Word Origins : Trivia Quiz

[Gokul43201]

Word Origins :

[Warning : Some material here may be objectionable to minors ]

RULES :

1. No Googling

2. IMPORTANT : Each person is allowed to guess only ONE answer (ONE answer total; not one per question)...unless I inform you otherwise.


Please read the rules again....thank you !

In the following questions I describe the the etymological basis of a present day word/phrase/slang term. You have to guess the word. Typically, the solution is quite easily derivable from the question (without requiring any mastery over Greek & Latin).

Here we go...

Q1) A little over 400 years ago, this bird, native to Africa, was first imported to England, via Constantinople. The qualities of the bird, however, had been known since the times of Aristotle and Pliny, who had both praised it heartily.

Q2) This word was coined by the Czech playwright (for the play titled R.U.R), Karel Capek, and is derived from the Slavik word for laborer or peasant.

Q3) The ancients believed that of all things required for the support of human life, salt was the most important. Whenever a Roman soldier was sent to a foreign land, he was given, over and above his regular pay, an amount of money for the purchase of salt. What word is derived from this ?

Q4) The Nizaris were a sub-sect of Shi'ite Muslims from around the 12th Century AD. Operating out mountain forts, they engaged in a long campaign of murdering numerous Sunni officials of the Abbasid and Seljuk Dynasties. The members of the sect were promised eternal paradise - by the leader - in return for martyrdom. To enhance the appeal of this promise, they were given hashish (a hallucinogen from the cannabis family), before being ordered out on missions. This word comes from a byname for the Nizaris.

Q5) The Bogomils were a heretical movement that first flowered in the Balkans in the mid-tenth century, and were considered a serious threat to religious orthodoxy. At the time, all heretics were accused of sexual deviance, whether or not the accusation was justified - and the Bogomils soon became labeled as deviants. What word comes from Bulgar (pronounced bull-gahr, this was the region that is now the country, Bulgaria) ?

Q6) This one's straight : What word is derived from the Irish Uisce Beatha meaning 'water of life' ?

Q7) During WWII, Lt. Col. Evan Carlson, an admirer of the Chinese work ethic, set up what he called _______ meetings, for his own troops. This term is derived from the Chinese word for 'working together', which was a popular communist motto at the time.

Q8) What word owes its origin to this Civil War General ? <see attached picture, ARB.BMP>

Get crackin'...

[BobG]

#2 is 'robot'. I took beginning Russian lessons once and thought it interesting that their word for work was robotal. It was quite a few years later that I found it wasn't just a coincidence. Doh!

[Gokul43201]

Good 'un, BobG.

Robot it is, from the verb robotal (I'm not going to try Cyrillic scripts here, thank you) or the noun robotnik.

Q2 is done, and so is Bob.

[LURCH]

The pic for #8 doesn't come up yet, but I think the officer to whom you refer is General Hooker?

[Adam]

Hmph. Okay, Q4: Assassin.

[Gokul43201]

The pic for #8 doesn't come up yet, but I think the officer to whom you refer is General Hooker?

No, it's not Hooker, though that's a good guess. But I'll let you have ONE more chance, on any question of your choice (since the attachment was not ready yet).

Give the admins time to approve the pic. Don't guess until you see it...else you risk forfeiting an opportunity on a blind guess.

[Gokul43201]

Adam, please read the rules, and edit your post to show only one answer (pick your best) - perhaps folks haven't seen this yet, so it's not too late.

Perhaps I wasn't clear before. I've edited the rules to remove any doubt.


PS : Thanks for the edit, Adam.

[Nereid]

#7 gung ho, from the Mandarin 'gonghe', literally 'work(ing) together'. However, my guess is that it's from a southern dialect, possibly Cantonese or Fujianese. Also, the 'communist' reference may be to an abbreviation, referring to the first two characters of 'Industrial Cooperative' (gongye hezuoshe) - there's an interesting history of this.

[Adam]

I can't believe I got "Kung Pow" wrong... Lying damn cow...

[Gokul43201]

Nereid <Oriental Expert> is right on Q7 !! It is Gung-ho...hard luck Adam !

Let's hear the history, Nereid...or a link to it would work too.

