The etymology quiz

A set of 25 questions on words, their origins and meanings by Atulaa Krishnamurthy

1. School Quiz
By Atulaa Krishnamurthy
Etymology of Words.

2. 1) The Rath Yatra at Puri, Orissa
has led to the creation of an
English word, which means ‘any
large, overpowering, destructive
force or object’. What word, and
from what exactly has it been
coined?

3. Juggernaut, from Jagannath. 
Devotees are said to have
thrown themselves to be
crushed under the wheels of the
Rath, hence the word.

4. 2) A word derived from an
animal. It means ‘any crudely or
irregularly operated court, esp.
one so controlled as to render a
fair trial impossible.’
Speculated origins of the word
are that the Brits thought the
Australian penal code couldn’t
achieve anything.

5. Kangaroo Court.
It is because this setup
describes courts whose
opinions wander ‘all over the
place’ and ‘bounce’ too
frequently to ensure a fair
trial.

6. •X is a word which is said to be
got from the Hindi word
Chedda (hole), and it means a
small piece of paper generated
from punching holes in a paper.
Some claim X to be an acronym
of Card Hole Agglomerate
Debris.
X is?

7. Chad.

8. 4) Sitter. This is a word coined by
Milton Sirota, nine year old nephew
of mathematician Edward Kassner.
It is used to describe a number
equal to 1 followed by hundred
zeroes.

9. Googol.

10. 5) X means ‘a brief description or
review, especially on the cover of a
book.’ It was coined by Frank
Burgess, a humorist and illustrator.
The original X was a Miss Blinda X on
Burgess’ book covers, and X first
referred to pictures of big women,
but is now used to denote praise on
the cover of books. What is X?

11. Blurb.

12. 6) A verb which means ‘to
leave in a hurry.’
It is derived from the
Spanish word ‘vamos’ (let’s
go), and from Latin vadere
(to go).

13. Vamoose.

14. 7) Words with colour as metaphor
are always interesting. A _____ is
‘a brilliant passage in an otherwise
dull and uninspiring work’. It is
derived from Latin pannus
purpureus, a phrase used by poet
Horace to suggest a patch of royal
fabric on ordinary cloth. Fill in the
blank.

15. Purple passage/ purple
prose.
(Purple was the colour of
royalty)

16. 8) More colour. ___ is an adjective
pertaining to the type of jobs, such
as telephone operator or
secretary, traditionally held by
women.
Derived from a colour traditionally
associated with women. Fill up.

17. Pink collar job.
Built on the model of
phrases blue collar and
white collar. The feminist
brigade won’t like this I’m
sure.

18. 9) “I put my right hand in the hold and
found the pipe that fed the radiator-
God, it was hot. I took the pipe in hand
and overrode the reflex to pull away.
Two dols, no, seven dols- maybe even
eight dols. Wait. Five dols, four dols.
Minutes later it was still a comfortable
four dols.” – Richard Kopperdahl, in
“Bettervue Hospital”
‘Dol’ is a unit for measuring what?

19. Pain intensity.
From Latin ‘dolor’ (pain).
Sorry for the weird passage.

20. 10) Spell it right, or no
marks.
This word comes from the
Tamil word paraiyan,
meaning drummer,
considered to be lower in
rank in the caste system in
India.

21. Pariah. Noun, meaning
‘an outcast’.

22. 11) What is singular for
the word ‘opera’?

23. Opus.
FYI, the diminutive form of
opus is opuscule. Its what we
call a minor novel or
symphony. A great work is,
yes, a magnum opus.

24. 12) If progenitor means ‘an
ancestor or a forefather’, what is
the word for the earliest ancestor?
It is derived from the Latin word
for first + genitor (begetter)

25. Primogenitor.
Latin for first is primo.

26. 13) What is the collective
noun for CDs?
And no, its not a stack.
But if you’re thinking
visually, you’ll get there.

27. A cylinder of CDs.
Other collective nouns from the
world of computers are,
a sneer of Mac users,
a clique of computer mice,
a 404 of websites,
a hindrance of tech support
people.

28. 14) X is word which can mean a
‘group of birds’, ‘a collection of
ladies or female animals’ or ‘an
abbreviation for beverage in
the United Kingdom.
What is X?

29. Bevy.
From Middle English
‘bevey’.

30. 15) Again, spell it right.
___ is a noun, meaning ‘a
look’, derived from the
Hindi word ‘dekho’,
imperative of dekhna (to
look).

31. Dekko.

32. 16) Athanaeum (ath-uh-NEE-
yum) or atheneum, is noun
derived from the Greek word
Athenaion (a temple for Athena,
the goddess of wisdom.)
Athenaeum is actually a lesser
known synonym of a common
everyday word. What word?

33. Library.
It is also used to
refer to a literary or
knowledge-related
club.

34. 17) The shortest word with
each vowel used once is the
name of perhaps the largest
tree. Name it.

35. Sequoia.
A few interesting words that contain
all the vowels are armigerous,
epuration, inquorate, ossuary,
uvarovite, to name a few. Facetious,
abstemious and annelidous contain
the vowels in order, and
uncomplimentary and subcontinental
contain them in reverse order.

36. 18) X means ‘a low-paying, non-
challenging job with few
benefits or opportunities,
typically in the service sector.’
Coined by Douglas Coupland in
his 1991 novel ‘Generation X’
after a famous food chain.

37. McJob. 

38. 19)Another word from an
animal. It means ‘a period of
economic hardship’, and was
coined by Winston Churchill to
refer to the mid-’30s in Britain,
after the Bible passage “the
years that the X hath eaten”
(Joel 2:25)

39. Locust Years.

40. 20) A ___ is a pessimist-
cum-alarmist, one who
constantly warns of the
possibility of calamities.
From a children’s tale.
Fill in the blank.

41. Chicken Little.

42. 21) If an epiphany is the
occurrence of a sudden
thought or a deeper
understanding, what is
theophany the appearance
of? Think Dhritarashtra.

43. The appearance of god
to a person.

44. 22)In an orchestra, the position
of concertmaster is given to the
first chair violinist, based on
whose instrument everyone tunes
theirs to, and from whom they
take their cues when playing
without a conductor. So the one
sitting right behind him is in a
subordinate position. This has led
to a oft-used phrase. What?

45. Second fiddle.
The composer and conductor Leonard
Bernstein was once asked what he
thought was the most difficult
instrument to play. He said, “Second
fiddle”, not referring to the skill
required but the difficulty most of
us have to be in a secondary position.

46. 23) What is Retail
Therapy?

47. The use of shopping as
a means of relaxation
or cheering up. :D

48. 24) X is a legendary place in
South America sought after
for its treasures by 16
th

century explorers. It is used
today to refer to places that
offer fabulous wealth or
opportunity. In Spanish, this
literally means ‘the gilded one’.
What’s the good word?

49. El Dorado.

50. 25) A __ is the transposition of
usually initial sounds of words,
producing a humourous result.
Named for William Archibald
Spooner, a master of the art. Fill
in the blank.

51. Spoonerism.
Examples are- to a truant
student, “You have tasted
two worms, and hissed most
of my mystery lectures, you
will now leave by the town
drain.”
Toasting the queen, “here’s to
our queer old dean!”

52. Theeeee End.
Thank you Anu Garg and
your Wordsmith.org.