Same Difference Trivia Quiz

Answer: Hair

'Hare' in Afrikaans is the plural form. The singular form is 'haar' as in a single hair. The alternative meanings of 'hare' (belonging to her) and 'haar' as in the pronoun 'her'. They could be used in sentences such as "dit is haar rok" (it is her dress) and "dit is hare" (it is hers).

There is no difference in Afrikaans between a hare and a rabbit, both are just referred to as a 'haas', which means 'haste' in English. The word "haar" comes from the Proto-Germanic "hērą". To make a word plural in Afrikaans, in many cases, you remove one of the double vowels and add the letter 'e' on the end. "Maan" (moon) and "mane"(moons) or "traan" (tear) and "trane" (tears).

Answer: Soft

"Sag" is an adjective meaning soft. Hard in Afrikaans is the same as hard in English. The only difference is the way it is pronounced. The 'd' in Afrikaans is pronounced as 't' in most words, but there are exceptions. The other two incorrect options translate as 'soet' (sweet) and 'suur' (sour). "Sag" comes directly from the Dutch word "zacht" which in turn comes from the Middle Dutch "sachte". You would use it in a sentence in exactly the same way you would use the English word "soft" as in "my vel is sag" (my skin is soft).

Answer: Shirt

A 'hemp' is a shirt. Which is quite coincidental I think, seeing as the hemp plant has been spun into fibres for 10,000 years. Of the other options, a tie is a 'das', a shoe is a 'skoen' and a hat is a 'hoed'. "Hemp" comes from the Dutch 'hemd' and from Middle Dutch 'hemde'. You could have a 'lang mou hemp' (long sleeved shirt), 'kort mou hemp' (short sleeved shirt) or even a 'teehemp' (t-shirt). If I had two blue shirts, I would say "ek het twee blou hemde".

Answer: Held

Both "Jukebox Hero" and "Holding Out For a Hero" are songs from the early 1980s, with the Bonnie Tyler song used in a prominent sequence in the animated film "Shrek 2"(2004). A 'held' in Afrikaans is a hero. The word 'held' in Afrikaans has no other meaning. The Afrikaans word is derived directly from the Dutch which in turn comes from the Middle Dutch 'helet' (hero, man, warrior) and Old Dutch 'helt' (man). The only difference between the Afrikaans and Dutch word 'held' is the plural form. In Dutch it is 'helden' and in Afrikaans 'helde'.

The remaining answer options translate as follows, 'hoop' (hope), 'word'(to become) and 'boot' (boat).

Answer: Climb it

There are a number of different meanings for the word boom in English, but only one in Afrikaans. A 'boom' in Afrikaans is a tree. It also happens to be one of the more common street names for marijuana. You could "klim a boom" (climb a tree) or "kap die boom af" (chop the tree down). It is derived from the Middle Dutch 'bôom', from the Old Dutch 'bōm'.

Answer: Phantom

To skim a book would be to read quickly, not paying much attention to detail. You could apply plaster to a wall or even skim a stone along water. In Afrikaans a 'skim' is a catch-all for a number of supernatural beings such as phantoms, apparitions and even your garden variety ghost.

Although, a ghost in Afrikaans is more commonly referred to as a 'spook' and a spirit is a 'gees'. The comic book character "The Phantom" is known as "Die Skim" in the Afrikaans translated comics.

Answer: Ball of burning gas

Yes, you guessed it, the 'son' is in fact the Sun. 'Son' comes from the Middle Dutch 'sonne' and the Old Dutch 'sunna'. The Afrikaans 'son' and the English 'sun' both come from the same Proto-Germanic root 'sunno'. You could say "Die Son is 'n groot bal waterstofgas" ( the Sun is a big ball of hydrogen gas".

Answer: Seal

The Afrikaans word for rob is 'roof'. A robber is a rower. The Afrikaans word 'rob' is taken directly from the Dutch word. The very famous Robben Island, off the coast of Cape Town, South Africa where ex-South African President Nelson Mandela was incarcerated, translates as "Island of the Seals".

Answer: Jungle

A 'tier' is a tiger. The origin of the word in Afrikaans is a translation of the pronunciation of the Dutch word 'tijger' which was taken from the Middle Dutch 'tiger'. You could say "'n tier het strepe en woon in die oerwoud" which translates to "a tiger has stripes and lives in the jungle".

Answer: Loofah

A 'bad' is simply a bath. For which we would obviously use the loofah. A bathroom translates to a 'badkamer'. "Bad" in Afrikaans comes directly from the Dutch word pronounced the same way. This in turn is taken from the Old Dutch 'bath'. It is pronounced the same way as the English 'but'.