Climbing the Tower of Babel, 8th Floor Quiz

Answer: winter

"Hiems" is Latin for winter, as is "igba otutu" in Yoruban, "invierno" in Spanish, "zima" in Russian, Slovenian and Serbian, "inverno" in Portuguese and Italian, and "hiver" in French. In a Season 5 episode of "Northern Exposure" called "First Snow," the residents of Cicely, Alaska, celebrate the arrival of the first snowflakes of winter by walking outside and greeting one another in French saying "Bon Hiver" (which they pronounce "BAH-nee BEHR") which they took to mean "Good Winter." The Modern English word winter descends from the Old English "winter" which compares to the Danish and Swedish "vinter" and the Old High German "wintar."

Answer: black

"Zwart" is Dutch for black, as is "preto" in Portuguese, "musta" in Finnish, "negru" in Romanian, "'aswad" in Arabic, "dudu" in Yoruban, and "pango" in Maori. The Modern English word black derives through the Old English "blaek" from the Old Norse "blakkr" all of which relate to something being burnt and therefor charred black. The use of black in relation to a cup of coffee without pollutants dates from 1796. The Latin is "niger."

Answer: sausage

"Kobasica" is the Bosnian and Croatian word for sausage, as is "worst" in Dutch, "saucisse" in French, "Wurst" in German, "loukániko" in Greek, "kielbasa" in Polish and linguiça" in Portuguese. The word sausage found its way into Modern English from the Old North French "saussice" which derived from the Latin "salsica" meaning sausage, which was constructed from the Latin "salsicus" meaning seasoned with salt, which sausage usually is.

Answer: Tuesday

The German word for Tuesday is "Dienstag" as is "kedd" in Hungarian, "martes" in Spanish, "utorok" in Slovak, "madi" in Haitian Creole, "dimarts" in Catalan, "talata" in Malagasy, and "martedi" in Italian. The Modern English word Tuesday is related to the Old English word "tiwesdaeg" which honoured a Germanic diety ("Tiwaz") who ruled the sky. Compare the Old Frisian "tiesdei", the Old Norse "tysdagr" and the Swedish "tisdag." The Romance Languages follow the Latin "dies Martis" which honoured the god Mars. Compare to the Italian (above) and the French "mardi" as in "Mardi Gras."

Answer: purple

The Dutch word for purple in "purper," as is "purpurne" in Estonian, "violetti" in Finnish, "lila" in Danish, German, Hungarian and Swedish, "violetine" in Lithuanian, "roxa" in Portuguese, and "mor" in Turkish. The Modern English purple comes from the Old English "purpul" which derives directly from the Middle Latin "purpura" used to describe cloth dyed purple. Compare the Greek "porphyra" also meaning purple.

Answer: newspaper

The Arabic word for newspaper is "jarida" as is "gazety" in Malagasy, "noviny" in Czech, "Zeitung" in German, "giornale" in Italian and "periódico" in (Spanish). The Modern English word newspaper is a compound noun used since the 1660s. "News" is a contraction of "new things" comparable to the French "nouvelles." "Paper" derives from the Latin "papyrus" meaning a sheet of paper.

Answer: blanket

The Basque word for blanket is "manta" as is "deka" in Czech, "couverture" in French, "Teppi" in Icelandic, "antklode" in Lithuanian), and "daim pam" in Hmong. The English blanket is taken from the French "blanquette" meaning a white piece of cloth. The French term is with reference to the whiteness, not the clothness, "blanc" being the French adjective meaning white.

Answer: kiss

"Polibek" means kiss in Czech, as does "baiser" in French, "bico" in Galician, "bacio" in Italian, "pup" in Romanian, and "chipsompsono" in Chichewa. The Modern English verb kiss derives from the Old English "cyssan" which comes from the German "kussen" which probably derived from the Greek "kysso." The Modern English noun kiss derives from the Old English "coss" which was derived from the verb.

Answer: dessert

The Basque word "postrea" means dessert, as does "nagerecht" in Dutch, "sobremesa" in Galician and Portuguese, "epidórpio" in Greek, "dolce" in Italian and postre in Spanish. The English noun dessert descends from the French "desservir" meaning to clear the last course off the dining table. This is a compound of "des-" and "-servir" which explains why there are two esses in the middle of dessert but only one in the middle of desert.

Answer: toe

The Dutch word for toe is "teen", as is "varvas" in Finnish, "Zehe" in German, "dedo do pé" in Portuguese, "toon" in Afrikaans, and "pollicem" in Latin. The Old English is "ta" (plural "tan"). Compare this with the Old Norse "ta," the Old Frisian "tane," the Middle Dutch "teen" and the Old High German "zecha."