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Fun Trivia: L : Linguistics

Special Sub-Topic: Turkey In A China Shop


The French word for which country gave its name to leather or fabric with a napped finish?

    Sweden. Suede is the material in question. The French "gants de Suède" meaning "Swedish gloves" was generalized over time to name the leather or fabric with this peculiar texture.

Which African countries gave their names to words in modern spoken Hebrew?
    Congo and Djibouti. A "congo" is the electric hammer drill used by road workers, and "djibouti sandals" is common speak for flip-flop sandals. It seems to me these are unique to Hebrew, but please correct me if I am wrong. The exact reasons for this particular usage are disputed.

Which of the following is NOT a chemical element named after a country?
    Croatium. Although it has a nice ring to it, Croatium is made up. Francium, Germanium and Polonium are named after France, Germany and Poland respectively.

In Arabic and in Greek, which country gave its name to the orange (the citrus fruit)?
    Portugal. Ancient commerce routes influenced the etymology of imported goods, sometimes to the extreme. The Arabic word for orange is "burtukal" and the Greek is "portokali".

Nowadays "italic" is mainly used to refer to a computer font with a slight slant, but what is the origin of this term?
    It is based on the handwriting of Italian humanist G.F.P. Bracciolini. Gian Francesco Poggio Bracciolini (1380–1459) devoted his life to the search and transcription of classic texts from Greek to Latin. His notable calligraphic style was first adopted publicly by the Venitian Aldine Press in an edition of writings by Virgil (1501).

"Aspamia", the Aramaic word for Spain, was granted which additional meaning in Aramaic?
    A faraway place, the end of the world. Aramaic was used by several Mediterranean cultures, so the perception of Spain as the end of the world certainly makes sense. Modern Hebrew retained the Aramaic idiom "khalomot be'Aspamia" (which translates to "dreams in Spain") to describe one's highly unrealistic view on the state of affairs. Player dizzley adds that the French idiom "batir des châteaux en Espagne" ("to build castles in Spain") carries a similar meaning.

Which island group located in the North Atlantic Ocean gave its name to a type of short trousers?
    Bermuda & Bermudas. The Bermuda shorts, or Bermudas, are recognized by this name and widely used in moderate to hot climate areas. Yours truly, a somewhat poetic preppy himself, occasionally wears them to work at the risk of the occasional grunt from the occasional solemn preppy.

Brazil has a striking similarity to the Hebrew word "Barzel", which means "iron". Which colour connects both these words?
    Red. In Portuguese, "brasa" means "ember" and the reddish colour of the Brazilwood tree (Pau Brazil) was adopted to name the land itself. Iron has a reddish colour, especially when oxidized. With slight changes, the word "barzel" is common to many Semitic languages. An interesting article on its etymology can be found at http://www.balashon.com/2006/08/barzel.html

A technique originating in China led many languages to adopt the word "china" for domestic porcelain utensils. In modern Hebrew, it is called "kharsina". Which two words are amalgamated to create this word?
    "kheres" (clay) and "sin" (China). The shared "s" enabled the smooth welding which created the word "kharsina" literally meaning "clay of China". The Mount Sinai option would have accounted nicely for the fragility of the Tables of the Covenant, but I swear I made it up.

This would have been a lesser quiz if it didn't mention the turkey. Which of the following is a WRONG translation of its name?
    "Turkish rooster" in Turkish. Turkish also uses India in its word for the turkey ("hindi"). The etymological saga of the turkey is truly fascinating - apart from Turkey, India, Ethiopia and Peru other involved countries are Greece, France and Egypt. Please refer to http://www.linguistlist.org/issues/7/7-174.html - an extremely thorough source on the subject. Thanks(giving) for taking this quiz!


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