, "My dear, I'd love to see you in a nychthemeron!" as you: Hint

Pull out the "Victoria's Secret" catalog

Pencil in next evening in your daytimer

Book two tickets to Athens

Prepare to summon Great Cthulhu himself

NEXT>

Question 3 of 10

3. Everybody seems to love phobias -- or at least the weird names attached to them. Which of the following phobias is mismatched with its definition?

Hint

Amathophobia: Fear of dust

Autodysomophobia: Fear of crossing the street

Alektorophobia: Fear of chickens

Anuptaphobia: Fear of staying single

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Question 4 of 10

4. Okay, this one's completely unfair unless you're some kind of weird sesquipedalian mathematician. Which mathematical term is the odd one out? Hint

Hebesphenomegacorona

Disphenocingulum

Zenzizenzizenzic

Gyrobifastigium

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Question 5 of 10

5. Ah, the classics! A great source of unusual words! Which of the following mythological objects was filipendulous? Hint

Wonder Woman's belt

Procrustes' bed

Damocles' sword

Theseus' ball of string

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Question 6 of 10

6. "Calzoons!" A fun word to say, but how would you (most) properly use it in a sentence? Hint

"Of all the calzoons, in all the towns, in all the world, she walks into mine!"

"Calzoons! Foiled again!"

"I see London, I see France, I see somebody's calzoons!"

"I'll wager fifty calzoons on the newcomer!"

NEXT>

Question 7 of 10

7. When I was still but a young semipedalian (I just made that word up, but I like it), the longest word I knew was "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" -- from Disney's "Mary Poppins" of course. I'd always assumed that it was coined by the movie's songwriters, Richard and Robert Sherman, but recently I was somewhat startled to learn that the word's origin really is: Hint

The name of Walt Disney's sled

The punchline to a dirty joke Dick Van Dyke told on the set

Taken from an old Masonic ritual

Lost in the mists of obscurity

NEXT>

Question 8 of 10

8. Who would you most likely want to invite to dinner? A person who was known as:
Hint

Fimicolous

Prone to aboiement

A deipnosophist

A valetudinarian

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Question 9 of 10

9. You logodaedalians are surely aware of the many "weird word" lists floating around the Internet. The last word in many of these lists, and even in a few legitimate dictionaries, is "zzxjoanw", which is defined as "a Maori war drum". What's suspicious about this "fact"? Hint

The Maori have no z, x, or j in their language

All of these

The Maori never played drums

The word is also defined as "conclusion"

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Question 10 of 10

10. You're at a cocktail party, and some old guy is monopolizing the conversation with his sesquipedalia. You want to leave quickly and quietly, so you: Hint

Incatenate

Exosculate

Absquatulate

Unguiculate

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

Answer: The Ancient Greek equivalent of "Mad" magazine

"Batrachomyomachia" is a parody of the "Iliad", sometimes attributed to Homer himself, but certainly of ancient origin. The title translates as "The War Between Frogs and Mice" -- I'm sure hilarity ensues!

Answer: Pencil in next evening in your daytimer

A "nychthemeron" is literally "a night and a day", or a 24-hour period. Oh, and for those who haven't done Part 1 yet, a "gynotikolobomassophile" is someone who loves ("-phile") to nibble ("-masso-") on the lobe ("-lobo-") of the ear ("-otiko-") of a woman ("gyn-"). (There, now you've got a free answer when you do that quiz!)

3. Everybody seems to love phobias -- or at least the weird names attached to them. Which of the following phobias is mismatched with its definition?

Answer: Autodysomophobia: Fear of crossing the street

The fear of crossing the street is called agyophobia. So presumably, alektoragyophobia would be the fear of the chicken that crossed the road! (Autodysomophobia is actually the fear of one's own body odor being offensive.)

4. Okay, this one's completely unfair unless you're some kind of weird sesquipedalian mathematician. Which mathematical term is the odd one out?

Answer: Zenzizenzizenzic

"Zenzizenzizenzic" is an obsolete word meaning "the eighth power of a number: -- e.g., the zenzizenzizenzic of 2 is 256. (It must have been a relief when they invented superscripts!) The other words are all from the geometrical branch of math: they're names for polyhedra in a group called "Johnson solids" -- and I'll admit right now that's all I know about them.

But I think the next time someone cuts me off in traffic, I'm going to call them a "gyrobifastigium" or a "disphenocingulum"! That'll show'em!

5. Ah, the classics! A great source of unusual words! Which of the following mythological objects was filipendulous?

Answer: Damocles' sword

It means "hanging by a thread". (See there was this Greek guy named Damocles, and he ... ah, heck, it's the 21st century, just Google it!)

6. "Calzoons!" A fun word to say, but how would you (most) properly use it in a sentence?

Answer: "I see London, I see France, I see somebody's calzoons!"

It's an obsolete word for "underpants", related to Italian "calzone". (And please don't mail me with ways to make "underpants" work in the other sentences. I really don't want to know.)

Answer: Lost in the mists of obscurity

The Sherman brothers later said they'd learned a variation of the word at summer camp when they were kids, and some sources trace it as far back as World War I. But admit it, you were rooting for the Dick Van Dyke story, weren't you?

8. Who would you most likely want to invite to dinner? A person who was known as:

Answer: A deipnosophist

A deipnosophist is a sparkling dinner conversationalist. On the other hand, a valetudinarian is a hypochondriac, aboiement is the production of strange noises, and fimicolous means living in excrement -- if you chose any of these last three answers on purpose, don't be surprised if I decline an invitation to one of your dinner parties!

Answer: All of these

The word can be traced back to a 1905 specialty dictionary, "The Musical Guide", by one Rupert Hughes, who claimed it was pronounced "shaw"(!) and could refer to a drum, a fife, or a conclusion. (I have heard a rumour that he had the hots for a certain Joan W. Shaw -- get it? -- but I haven't been able to confirm this!) Anyway, the entry survived into subsequent editions (re-titled "The Music Lovers' Encyclopedia"), and has managed to fool quite a few lexicologists since then, apparently including the redoubtable Mrs. Byrne! (See my first "Sesquipedalian Logodaedaly" quiz for more info on her.)

Bonus sequipedalia: The Maori are one of the cultures that never developed "membranophones": drums. Their percussion instruments were more of the "bang sticks together" type. (Sorry, haven't found a foot-and-a-half long word for that yet!)

Bonus logodaedaly: The letters of the English alphabet used for rendering the Maori language include only the five vowels, plus h, k, m, n, p, r, t, and w, as well as h when used in wh and g when used in ng.

Whew! On to the last question ...

10. You're at a cocktail party, and some old guy is monopolizing the conversation with his sesquipedalia. You want to leave quickly and quietly, so you:

Answer: Absquatulate

"Absquatulation" is the act of leaving hurriedly or secretly. "Exosculation" is kissing, "unguiculate" means equipped with claws, and "incatenation" is restraint with chains.

Speaking of absquatulation, my time has come once again. Until next time, may I suggest you check out the "Weird Words" section of Michael Quinion's excellent World Wide Words site (www.worldwidewords.org) -- my inspiration for several of the questions in this quiz!

Source: Author ecoli23

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor stuthehistoryguy before going online.
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