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Words by Decade 1900-1910 Trivia Quiz

The century turns and a whole new bunch of words marches in to join the dictionary. Ten multi-choice questions here test what you know about them. Did they all stay the course?

A multiple-choice quiz by Philian. Estimated time: 5 mins.

Author
Philian

Time
5 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
138,100

Updated
Apr 01 24

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Tough

Avg Score
5 / 10

Plays
1315

Last 3 plays: Guest 148 (4/10), Guest 71 (2/10), Guest 174 (5/10).

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 10

1. In 1902 is the first written record of the word "aerialist". Which of the following is the best definition of this word? Hint

A person who went for a flight in a balloon.

A now forgotten name for a pilot.

A performer on the high wire or trapeze.

A now forgotten name for an aeroplane designer.

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Question 2 of 10

2. The invention of the first plastic substance that hardened permanently when heated was first recorded in 1909. It was named after its inventor. What was this plastic called? Hint

Swanite

Edisonite

Bakelite

Rutherfordite

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Question 3 of 10

3. We now know that the word "chauffeur" means a paid driver of a private motor vehicle. But what did the French verb "chauffer" originally mean? Hint

to heat

to guide

to steer

to sit

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Question 4 of 10

4. In 1901 there was the first appearance of the appalling word "concentration-camp". Which country was the first to use this term? Hint

France

U.S.A.

Great Britain

Germany

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Question 5 of 10

5. "Fletcherism" was all the rage during the 1900-1910 period. What did "Fletcherism" involve? Hint

Chewing your food relentlessly before swallowing in order to improve your digestion.

Giving your nervous system small electric shocks to improve the purity of your blood.

Taking cold baths in order to improve both your body and your emotional state.

Swinging Indian clubs for half an hour each day to improve your circulation.

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Question 6 of 10

6. Which words for a piece of invaluable office equipment were first recorded to be in use in 1904? Hint

the desk pencil sharpener

the typewriter

the filing cabinet

the portable shredder

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Question 7 of 10

7. What was the name given to a class of British naval ships which consisted mainly of a platform for big guns of the same large calibre? Hint

Fearnoughts

Ironbacks

Bombplates

Dreadnoughts

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Question 8 of 10

8. When his works were translated into English which famous psychiatrist gave us the word "libido" for the psychic drive or energy usually associated with the sexual instinct? Hint

Jung

Freud

Adler

Nietzsche

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Question 9 of 10

9. Which new idea and new word did Francois Marcel Grateau give to the world during the 1900-1910 period? Hint

the first electric kettle - the "Grateau"

the first electric chair and the word "electrocute"

the development of cosmetics and the word "make-up"

the Marcel wave hair fashion and the words "Marcel wave"

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Question 10 of 10

10. Which of the following four words that came into the English language during the 1900-1910 period did not have its origin in the French language? Hint

hangar

aileron

hormone

limousine

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Most Recent Scores

Mar 24 2024 : Guest 148: 4/10
Mar 08 2024 : Guest 71: 2/10
Feb 23 2024 : Guest 174: 5/10

Score Distribution

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. In 1902 is the first written record of the word "aerialist". Which of the following is the best definition of this word?

Answer: A performer on the high wire or trapeze.

According to John Ayto in "20th Century Words" this word was first noted in a Barnum and Bailey circus programme. It was still in common use in Britain as late as the 1960s.

2. The invention of the first plastic substance that hardened permanently when heated was first recorded in 1909. It was named after its inventor. What was this plastic called?

Answer: Bakelite

Leo Baekeland was Belgian-born but the word "Bakelit" was first coined in German, but was immediately changed into "Bakelite" when the invention reached the English-speaking world. In its early form it was often used in the electrical industry for switchgear parts.

3. We now know that the word "chauffeur" means a paid driver of a private motor vehicle. But what did the French verb "chauffer" originally mean?

Answer: to heat

The word originally meant a "stoker". Before settling on its final meaning in 1902 it originally meant anyone who drove a car.

4. In 1901 there was the first appearance of the appalling word "concentration-camp". Which country was the first to use this term?

Answer: Great Britain

Concentration-camps were first set up by Lord Kitchener while the British were fighting the Boer War. Their original intention was to keep all the inmates (usually women and children) rounded up in one place so that they couldn't give help and support to the fighting forces. Due to the association of the term with the atrocities of World War II, the term is often considered to be equivalent to an extermination camp, and it has been suggested that places where people are confined, but not killed, should be referred to as internment camps.

Before this, General Valeriano Weyler has established what were called reconcentration camps in Cuba, in 1897. And the United States government had confined groups of Native Americans for many years before the term was coined.

5. "Fletcherism" was all the rage during the 1900-1910 period. What did "Fletcherism" involve?

Answer: Chewing your food relentlessly before swallowing in order to improve your digestion.

The system of "Fletcherism" was named after the man who devised it -Horace Fletcher. As the mastication fad passed into history it became the subject for comedians.

6. Which words for a piece of invaluable office equipment were first recorded to be in use in 1904?

Answer: the filing cabinet

John Ayto in "Twentieth Century Words" says the first recorded written use of the word is in George Bernard Shaw's "John Bull's Other Island", published in 1904. The typewriter was in widespread use well before the 20th century began.

7. What was the name given to a class of British naval ships which consisted mainly of a platform for big guns of the same large calibre?

Answer: Dreadnoughts

The name of Dreadnought was originally used during the time of Sir Francis Drake. However, it was in February 1906 that the first of this type of modern ship was launched and it was called H.M.S. Dreadnought. It was later the name given to the class of all the sister ships to this first vessel.

8. When his works were translated into English which famous psychiatrist gave us the word "libido" for the psychic drive or energy usually associated with the sexual instinct?

Answer: Freud

Sigmund Freud's works, which were attacked in the 1890s, gradually began to make an impact on the English-speaking world and his terminology was becoming widely known. "Psychoanalysis", "manic depressive", "masochistic" and "repressed" were just some new words from this so-called "science of the mind" developed by Freud and others.

9. Which new idea and new word did Francois Marcel Grateau give to the world during the 1900-1910 period?

Answer: the Marcel wave hair fashion and the words "Marcel wave"

In order to achieve a Marcel wave you had to use heated curling tongs. Grateau was a French hairdresser and this new style was fashionable around the turn of the century. There was also a verb "to marcel".

10. Which of the following four words that came into the English language during the 1900-1910 period did not have its origin in the French language?

Answer: hormone

"Hormone" is from the Greek "horman" meaning to stir up. Many words connected with the development of the car and the aeroplane also came into the language from French during this decade. Thus we get "fuselage", "chassis", "garage" and "chauffeur" amongst others.

Source: Author Philian

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