[Moonbear]

Q3, I'm guessing salary.
It would make sense. Next time you think you're getting paid peanuts, remember it's really only the salt on the peanuts :rofl:

[DarkEternal]

i've read that it was actually karel capek's brother who gave him the idea for the word.

as for Q3, i believe the answer is salary (salarium)

edit: blast, left the window open for too long

[jcsd]

5. Bugger. Subsects of the Bogumils encouraged the laity to live pretty hedonistic lifestyles, but apprently the accusations of 'buggery' were against the priestly class known as the 'perfecti' (spelling?) who led a celibate and very sober lifestyles.

[Gokul43201]

Correct Moonbear !

The 'salt money' was known as salarium (Lat.) from sal, meaning salt.

Correct jcsd...'bugger' it is ! I was hoping to see someone guess 'vulgar' first. Or would that have been too obvious to be right ?

Q3, Q4, Q5 and Q7 are done.
And Adam, Nereid, jcsd and Moonbear may rest until (and if) I announce a free-for-all.

HINT : One of the questions has a loaded clue in it, which is really a double-edged clue - it helps with another question too.

[Gokul43201]

DarkEternal, you're still open...your guess doesn't count (though it has been noted) so you get another turn.

[Gokul43201]

5. Bugger. Subsects of the Bogumils encouraged the laity to live pretty hedonistic lifestyles, but apprently the accusations of 'buggery' were against the priestly class known as the 'perfecti' (spelling?) who led a celibate and very sober lifestyles.

The Bogomil priests (and also the Cathars, an offshoot of the Bogomils) were known for leading an exemplary lifestyle - even members of the Church have repeatedly admitted to this.

But Pope Innocent (some number or the other) decided to go ahead and have them all killed, anyway ! Ah the Crusades...what a fun time !!

[DarkEternal]

i'll say Q6 is whiskey, guessing from the way it looks to be pronounced

[Nereid]

Nereid <Oriental Expert> is right on Q7 !! It is Gung-ho...hard luck Adam !

Let's hear the history, Nereid...or a link to it would work too.OK, I googled to find this link (http://www.nzchinasociety.org.nz/gungho.html)* ... I hadn't realised (or long since forgotten) the New Zealand connection (no wonder Adam was so close ... but wait, isn't it terrifically, eh, negative, to mistake an Aussie for a Kiwi? :wink: )

*It gives the pinyin for 'Industrial Cooperative' as 'gongye hezhuoshe'; I think that's incorrect (it should be 'gongye hezuoshe', as in my post).

[Gokul43201]

i'll say Q6 is whiskey, guessing from the way it looks to be pronounced

Right, DarkE ! It is whiskey !

Q6) This one's straight : That was a definite clue for whiskey - some drink it straight !

Also, this is a suggestion that if "this one's straight", something before this was....gay ? Yep, look back at Q5.

[Gokul43201]

Nereid, that was an interesting read - also a neat bit of trivia to note that Soong Ling first headed the Industrial Co-ops.

jcsd, watcha know - you are a clasickal skolar !!! :bugeye:

[Evo]

number 8 - sideburns

[Gokul43201]

Sideburns :smile: Right you are, Evo.

I see that you remember your American Hist....er Trivia ! :wink:

[Evo]

I know the answer to number 1. I've been patiently waiting . Can I answer please, please??

Won't I look dumb if I am wrong? :tongue:

[Adam]

BTW, the "Kung Pow Cow" thing was a reference to the movie Kung Pow.

[Gokul43201]

Okay, Evo....and all others, it's now a free-for-all.

[Evo]

#1, is it the DODO, originally from around Madagascar off the coast of Africa?

[jcsd]

Q1 Turkey, (Istanbul not) Constantinople is in Turkey, but it isn't the same bird we call the Turkey these days (i.e. the Turkey of the variety that us Britishers eat at Christmas and the Amerikaners eat at Thaksgiving, that particualr bird coming from the Americas not Africa), unfortunately I don't know the modern name for this bird.

[Gokul43201]

Hard luck Evo, (nice guess though)...gotta give it to the Clasickal Skolar, jcsd !!

