Words in Words from the United Kingdom Quiz

Answer: time

The saying means that nobody is so important that they can stop the passage of time. The origin of the phrase is lost in antiquity and is not certain, but its earliest usage is believed to date from St Marher in the year 1225. It has a rather similar meaning to another well known quote 'Never put off until tomorrow what you can do today', which is attributed to Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the USA.

Answer: duet

The term 'duet' can be used to describe two singers, two instrumentalists, or alternatively one of each, performing a song or other musical composition together. Some great duets have been sung by Simon and Garfunkel, and also by John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John in the hit musical 'Grease'.

There are many classical music duets too, like the piano duets composed by Mozart, Rachmaninoff and others.

Answer: kite

The 'Kite-Eating Tree' is the bane of Charlie Brown's life! It has eaten numerous kites of his, but such is Charlie Brown's determination he never gives up hope. The other type of kite is a bird of prey which belongs to the same family as eagles and buzzards.

In the UK the red kite was in danger of extinction until 1989, when conservation efforts began to reintroduce it to the British Isles, where numbers are now flourishing.

Answer: indigo

Indigo is a bluish-purple colour. The colours of the rainbow are, in order; red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet. An easy way to remember the order of things is called a mnemonic. A well-known mnemonic for the rainbow's colours is ROY G BIV.

Answer: minute

Sixty seconds in a minute, sixty minutes in an hour... When the word is pronounced 'my-newt', however, it refers to an unspecified but very tiny measurement or amount. When words are spelled the same but are pronounced differently and have different meanings from one another they are called heteronyms (sometimes known as heterophones).

Answer: denim

The name 'denim' originates from the city of Nimes in southern France, a city of historical interest for its Roman ruins, and where the first denim material was made. The term means 'de Nimes' (of Nimes). Jeans are named 'jeans' after the Italian city of Genoa, where the first denim trousers were made. Denim jeans became popular in 1873 during the California Gold Rush when they were marketed by Levi Strauss together with tailor Jacob Davis, because they were strong-wearing and suitable for the rigours of mining work.

They remain one of the world's best-known brands of jeans.

Answer: knit

There are many things you can make by knitting. Scarves and blankets knitted in plain and purl are easy for beginners before you try out more complicated stitches and patterns on jumpers and other shaped clothing. There are many different types of yarn which can be knitted to get different effects. The craft of knitting has been around for hundreds of years.

Answer: emu

The emu can be as much as five to six feet tall when fully grown. It is related to the cassowary, another large flightless bird, which is native to New Guinea and is also found in Australia. The emu is the world's second largest bird after the ostrich, which comes from Africa.

Although they are flightless, emus can run at speeds in excess of 30 mph and are good swimmers. Their diet consists of insects, plants and grasses.

Answer: nutmeg

Nutmeg is the seed of the nutmeg tree, which is native to Indonesia. The nutmeg tree is unusual in that it produces two spices; as well as the nutmeg seed itself the lacy covering of the seed, known as the aril, is the source of another spice called mace.

Their taste is similar but mace has a rather more delicate flavour. Nutmeg and mace are highly fragrant spices and are also used in the perfumery industry and in essential oils, which are especially popular around Christmas time.

Answer: gemini

Gemini is the third sign of the Zodiac, and covers people born between 21st May and 21st June. Gemini is an Air sign and is ruled by the planet Mercury. Some famous people born under the sign of Gemini include Queen Victoria, the legendary actor John Wayne and the writer of the Sherlock Holmes stories, Scottish author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.