Archive for the ‘vocabulary’ Tag
The English language is brutal. I don’t envy anyone coming to this country without any English speaking skills because I’ve lived here my whole life and I still don’t have a handle on everything. Virtually everything that we talk about or speak about originally came from our distant past going back thousands of years. I thought I was up-to-speed as far as the language goes but once again I was sadly mistaken. Today’s post will introduce you to some words that you’re familiar with and others not so much. When I can I will identify the original word. As always, answers are at the end and no peeking please.
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- What is the meaning of the Greek word “kosmetikos”, from which we get the word cosmetics?
- A milligram is a thousandth of a gram. What’s a “picogram”?
- What do “noologists” study?
- What kind of voice does someone have if he or she is “oxyphonic”?
- What does the word “climax” mean in Greek?
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- How did the “duffel” bag in its name?
- What’s the difference between a nook and a cranny?
- What word originated as the nickname for a English insane asylum?
- What flowers name means nose-twitching in Latin – a name bestowed upon it because of its pungent aroma?
- A bibliophile is a collector of rare books. What is a “bibliopole”?
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- What was the original meaning of the word “clue”?
- What is the origin of the expression “on the Q. T.”?
- What is the literal translation of the pasta “vermicelli”?
- What were the very first item is referred to as gadgets?
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Answers
Skilled in decorating, 1 trillionth of a gram, The mind, Unusually shrill, “Ladder”. In Greece is spelled klimax, From the Belgian town of Duffel, A nook is a corner; a cranny is a crack, Bedlam, The nasturtium, A seller of rare books, A ball of thread or yarn – which makes the concept of unraveling a clue all the more meaningful, The word quiet – from its first and last letters, Little worms, Miniatures of the Statue of Liberty sold in Europe in 1886, A tightrope walker.
I’ve been blogging for almost 15 years and have written thousands of words. Also, I’ve been addicted to crossword puzzles for my whole life and know thousands of other words. That being said, I recently stumbled across some trivia concerning words and languages and I like to pass them along. I know a lot of words, but I found out I didn’t know as much as I thought I did.
- Egyptians, Indians, and Turk’s search for “sex” on Google more than any other nationality. “Hitler” is the most popular in Germany, Austria, and Mexico. The word Nazi is a favorite in Chile, Australia, and Britain. “David Beckham” gets the most hits in Venezuela.
- In the Eskimo language Inuktitut, there is a single word meaning “I should try not to become an alcoholic”: Iminngernaveersaartunngortussaavunga.
- The words “tomato”, “coyote”, “avocado”, and “chocolate” all come from the Aztec language Nahuatl.
- The word “boredom” did not exist in the English language until after 1750.
- The “zip” in “zip code” stands for “zone improvement plan”.
- An 18-year-old knows approximately 60,000 words, which represents a learning rate of one word per 90 walking minutes from the age of one.
- By the age of five, children will have acquired 85% of the language they will have as adults.
- The Finnish language has no future tense.
- Over just six days in the month of August 1998, The Washington Post devoted 80,289 words to the Monica Lewinsky scandal.
- The condition of being unable to release a dart from one’s hand when throwing is known as dartitus.
WORDS CAN BE FUN
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