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Neologogenesis: Words That Don't Exist, But Could
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The words which are the subject of this quiz don't appear in any dictionary, and have never appeared in print until now. But each nevertheless has a clear meaning, dictated by etymological and other word-formation principles.
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Very Difficult
10 Q
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xaosdog
May 29 02
4842 plays
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What's in a Name?
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Imagine if we were called by the meaning of our names rather than by the names themselves. Some of us might have a hard time living up to our appellations! Can you figure out the names that match these meanings?
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Very Difficult
10 Q
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Cymruambyth
Jan 26 10
441 plays
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Love, Etymologically
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I was researching the etymology of the tennis term "love" the other day and was struck by the histories of the names of some popular sports. What do you know about the origins of some their names?
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Easy
10 Q
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adams627
Feb 06 10
132 plays
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Words Derived from Falconry Terms
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The ancient sport of falconry has added many words to our vocabulary. Can you recognize some of them?
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Tough
10 Q
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crisw
Feb 12 07
573 plays
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More Tea, Vicar?
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A not overly serious look at how those in Holy Orders have left their mark upon the English Language.
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Tough
10 Q
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glendathecat
Aug 04 09
513 plays
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Goat Words
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A surprising number of English words and phrases are derived from words having to do with goats. How many do you know?
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Tough
20 Q
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crisw
Jan 04 02
1491 plays
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Nerdy Words For Wordy Nerds
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After a tough day of train spotting, sucking seer and biting the heads off of chickens, it might be nice to settle down, hang up your anorak and play with words.
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Difficult
10 Q
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uglybird
Sep 04 07
1458 plays
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'Body Language'
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Tests your knowledge of words etymologically derived from anatomical roots. xaosdog (xaosdog.com) attests that each word appearing in this quiz has been accepted as a legitimate English word by at least one major dictionary AND one minor dictionary.
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Tough
10 Q
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xaosdog
Nov 21 01
2052 plays
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Daffy Derivations
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The English language contains an abundant supply of words that communicate impaired sanity or intellect. Can you connect some of these "dotty" words to their origins? I'll supply information regarding origin and usage, and you can guess the word.
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Tough
10 Q
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uglybird
May 24 04
1455 plays
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Veg-Etymology: Linguistic Roots Exposed
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Sink your teeth into this succulent assemblage of herbal verbiage as we burrow into the fertile soil of the linguistic origins of vegetable names. You will find that a few hints have been planted to assist you.
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Tough
10 Q
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uglybird
Nov 30 04
1059 plays
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Where Everyday Phrases Come From
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We use these in our everyday speech. See if you can identify their origins.
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Difficult
10 Q
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simjazzbeer
Sep 10 07
1716 plays
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Where'd it come from?
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Many of the everyday words and phrases we use have interesting origins. Here a a few that may be of interest.
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Average
10 Q
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Richicago
Jan 24 08
1548 plays
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Green Invasion
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A number of terms derived from (or giving rise to) words meaning ‘green’ are in common use. How many of them can you recognize?
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Tough
10 Q
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looney_tunes
Dec 14 08
624 plays
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The Quirkiness of the English Language
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The English language is a hotchpotch of foreign words. This quiz is about the origin of words in everyday English usage.
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Tough
15 Q
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sunfloweruk23
Jan 24 04
1320 plays
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Interesting Origins of Food-Related Words
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Everybody eats, but few people bother to think about how what they are ingesting got its name. This quiz takes a look at some delightful delectables, and how they were named.
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Difficult
15 Q
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jgiles
Nov 23 04
1176 plays
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Word Origins from Around the World
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Words in common usage today derive from sources the world over. Do you know which words come from the source word with which I will provide you? Good luck - all is not as it appears!
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Difficult
10 Q
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alliefarrell
Dec 02 06
1392 plays
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Etymology of the Funtrivia Categories
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A journey through the word roots of all 20 FunTrivia Category names.
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Tough
20 Q
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kscleaves
Aug 30 09
300 plays
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Non-Indo-European Words in English
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Trivia fiends like me know all the German and Latin roots in American English, but what about those non-Indo-European loan words we use? I'll give you two or three words and you tell me in what language they originated.
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Average
10 Q
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shvdotr
Jan 01 10
423 plays
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An Etymological Smorgasbord
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Are you a word lover? Here are a diverse group of questions relating to word origins.
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Difficult
10 Q
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uglybird
Jun 01 04
1107 plays
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Word and name origins
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Many words and names have pretty banal origins, hopefully here are some that will make you say 'Oh really?'. There is a slightly anatomical bias to many of the questions. British based.
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Very Difficult
10 Q
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satguru
Jul 10 07
891 plays
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Ancient Word Origins
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Understanding the word origins may give us a better and deeper insight of the terms we use daily.
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Average
10 Q
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thejazzkickazz
Sep 02 02
2712 plays
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Odd One Out
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In this quiz three of four options concern words that are etymologically related via Latin or Greek. Find the one that is not.- Questions may include AE orthography.
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Tough
10 Q
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flem-ish
Sep 19 02
1467 plays
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Phrases, Myths and Ancient History
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Myths have made their way into our language in so many ways. The following involve some common idioms which relate to myths and a little bit of history...
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Difficult
10 Q
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alkmene
Feb 02 04
1095 plays
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"Alfresco" English: Words From The Out of Doors
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Foreign words ("foreign" originating from the Latin "foris", meaning "out of doors") are generally welcomed warmly into the English language. This quiz will test your knowledge of some of our adopted words.
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Average
10 Q
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uglybird
Jun 10 04
774 plays
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And Now, a Few Words From Our Guild
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Welcome to Guilder's World of Words, where you can find all kinds of words to suit all your vocabulary needs! We have some wonderful specials here at the World of Words. This week's specials are:
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Tough
10 Q
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ertrum
Jun 30 06
399 plays
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Word Origins
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Etymology is like linguistic archeology. You dig into
words and you discover earlier forms, meanings, etc. Have a try with these - occasionally surprising - word origins.
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Tough
10 Q
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flem-ish
Sep 02 02
2706 plays
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Etymological Tidbits
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By looking at faces you often recognize family features. Something similar is true about words. Try your luck.
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Average
10 Q
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flem-ish
Sep 21 02
2364 plays
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Where Did That Word Come From?
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Most English words come from Latin or 'Old English'. Here are some that don't. But where DID they come from?
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Average
15 Q
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Baloo55th
Apr 26 03
1248 plays
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Origins Of First Names
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Many English names happen to be foreign names in disguise. This quiz deals with the meaning and origins of names that were borrowed from Hebrew, Latin, Greek, Scandinavian and a few other languages.
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Difficult
10 Q
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flem-ish
Jan 21 04
873 plays
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Son of Origins of Words and Phrases
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More strange origins of familiar words and phrases.
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Difficult
10 Q
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vendome
May 23 00
1842 plays
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