[Evo]

Hard luck Evo, (nice guess though)...gotta give it to the Clasickal Skolar, jcsd !!nooooooooo :cry: :cry:

[Evo]

Wait a minute!!! This is a foul fowl folly!!!!

JCSD does not know the name of the bird!!! He didn't name it, he said

Q1 Turkey, (Istanbul not) Constantinople is in Turkey, but it isn't the same bird we call the Turkey these days (i.e. the Turkey of the variety that us Britishers eat at Christmas and the Amerikaners eat at Thaksgiving, that particualr bird coming from the Americas not Africa), unfortunately I don't know the modern name for this bird.

Q1 remains unanswered!! Turkeys did not originate in Africa.

Ok 1/2 point to jcsd for knowing everything but the name.

[Nereid]

Dodos were from Mauritius (they're extinct now) - they had no natural predator until Homo sap. arrived. Curious thing is, after the last dodo died, a local tree stopped having baby trees ... the mature trees kept producing fruit, but the fruit never germinated ... for a while there it looked like the tree would follow the dodo, until some bright botanist thought there was a connection, like maybe the dodos ate the fruit, and baby trees germinated happily in the guano (or whatever dodo doo is called)?

Now, there's a nice turkey connection ... turns out turkeys have similar gizzards (or whatever) to dodos, so they fed some turkeys with the (fast disappearing) fruit of this local tree ... tada! baby trees happily sprouting in turkey doo! :approve:

[Evo]

I knew they lived near trees, but I had no idea about the doodoo. Thanks Neried, I did not know that! So, Dodo doodoo was special. :approve:

Evo<------worried about why she knows about Dodos. :frown:

[Gokul43201]

Okay, let's wrap things up now :

Q1) A little over 400 years ago, this bird, native to Africa, was first imported to England, via Constantinople. The qualities of the bird, however, had been known since the times of Aristotle and Pliny, who had both praised it heartily.

ANS : Turkey...well not exactly, but here's the explanation. Having been imported through Turkey, this bird was refered to as the turkey. Much later, it was re-named 'Guiney Fowl'. Anyway, when early explorers in America came across a very similar bird, they thought is was the same and called that 'turkey' too. As things stand now, the American bird is the Turkey and the African bird is called a Guiney Fowl.

As far as this question goes, I was expecting someone to say 'turkey' (or "the bird formerly known as turkey") to get it right...so I'm giving this to jcsd <sorry Evo>.

Q2) This word was coined by the Czech playwright (for the play titled R.U.R), Karel Capek, and is derived from the Slavik word for laborer or peasant.

ANS : Robot, from slavik robotnik.

Q3) The ancients believed that of all things required for the support of human life, salt was the most important. Whenever a Roman soldier was sent to a foreign land, he was given, over and above his regular pay, an amount of money for the purchase of salt. What word is derived from this ?

ANS : Salary, from Latin salarium, derived from (L) sal for salt.

Q4) The Nizaris were a sub-sect of Shi'ite Muslims from around the 12th Century AD. Operating out mountain forts, they engaged in a long campaign of murdering numerous Sunni officials of the Abbasid and Seljuk Dynasties. The members of the sect were promised eternal paradise - by the leader - in return for martyrdom. To enhance the appeal of this promise, they were given hashish (a hallucinogen from the cannabis family), before being ordered out on missions. This word comes from a byname for the Nizaris.

ANS : Assassin, from hashashin, Arabic for 'user of hashish'.

Q5) The Bogomils were a heretical movement that first flowered in the Balkans in the mid-tenth century, and were considered a serious threat to religious orthodoxy. At the time, all heretics were accused of sexual deviance, whether or not the accusation was justified - and the Bogomils soon became labeled as deviants. What word comes from Bulgar (pronounced bull-gahr, this was the region that is now the country, Bulgaria) ?

ANS : Bugger (slang for sodomize)

Q6) This one's straight : What word is derived from the Irish Uisce Beatha meaning 'water of life' ?

ANS : Whiskey ('Uisce' is pronounced oo-is-kuh)

Q7) During WWII, Lt. Col. Evan Carlson, an admirer of the Chinese work ethic, set up what he called _______ meetings, for his own troops. This term is derived from the Chinese word for 'working together', which was a popular communist motto at the time.

