Word and name origins Trivia Quiz

Answer: Estate of Snot's people

Despite beginning with an 'S', more by convenience than politeness the name at some time became abbreviated to Nottingham without the initial 'S'. 'Ingham' is a common Old English suffix for 'estate', and the prefix is whose estate it is. How the poor guy ended up with a name like 'Snot' is anyone's guess but I'm sure you can imagine.

Answer: Bristow

There is a very unusual reason for the 'L' at the end of Bristol. Bristolians add an 'L' to the end of words ending in open vowels sounds, so even though the town was called Bristow, most locals added the 'L' as they did to all similar words. In the end the official name reflected the way it was actually said.

It means the site of the bridge in Anglo-Saxon. It is west of Bath and south of Gloucester, and has spent time both in and out of the counties of Gloucestershire, the doomed Avon created in the 1970s reshuffle and a county in itself as it is again in 2007.

Answer: Italian

During World War Two many Italian troops used the word 'casa' to refer to the toilet, simply translating to 'house'. Once they fought with the allies the name caught on and became the English version, also spelt 'khazi'.

Answer: Manchester

Manchester is derived from the Brittonic for breast-shaped hill, and when the Romans briefly named it they translated it to Mammucium, and the 'chester' part indicates a Roman camp on said hill. Bristols is rhyming slang also meaning breasts (don't ask).

Answer: Nose-shaped hill

The Anglo-Saxons often used very simple descriptive names for their settlements, and the shape of the local hill was quite a common reason. Den of course being Anglo-Saxon for hill. A cow being technically part of the neat family could theoretically be in a 'neat's den'.

Answer: Davis and Newman Airlines

Even now, many people assume Dan Air was from Denmark. In fact SAS, which translates tidily to 'Scandinavian air services' covers Norway, Sweden and Denmark altogether. The nearest Denmark has to a national airline is the private company Maersk Air.

Answer: Farting Nicholas

One example of the German sense of humour, due to its alleged effects, the dark bread made with molasses is called 'Farting Nicholas', after the shared name 'Old Nick' for the devil.

Answer: Soft faeces

Sorry everyone, it was the poo answer. If you switch the 'o's for 'a's you get the true meaning, borrowed from the original Dutch phrase of the two words.

Answer: Wild garlic valley

Unusually for me, the clean answer is the correct one. Bottom is understandable as a valley, and 'Ram' in this context is Anglo-Saxon for wild garlic. It never stops people making jokes about it though.

Answer: The sun bleaches the seats

I always wondered what these mysterious places were about, now I know. In Britain the indoor version is referred to as 'The Gods'. These are because they are the highest.

All references are from the Reader's Digest Atlas of Britain and the numerous word books by Adrian Room.