Spelling "B" Trivia Quiz

Answer: braggadocio

Braggadocio originally comes from the boastful character in Edmund Spencer's "Faerie Queen" (1590) who is a braggart. Braggadocio is also used in 'rap' where the MC is bragging and boasting about his superior powers in regard to, e.g., physical strength, sexual ability or wealth.

Answer: bereavement

Bereavement is the state of sorrow over the death of a loved one. In fact, there is bereavement counseling, a type of therapy which helps the families of the deceased cope with their loss. Bereavement involves five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and, finally, acceptance.

Answer: belligerent

To be belligerent is to show an eagerness to fight, someone who is bellicose and antagonistic. The word originates from the Latin, belliger, which means to wage war. In present day, we have too many examples of belligerence from terrorist groups, causing people to live lives in fear.

Answer: behemoth

A behemoth is something big and powerful, like a creature or large organization. It is also the name of a death metal band from Poland. In the financial world, you have behemoths like JP Morgan and Chase which have absorbed smaller companies and have been deemed "too big to fail".

Answer: beguile

To beguile is to cause one to be attracted or enamored, often using trickery or deception, as in the word guile which means sly or cunning intelligence. For example, statesmen have been known to commit acts of treason because of the beguilement of a beautiful woman.

Answer: blasphemous

Someone who uses irreverent and impious language, as in cursing or reviling God, is being blasphemous. Did you know that, in the 17th century, older churches regarded the Quakers beliefs and practices as blasphemies, and persecuted their followers? Blasphemy is often in the eye (or mind) of the beholder.

Answer: blithe

Blithe can mean a lack of concern or happy and carefree, as in Shelley's poem "To a Skylark" ("Hail to thee, blithe Spirit!/Bird thou never wert"). Noel Coward used the term in his 1941 comic play "Blithe Spirit" about a socialite and a medium (who walk into a bar - jk) who take part in a seance, much to their regret.

Answer: bourgeois

Bourgeois is derived from the old French burgeis or walled city, and is often used to represent someone with conventional attitudes. The Bourgeois belong to the sociologically defined class known as the bourgeoisie, i.e., those who live in the borough (merchants and craftsmen), as opposed to those who live in the poorer rural areas ('city mouse vs. country mouse').

Answer: buoyant

When something is buoyant it is able to rise to the top of a liquid or gas, or be of little physical weight or density; it can also mean cheerful and lighthearted. As an example, warm air is more buoyant than cool air, which is the thermodynamic way of saying 'hot air rises'. The first known use of the word was in 1578, and synonyms for buoyant are blithe and eupeptic.

Answer: bureaucracy

A bureaucracy is an organization made up of many divisions or departments, often obstructing or delaying action with unnecessary procedures. The origin of the term is from the French word 'bureau' (desk or office) and the Greek word 'kratos' meaning rule or power. If you would like to see what living in a fictional bureaucracy is like, read "The Trial" by Franz Kafka or "1984" by George Orwell. If you would like to see it in action, visit the DMV!