The Etymology Quiz

THE ETYMOLOGY QUIZ

1. There is a well-known myth about the word X that says that in 1791 a Dublin theater owner named James Daly made a bet that he could introduce a word into the language within twenty-four hours. He then went out and hired a group of street urchins to write the word "X", which was a nonsense word, on walls around the city of Dublin. Within a day, the word was common currency and had acquired a meaning (since no one knew what it meant, everyone thought it was some sort of test). However, there is no evidence to support the story, and the term was already in use before the alleged bet in 1791.

Identify X


2. X evolved from Latin currere ‘to run’ and actually means ‘running place’. The modern sense of ‘a long passage in a building’ dates from the early 19^th century.

ID X


3. According to Greek mythology, when Theseus entered the Labyrinth to kill the minotaur (a half-man, half-bull), he unraveled a "clew" - a ball of string - behind him, so he could find his way back.

The word X didn't even exist until the mid-1500s when people started to vary the spelling of "clew."

ID X

(Do you need a clue for this???)

4. X is the shortened form of "X"bae, which comes from the Old English "usquebae," derived from two Gaelic words: uisce (water) andbethu (life). Thus, X literally means "water of life."

ID X

5. X comes from the Arabic "al zahr" which means "the dice". The term came to be associated with dice during the Crusades and eventually took on a negative connotation because games of dice were associated with gambling.

ID X

6. X comes from a Latin root meaning "little mouse". Apparently people used to think muscles looked like little mice under their skin.

ID X

7."X" derives via Latin lyricus from the Greek λυρικός (lyrikós), the adjectival form of lyre. It first appeared in English in the mid-16th century in reference, to the Earl of Surrey's translations of Petrarch and to his own sonnets. Greek lyric poetry had been defined by the manner in which it was sung accompanied by the lyre or cithara, as opposed to the chanted formal epics or the more passionate elegies accompanied by the flute.

ID X

8.The English word X meaning a raging warrior of superhuman strength, is derived from the Old Norse words, meaning a "bear-shirt" i.e. a wild warrior or champion of the heathen age, however its interpretation remains controversial.

ID X

9.Research on the trade of jean fabric shows that it emerged in the cities of X, Italy, and Nimes, France. Gênes, the French word for X, may be the origin of the word "jeans".

ID the place where "jeans" was invented.

10. X comes from a Latin phrase meaning "bad air" and was used to describe the atmosphere around the swamps of Rome.

ID X

ANSWERS

1. Quiz !!! 

2. Corridor

3. Clue⁇

4. Whiskey🍷

5. Hazard

6. Muscle💪

7. Lyrics ♭

8. Bersrker💪

9. Genoa👖

10. Malaria (mal-bad ; aria-air)

Thank you for taking the quiz😁

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                            The Tech Quiz

                                The Food Quiz

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