Special Sub-Topic: It All Sounds Greek To Me Click Here To Play: It All Sounds Greek To Me

After having finished painting the car, I was entering the house when the telephone rang. Which of the following words is of Greek origin?

telephone. The word we are looking for is telephone. "Tele" means "far" in ancient Greek, while "phoni" means "voice". So the word telephone actually means "voice from far away".

Which of the following prefixes is of Greek origin?

anti-. Anti- is used in Greece as a prefix to describe opposition or opposites. So somebody who is against socialism would be an antisocialist. The word anti is also used as a preposition in the Greek language. (Incidentally, "over" is related to the Greek word "anti" but is not derived from it).

After having successfully passed her exams, she was in a state of euphoria. Which of the following words is of Greek origin?

euphoria. The prefix "eu" in Greek means "good", while the word "phero" means to carry. So euphoria means to "carry good with you".

In order to place the medicine into his body, the doctor had to use a hypodermic needle. Which of the following words is of Greek origin?

hypodermic. The prefix "hypo" means "under" in the Greek language and "derma" means "skin". So hypodermic means "under the skin".

I was recently in Africa and I saw a giraffe, a hippopotamus, an ostrich and a lizard. Which of the following words is of Greek origin?

hippopotamus. "Hippos" means "horse" and "potamos" means river in ancient Greek, thus hippopotamus means "river-horse".

Yesterday I read an interesting book and found out all about cavemen and dinosaurs. Which of the following words comes from the Greek language?

dinosaurs. "Dino" means "terrible" in Greek while "saura" means "lizard". Therefore, a dinosaur is actually a "terrible lizard".

My friend does not wish to eat anything at all and I believe he suffers from anorexia. Which of the following words is of Greek origin?

anorexia. The prefix "an" means "no" and the word "orexi" means "appetite" and as a result, anorexia means "no appetite".

I was always interested in modelism, but now I have taken more interest in photography. Which of the following words is of Greek origin?

photography. The word "phos" means "light" in Greek while "grapho" means "write", so photography means to "write with light"

One of the strange things about modern medicine is the treatment with hydrotherapy. Which of the following words is of Greek origin?

hydrotherapy. "Hydro" means "water" while "therapia" means "cure". Therefore, hydrotherapy means to "cure with water".

"I was reading the history of anthropology when my mother, who is an architect, burst into my room, waving her hands hysterically. Someone had left an elephant in our garden. She felt ill and I had to give her an antibiotic but I could not detect any anomalies in the organism." How many words that derive from the Greek language are contained in those sentences?

8. The words are: history, anthropology, architect, hysterically, elephant, antibiotic, anomalies, organism. You see, Greek isn't such a difficult language after all!