Curious Origins of Everyday Words Quiz

Question: The name of which of these animals comes from an early French dialect word meaning “hairy cat”?

Answer: Caterpillar comes from joining the early French dialect words cate, meaning “cat,” and pelose, meaning “hairy.” The modern French word for “caterpillar” is chenille, which comes from the Latin for “little dog.”

Question: Which of these words comes from a beverage enjoyed by sailors?

Answer: People who are groggy might feel as though they had too much grog, an alcoholic beverage often associated with the high seas.

Question: Clue is a variant of clew, a word that describes which of the following?

Answer: Clew (and therefore clue) became a word describing a hint toward a solution, thanks to the ancient Greek myth of the Labyrinth. In the story of the legendary hero, Theseus unspools a ball of yarn as he roams the Labyrinth to ensure that he can find his way back out.

Question: Which of these words is a shortening of a sheep-based insult?

Answer: People have been calling fools “muttonheads” (mutton describing the meat of a sheep) since the beginning of the 19th century. Muttonhead was shortened to mutt, at first used to describe fools and later mongrel dogs.

Question: Which of these words can be traced back to an Arabic word for “dice”?

Answer: Hazard came to English from the medieval French hasard, which can be traced back to the Arabic al-zahr, meaning “the die.”

Question: The “jack” in jackpot originated from which of the following?

Answer: Jackpot first described a version of draw poker where the pot grows until a player can open betting by having a pair of jacks.

Question: Hypocrite comes from the ancient Greek word for which profession?

Answer: In ancient Greece, hypocrite was a term for actors who would wear large masks while performing.

Question: Which of these words came from the Latin word for “evil spell”?

Answer: Now used to describe a more general kind of allure, fascinate originally referred to bewitching and spell casting.

Question: Which word comes from the sounding of a bell reminding medieval Europeans to cover their fires at night?

Answer: To help curb accidental blazes from spreading among tightly spaced flammable houses, a signal called a coverfeu (feu meaning “fire” in French) was sounded in many medieval European towns to remind everyone to put out their fires or cover their hearths.

Question: The word muscle is derived from a Latin word for which of these animals?

Answer: In Latin musculus means “little mouse.” With a little imagination, a flexed bicep and its tendon might resemble a little mouse and its tail under one’s skin.

Question: The word scavenger first applied to people in what line of work?

Answer: In medieval times, a scavenge was a tax a town would levy on the goods brought to their market by nonresidents. Scavengers were the people who collected this tax. Eventually, these people were also assigned the duty of keeping the streets clean.

Question: Which of these words was first used to describe the roots of plants?

Answer: Radical comes from the Latin radix, meaning “root.” Radical can be used when talking about the roots of plants as well as figurative roots. The word grew to mean “fundamental” and later “extreme.” Eventually, radical entered surfer vocabulary meaning “excellent” or “cool.”

Question: Meticulous is derived from a Latin word meaning what?

Answer: Ultimately derived from the Latin metus, meaning “fear,” meticulous was once synonymous with timid or frightened. The word then acquired the meaning “timidly careful” and later “painstakingly careful.”

Question: Which of these terms is an alteration of the name of a religious woman?

Answer: In England during the Middle Ages, annual fairs were held to honor St. Audrey. Vendors at these fairs were notorious for selling cheap merchandise, including necklaces called St. Audrey’s lace. This eventually became known as tawdry lace.

Question: Which of these words most likely originated from a scam involving a gilded ring?

Answer: Phony is thought to come from fawney, which itself comes from the Irish fainne, meaning “ring.” A common swindle of the 18th century, it involved secretly dropping a fawney—a brass ring that was gilded to appear gold. The fawney-dropper would pretend to spot it just after the intended victim does. The scammer would suggest selling the (apparently) valuable ring and splitting the money. Convinced they can get more money by selling it themselves, the victim haggles to keep the ring and gives the con artist a small buyout—a bargain for gold but in reality a rip-off for the brass fawney.