Can You Eat a Hassock? Trivia Quiz

Answer: footstool

Another meaning for this Middle English word is "tussock, or clump of ground tufted with grass."

Answer: cover to protect furniture

Macassar was a kind of hair oil. Antimacassars were originally invented to protect furniture when macassar users leaned back. Antimacassars are those little crocheted doily-type things that your grandma used to put on the backs and arms of sofas and armchairs (or, at least, my grandma did).

Answer: low barrier

Balusters are those vase-shaped upright supports. When a line of balusters are topped by a railing, it's called a balustrade.

Answer: chest of drawers

If you saw the movie "To Kill a Mockingbird" or read "The Catcher in the Rye" you have heard about "chifferobes" and chiffoniers.

Answer: deep serving dish

Tureens were often used to serve soup. This word is from Middle French.

Answer: drape

Those long, narrow tablecloth-like draperies on altars are valances. So are those long, narrow strips of cloth that hide the tops of longer curtains. In the UK valances are linens that decorate beds' bottom edges (the U.S. terms for these are "bedskirts" or "dust ruffles").

Answer: drinking glass

A goblet has a foot and a stem. A tumbler doesn't.

Answer: dressing table

There are also vanity cases (dressing cases) and make-up compacts called vanities.

Answer: roofed structure over an entrance

Most fancy hotels have porte cocheres to protect guests as they step out of vehicles. Literally, "porte cochere" means "coach door" (in French).

Answer: keeps food hot

Chafe comes from a Middle English word that means "to keep warm." For example, when you chafe your hands you rub them together to warm them. Chafing dishes sometimes have places beneath them for cans of Sterno brand chafing fuel. These cans of flammable gel are lit like candles.