ANS : Gung-ho, from the Mandarin gonghe, meaning 'work together'.

Q8) What word owes its origin to this Civil War General ? <see attached picture, ARB.BMP>

ANS : Sideburns. Picture shows Gen. Ambrose R. Burnside sporting a magnificent pair of these. :biggrin:

Get crackin'...


All been cracked. That's all folks !!

<Thanks, jcsd and Nereid for contributions>

[Evo]

Gokul43201, that was great and very educational!

Can we have another, please? :smile:

[jimmy p]

Ooh. I learned this the other day... What is the original meaning of the word "decimate" and what are it's origins? Should be pretty easy.

[Gokul43201]

decimate - strictly, to reduce by a factor of ten, but usually works for any a large reduction in numbers - to fairly wipe out, obliterate. I remember this from (some years ago) when I was going through a list of words for the GRE test.

[jimmy p]

This is true. A stab at the origin?

[The Bob]

This is true. A stab at the origin?

Latin???

The Bob (2004 ©)

[arildno]

The origin of "decimate" is a disciplinary measure in the Roman legions when the officers thought the troops need chastisement and morale-boosting:
The troops were divided into groups of ten.
Each member in a tenner group drew a wooden stick; the guy who drew the burnt stick were beaten to death by the other nine in front of the other troops.
That's where "decimation" comes from, folks.

[Gokul43201]

Hmmm...this seems to be correct - meaning that I was wrong. I thought 'decimate' meant killing/eliminating 90% of the people, but it actually (arch.) means taking out 10% of the people.

[Gokul43201]

Gokul43201, that was great and very educational!

Thanks, Evo :smile:

Can we have another, please? :smile:

Perhaps some other theme next...

[jimmy p]

The origin of "decimate" is a disciplinary measure in the Roman legions when the officers thought the troops need chastisement and morale-boosting:
The troops were divided into groups of ten.
Each member in a tenner group drew a wooden stick; the guy who drew the burnt stick were beaten to death by the other nine in front of the other troops.
That's where "decimation" comes from, folks.


That is close to what I had. Yes it was a disciplinary. I learned that if a unit needed severe disciplining, 10 out the 100 would be selected and slaughtered in front of the century by the centurions.

[arildno]

Hi, jimmyp:
This is a SERIOUS discrepancy, am I wrong??
I'll report back when I've checked my source..

[jimmy p]

Hi, jimmyp:
This is a SERIOUS discrepancy, am I wrong??
I'll report back when I've checked my source..


??? Lol. Actually, I dont see much difference :tongue:

Unless you are being sarcastic :uhh: I CANT TELL WITH TEXT!!!

[arildno]

OK then, it's not THAT serious :wink:
However, I did think I was right, and I know what the original source is (I'll check it up)
(it was a Greek historian living in Rome as P.O.W. at the time of Cato the elder, and the Bacchus cult scandal (oops, shouldn't have mentioned that sordid affair at this family-oriented forum..))

[Gokul43201]

OK then, it's not THAT serious :wink:
However, I did think I was right, and I know what the original source is (I'll check it up)
(it was a Greek historian living in Rome as P.O.W. at the time of Cato the elder, and the Bacchus cult scandal (oops, shouldn't have mentioned that sordid affair at this family-oriented forum..))


I'm not sure exactly what the Bacchus Cult scandal was all about but I'm guessing it was related to some female ritual. The Romans called all the female rituals 'scandals', and something involving bacchanalians was all the more likely to be a target. :rolleyes:

And if you're concerned about the nature of the material, I put up an age advisory at the beginning of this thread.

[arildno]

I'm not sure exactly what the Bacchus Cult scandal was all about but I'm guessing it was related to some female ritual. The Romans called all the female rituals 'scandals', and something involving bacchanalians was all the more likely to be a target. :rolleyes:

And if you're concerned about the nature of the material, I put up an age advisory at the beginning of this thread.

Oh, it was more sordid than that..:wink:
It was your usual mix of orgies in the night, raped males and wicked relatives conspiring to get your inheritance..but this is really too mundane and depressing to get further into..

[humanino]

What a great time that was :rolleyes: :tongue: