Going From Prayer to Despair Trivia Quiz

Answer: repay

"Repay" is derived from the Old French word "repaier", (to pay back). In turn, "repaier" stems from the Latin "pacare" (to settle, to make peaceful) which itself is derived from the Latin "pax" (peace). Going even further, this derives from Proto-Italic "paks" (peace), itself from Proto-Indo-European "pehks" (peace), from the Proto-Indo-European root "pehk" (to join, to attach).

It's fascinating how far back we can trace the development of language, and yet there is still so much undocumented linguistic history that is lost to time.

Answer: pear

Pears are native to coastal and temperate regions of Europe, North Africa and Asia. They generally grow on trees that can reach 20m in height, however a few pear species are shrubs. Evidence of their cultivation extends to prehistoric times in Europe and Asia.

The fruit is versatile with culinary uses including fresh consumption, canning, drying, and production of juice, jellies, jams, and cider. The timber from the tree is a high-quality wood used in woodwind instruments and furniture.

Answer: ear

Corn, or maize, was domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9000 years ago, and all modern corn plants are derived from this first domestication. Ears are the female flower of the plant, composed of the fibrous husk (leaves) which envelop the corncob.

Answer: Ra

Ra was one of the most important gods in ancient Egyptian religion, ruling the sky, Earth and underworld. It was depicted as a man with a falcon head, adorned with a sun disk over the head surrounded by a cobra. As the ancient Egyptian religion lasted around 3,500 years, the prominence and details of Ra would have evolved significantly over the millennia.

Answer: a

An "article" in grammar is used to identify nouns. Indefinite articles ("a" and "an" in English - functionally the same word but chosen based on the starting syllable of the noun following) are used when the noun is not specifically identifiable. In contrast, the definite article ("the" in English) allows one to refer to a particular identifiable thing.

Answer: PA

Two-letter postal abbreviations were first standardised in 1963 a few months after the new ZIP code system had been introduced. Prior to this, as early as 1832, a variety of USPS-recognised one- to four-letter abbreviations had been used, though they were discouraged, with fully spelled names preferred to avoid confusion.

Despite many decades of two-letter abbreviations being the standard, the traditional abbreviations are still recognised by the USPS (but of course, still discouraged).

Answer: asp

In the popular story, Cleopatra killed herself by allowing an asp (Egyptian cobra) to bite and envenomate her. However, this is historically dubious, with Roman-era writers claiming she poisoned herself with a toxic ointment or introduced poison into her body through a sharp tool such as a hair pin.

There is further hypothesis among modern historians that she may have been murdered by her Roman political rivals.

Answer: SPAR

SPAR was founded in the Netherlands in 1932, focusing on food retail. It has a wide global reach, with presence in most European countries and some countries in Asia, Africa and Oceania - a total of about 13,900 stores in 48 countries as of 2024. The name was derived from DESPAR, an acronym of the phrase "Door Eendrachtig Samenwerken Profiteren Allen Regelmatig", translating to "Through united co-operation everyone profits regularly".

The acronym was chosen to reflect the word "spar" as it means "save" in Dutch, German and Scandinavian languages (with variant spellings in some languages).

Answer: Paris

The Seine is a 777km long river arising near Dijon in north-eastern France. It flows in a north-west direction through much of northern France including Paris before reaching the English Channel at Le Havre. It is navigable for over 60% of its length, making it an important transport artery in historical and modern times.

Answer: rapids

Rapids, sometimes called whitewater, occur when the river bed has a steep incline, coupled with a constriction of the width of the river, increasing the water velocity through the river section. This leads to turbulent flow which can be exacerbated by visible or submerged obstacles such as rocks and fallen trees. When rafted or kayaked, rapids are classified from level I to VI with increasing difficulty and danger at higher grades.

Add an E to RAPIDS and rearrange to finally arrive at DESPAIR. It's not about the destination, it's about the journey!