It's "De"-Lovely Trivia Quiz

Answer: Devote

To vote is to cast a ballot or otherwise make a choice within a group. Elections provide citizens with the opportunity to vote for the people who will govern them; more informally, a group of friends might vote as to what restaurant to go to or what movie to see. Devotion is commitment to and affection for a cause or a person; beloved family members are often described as "devoted" to those they love.

Answer: Debit

"Bit" has long referred to small pieces or fragments of something or some state; removing a sweater because it's a bit warm, you might notice a bit of lint and brush it off. More recently, however, it has come to refer to the smallest possible piece of digital information: a binary digit, a single 0 or 1, the most basic way to store something in the Information Age. Eight bits make up a byte.

A debit is an accounting term for the opposite of a credit. A transaction is recorded as a credit if someone else is paying you, and as a debit if you're paying someone else. A debit card, for example, is so called because it directly debits your bank account for the amount charged - whereas money charged to a credit card represents a loan received.

Answer: Decoy

A coy person is shy or hard-to-get - but as part of a strategy of romantic enticement. Less romantically, someone might also be described as "coy" about his or her business or political plans. A decoy, meanwhile, is a fake or a trick used as a lure or a distraction.

For example, hunters use wooden shapes carved and painted to look like waterfowl to attract real birds, and the history of modern warfare is filled with examples of decoy targets: armies expecting an aerial bombing run might rig up a fake airfield, complete with wooden planes, to trick enemy bombing crews into wasting their ordnance.

Answer: Defeat

A feat is a difficult accomplishment. This word always reminds me of an immortal exchange from Mel Brooks's comedy "Robin Hood: Men in Tights." Robin Hood and Asneeze are imprisoned in a dungeon and plotting their escape. Robin Hood suggests mournfully that they cannot escape without "a great feat of strength," and Asneeze realizes that what they have is "great strength of feet." They kick their way to freedom.

Defeat, however, is very nearly an antonym of "feat": it refers to someone or something being vanquished, conquered, or overcome. The opposite of the word "victory," it comes from the French "defait," which literally means "undone." That fits in rather nicely with the topic of this quiz!

Answer: Deliberate

To liberate a person (or a people) is to free it. For example, Simón Bolívar, leader of the grand early-nineteenth century South American independence struggle, is revered as "The Liberator" for his contribution. Liberation is an emotional word, but deliberation is far more rational.

A jury deliberates when it carefully weighs all the aspects of its verdict; an action is described as deliberate when it is a precisely calculated move.

Answer: Delight

Light is what we see by, and to illuminate a space is to fill it with light. To delight someone, meanwhile, is to fill that person with pleasure - so that the confection called "Turkish delight" was named by a clever marketer indeed. Cole Porter fans may have expected this question ever since seeing the title of the quiz: his 1936 song "It's De-Lovely" features the chorus "It's delightful, it's delicious, it's de-lovely!"

Answer: Deserve

Tennis and volleyball players serve a ball by tossing it in the air and then hitting it from the air (with a racket or with a hand, respectively), sending it across the net and onto the other side of the court; the opposition then tries to return the ball. If the serve cannot be returned, the side that served deserves the point - meaning that they've earned it, that they have been measured and found worthy.

Answer: Desire

The word "Sire" has historically been used to address a reigning king in several countries; it's also a word for a father, used especially when discussing the pedigree of animals like horses. A desire, however, is something (or someone) that's deeply wanted. Fairy-tale-type stories often refer to a character's "heart's desire" -- the one thing he or she truly hopes for.

Answer: Detail

A flexible tail grows from the rear end of many animals. Tails have a variety of uses and purposes, including motion (fish), balance (kangaroos), emotions and social signals (dogs), weapons (scorpions), and even romance (peacocks). The details of something, meanwhile, are fine or small components; for example, one might agree to go into business with a friend, and then propose a later meeting to "work out the details." Biologists and zoologists may combine the two words - if they're researching the details of tails, that is - but the meanings are ordinarily more separate.

Answer: Deliver

The liver is a crucial organ for vertebrates: among other things, it filters out toxins and secretes bile, which is critical for digestion. To deliver something, however, is to carry it from one place to another. Pizza places and take-out restaurants often offer home delivery as a convenient way for harried people to get dinner; perhaps some of these places deliver liver dishes, too!

I hope this quiz has delivered some fun! Thank you for playing.