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Quiz about Some interesting or offbeat words
Quiz about Some interesting or offbeat words

Some interesting or offbeat words Quiz


Here are 15 words which I find intriguing. I will give the definition and you pick out the word being defined. You can figure out many of these by paying attention to the roots.

A multiple-choice quiz by chessart. Estimated time: 5 mins.
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Author
chessart
Time
5 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
49,944
Updated
Dec 03 21
# Qns
15
Difficulty
Difficult
Avg Score
7 / 15
Plays
822
- -
Question 1 of 15
1. The use of gentle speech or humble submission to calm someone who is angry is called: Hint


Question 2 of 15
2. The amount by which a container falls short of being full: Hint


Question 3 of 15
3. Delusions of exceptional intelligence: Hint


Question 4 of 15
4. A neurotic preoccupation with one's youth: Hint


Question 5 of 15
5. Determining someone's character or future by the way he or she laughs: Hint


Question 6 of 15
6. Depression following a nightmare: Hint


Question 7 of 15
7. Something produced by worry is said to be: Hint


Question 8 of 15
8. The science of habit breaking: Hint


Question 9 of 15
9. Judging people favorably from their looks: Hint


Question 10 of 15
10. Items thrown into the sea and marked by a buoy for future retrieval: Hint


Question 11 of 15
11. The craving for weird food: Hint


Question 12 of 15
12. The neurotic assumption of guilt by an innocent party: Hint


Question 13 of 15
13. Easily hurt emotionally: Hint


Question 14 of 15
14. The theory that the world is mostly bad: Hint


Question 15 of 15
15. Reading everything: Hint



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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. The use of gentle speech or humble submission to calm someone who is angry is called:

Answer: philophronesis

Justice Clarence Thomas recently spoke out against philophronesis, stating: 'In the effort to be civil in conduct, many who know better actually dilute firmly held views to avoid appearing 'judgmental'. They curb their tongues not only in form but in substance.

The insistence on civility in the form of our debates has the perverse effect of cannibalizing our principles, the very essence of a free society.'
2. The amount by which a container falls short of being full:

Answer: ullage

This term is frequently used in connection with wine bottles, to refer to the air space between the top of the wine and the base of the cork. Over time the ullage will increase as evaporation occurs, especially when the bottle has been kept in an environment which is too dry.
3. Delusions of exceptional intelligence:

Answer: sophomania

The root 'soph' refers to wisdom.
4. A neurotic preoccupation with one's youth:

Answer: horapthia

5. Determining someone's character or future by the way he or she laughs:

Answer: geloscopy

From the Greek 'gelos', laughter, and 'skopein', to view.
6. Depression following a nightmare:

Answer: malneirophrenia

7. Something produced by worry is said to be:

Answer: kedogenous

8. The science of habit breaking:

Answer: tropoclastics

The Greek root 'trope' means a turn. An example is 'tropism', mneaning the tendency of a plant or animal to turn in response to an external stimulus, as a flower turning toward light. When one engages in tropoclastics, one is turning away from bad habits of the past.
9. Judging people favorably from their looks:

Answer: prosopolepsy

From the Greek 'prosopon', a face, and 'lepsis', receiving or taking.
10. Items thrown into the sea and marked by a buoy for future retrieval:

Answer: lagan

Goods may be cast overboard during a storm. The buoy not only allows the owner to come back later and find his property, but it also is marked so as to identify the owner; hence lagan is an important concept in maritime law as a way of showing that property has not been abandoned.
11. The craving for weird food:

Answer: allotriophagy

Mulder explained the phenomen of allotriophagy to Scully during an X-Files episode, telling her that 'people throughout history have coughed up all kinds of things from cue balls to butcher's knives without any explanation of how they got there'. I think I just lost my appetite.
12. The neurotic assumption of guilt by an innocent party:

Answer: pseudomania

The Greek 'pseudo' means false. The pseudomaniac may confess to many crimes he has not committed.
13. Easily hurt emotionally:

Answer: rectopathic

14. The theory that the world is mostly bad:

Answer: malism

15. Reading everything:

Answer: omnilegent

Perhaps you would need to be omnilegent to know all these words. You certainly would need to be a logolept (a word lover)!
Source: Author chessart

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