We Stole That from the Africans Quiz

Answer: Yam

Yams are commonly grown in West Africa were the Fula language is spoken. The word yam comes from the Fula word "nyami" which means to eat, as it is a staple crop in some West African communities.

Answer: Mumbo-jumbo

In the Mandinka language, a masked dancer is called "maamajomboo", from which we get the phrase mumbo-jumbo meaning speech that is confusing or hard to understand. Mumbo-jumbo came to mean confusion because the Scottish explorer of West Africa, Mungo Park, who witnessed a Mandingo ceremony, and could not understand anything, called the whole thing mumbo-jumbo because it was one of the few words he heard clearly.

Answer: Zombie

The Kimbundu (spoken in Angola) word for a god is "nzambi". Zombie may also come from a variety of other languages including the Kikongo word "zumbi". How the reanimated corpses that eat brains popularly seen in horror films came to be called zombies is unknown since African and Haitian/Voodoo zombies are much different beings.

Answer: Yummy

Wolof is a language spoken in Senegal and its neighboring countries. The Wolof word for to taste is "nyam", which became yummy in English and means the taste of something delicious.

Answer: Aardvark

Afrikaans is a language spoken in southern Africa that is somewhat a combination of Dutch and local African languages. The word aardvark comes from the Afrikaans words "aarde" or earth and "vark" meaning pig. Despite its name, aardvarks are not related to pigs and has no living close relatives. Aardvarks are sometimes called anteaters though they are not related to other species of anteaters either.

Answer: Chimpanzee

Chimpanzee comes from the Vili word "ci-mpenzi" meaning mockman, referring to how chimpanzees imitate human behavior. The word was first used in the London Magazine in 1738 and was spelled "chimpanze". Vili is a language spoken in Angola and Gabon.

Answer: Gumbo

Gumbo is a hearty stew popular in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It was influenced by the cooking style of African slaves brought to the American South. The Bantu word for okra is "kingombo" or "ngombo".

Answer: Tango

Tango, despite being a popular Argentine dance, gets its name from the Ibibio word for dance, which is "tamgu". The dance tango was influenced by Africans in South America, so the name is not totally disconnected. Ibibio is the language spoken by a small group of people in Nigeria.

Answer: Jenga

The word jenga, popularized by the building game, gets its name from the Swahili word "jenga", which means build. In the game Jenga, players remove wooden pieces from a vertical structure and place them at the top, with the goal of not knocking the tower over.

Answer: Mojo

Mojo comes from the Fula word "moco'o" which means medicine man. It may also come from the Gullah (a mix of English and Creole languages spoken in small communities in the Southeastern Unites States) word "moco" which means witchcraft. Mojo originally referred to a charm or coin used in African communities, believed to have spiritual or magic powers. Nowadays, mojo is some kind of special talent or power possessed by someone, typically referring to sexual prowess.