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Quiz about Son of Origins of Words and Phrases

Son of Origins of Words and Phrases Quiz

More strange origins of familiar words and phrases.

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

Author
vendome

Time
6 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
4,983

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Difficult

Avg Score
4 / 10

Plays
1991

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 10

1. This term for liquor came into popular usage from a Philadelphia distiller, but was really derived from a Middle Dutch verb, dating back to 1590. Hic! What's the word? Hint

booze

brew

liqueur

spirits

NEXT>

Question 2 of 10

2. This word has its origin in the U.S. Congress and dates from 1820, when the 'Missouri question' was being debated. What's the word? Hint

filibustering

yankee

carpet-bagger

bunk

NEXT>

Question 3 of 10

3. This term for U.S. currency dates back to the 1500s, in the Czech Republic, no less! It has as is root the Germanic 'Joachimstaler.' Vat is de verd? Hint

dime

dollar

cash

money

NEXT>

Question 4 of 10

4. Vile ve are, whoops! sorry! While we're on the topic of U.S. currency, Thomas Jefferson suggested that we use another foreign word for a unit of currency. Which one? Hint

disme (dime)

quartier (quarter)

n'est quelle (nickel)

centime (cent)

NEXT>

Question 5 of 10

5. This word has had multiple meanings during its evolution, each quite different, but each related to the same root in Dutch having to do with drugs. Which word? Hint

smack

dope

reefer

hooch

NEXT>

Question 6 of 10

6. This word probably came to us from the Latin for 'who are you?', and from the French for 'what is it?' So....what is it? Hint

quiz

inquisitive

question

curious

NEXT>

Question 7 of 10

7. This word, strangely enough, reverts back to a holy place and the Hospital of St Mary in London. What, pray tell, is the word? Hint

unstable

bedlam

deranged

asylum

8. The original meaning of this word in Old English is 'rent' or 'tribute, which could be paid in cattle or goods instead of coins, usually the opposite of what the collector wanted. The word? Hint

blackmail

obligation

extortion

promissory

NEXT>

Question 9 of 10

9. This word could have originated with Dr. Seuss or, then again, it could come from Edgar Bergen's dummy. Either way, it's become a part of our common usage. Which one is it? Hint

dweeb

dork

nerd

geek

NEXT>

Question 10 of 10

10. This word has nothing to do with horses, contrary to what most people think. It has to do with incubus or succubus phenomena. Confused? Good. Now, what's the word? Hint

nightmare

nag

equine

dobbin

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. This term for liquor came into popular usage from a Philadelphia distiller, but was really derived from a Middle Dutch verb, dating back to 1590. Hic! What's the word?

Answer: booze

The distiller was E. C. Booz, who was very popular in the 1840s 'cause he sold his 'booze' in bottles shaped like log cabins. But the real root of the word goes back to the 14th century and the Middle Dutch verb 'busen', meaning to drink heavily.

2. This word has its origin in the U.S. Congress and dates from 1820, when the 'Missouri question' was being debated. What's the word?

Answer: bunk

'Bunk' is short for 'bunkum' which came from 'Buncombe', a county in North Carolina. When Missouri's status as a slave or free state was being hotly debated, Felix Walker (the county's representative) rose to give a 'long, dull, irrelevant speech.' When asked to shaddup an siddown, he replied that he was bound to make a speech for Buncomb. Thus, the word for something silly and irrelevant was born.

3. This term for U.S. currency dates back to the 1500s, in the Czech Republic, no less! It has as is root the Germanic 'Joachimstaler.' Vat is de verd?

Answer: dollar

'Joachimstaler' was shortened to 'taler', then 'daler', then dollar. In early America, the Spanish peso was in use prior to the establishment of U.S. currency; the Continental Congress voted to accept 'dollar' for the new currency.

4. Vile ve are, whoops! sorry! While we're on the topic of U.S. currency, Thomas Jefferson suggested that we use another foreign word for a unit of currency. Which one?

Answer: disme (dime)

He was, after all, Ambassador to France, so he thought that 'disme' (from the French dixieme, or one tenth, and pronounced 'deem'), was appropriate, and all agreed. Hmmmmm, a pocket full of deems and talers?

5. This word has had multiple meanings during its evolution, each quite different, but each related to the same root in Dutch having to do with drugs. Which word?

Answer: dope

From the Dutch 'doop', meaning 'sauce', its first uses were for any thick, viscous liquid. This evolved into the drug area when it was used to describe the semi-liquid preparation of opium that was smoked. The word 'dope' meaning a stupid, foolish person also evoled from the drug area, and is based on the 'dopey' behavior of one under the influence.

6. This word probably came to us from the Latin for 'who are you?', and from the French for 'what is it?' So....what is it?

Answer: quiz

Latin's 'qui es' and French's 'qu'est-ce que c'est' are the basis for the word 'quiz'.

7. This word, strangely enough, reverts back to a holy place and the Hospital of St Mary in London. What, pray tell, is the word?

Answer: bedlam

Bedlam is a Middle English form of Bethlehem, the Judean city where Christ was born. Its meaning of 'madness, uproar and confusion' comes from the Hospital of St. Mary of Bethlehem in London when, in 1547, it went from a hospital to an insane asylum.

8. The original meaning of this word in Old English is 'rent' or 'tribute, which could be paid in cattle or goods instead of coins, usually the opposite of what the collector wanted. The word?

Answer: blackmail

The word 'mail' in old English meant rent or tribute, and paying the rent in coin was called white money. And, if you didn't pay, your cattle was usually stolen, a 'black' act. Put all this together and you get blackmail.

9. This word could have originated with Dr. Seuss or, then again, it could come from Edgar Bergen's dummy. Either way, it's become a part of our common usage. Which one is it?

Answer: nerd

In 'If I Ran the Zoo', Dr, Suess wrote: 'I'll sail to Ka-Troo and bring back an It-Kutch, a Preep and a Proo, a Nerkle, a Nerd and a Seersucker, too!' And it's also thought to be a variation of Mortimer Snerd, Bergen's stupid dommy. I don't know what dweeb thought that one up, but I'll bet the dork doesn't have a clue! What a geek!

10. This word has nothing to do with horses, contrary to what most people think. It has to do with incubus or succubus phenomena. Confused? Good. Now, what's the word?

Answer: nightmare

The word 'mare' had nothing to do with horses, it's Old English for 'demon.' So, a nightmare is a demon that visits you at night. Demons could be 'incubus' (male) or 'succubus' (female), and were thought to have the power to paralyze, suffocate or rape the sleeper. That's enough to scare the succubus out of me!

Source: Author vendome

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