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Language > English > Flashcards

English Flashcards

1
Q

“Bumbershoot” is Britspeak for one of these.

A

Umbrella

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2
Q

The Chinese title of the Chinese Industrial Cooperative Society, understood by an American Marine Corps officer to mean “work together,” provided the elements for a term that has evolved to mean “enthusiastic” or “energetic.” What is that term?

A

Gung-Ho

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3
Q

The name of the ruler (and satrap of the Persian emperor) buried at the Tomb at Halicarnassus, one of the seven ancient wonders of the world, is the source of what word (which is, essentially, what the structure was)?

A

Mausoleum

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4
Q

What portmanteau was allegedly coined in 1895 for a novel and fashionable accommodation to the dining needs of “Saturday-night carousers” (and their attendant difficulties with early rising on Sundays)?

A

Brunch

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5
Q

What word can refer to a brand of hummus, a term for a Jew born on Israeli soil, a Beirut refugee camp whose bleak history is perhaps best known for a 1982 massacre, or, less seriously, a parody edition of a beloved game show where you buy fine electronics with “Sony guts” whether you want to or not?

A

Sabra

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6
Q

What is the term from phonetics for the gliding of two vowel sounds within a single syllable, such as in the English words wife, joy, brain, and (in New York) coffee and dog?

A

Diphthong

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7
Q

In compound nouns, what seven-letter gerund may follow words including “frequency”, “bed”, “channel”, “bar” and “island”? Alone, the same word may refer to the use of a traditional flavoring agent in beer.

A

Hopping

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8
Q

Although there are numerous examples in the works of Shakespeare and other authors, putting the word “from” before what six-letter adverb is often cited as a solecism, because its meaning is already “from what place.”

A

Whence

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9
Q

What is the term for a phrase that contains all of the letters of the alphabet. For example, “the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.”

A

Pangram

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10
Q

What do you call the combination of a question mark and exclamation mark (i.e., !?).

A

Interrobang

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11
Q

Describing a sharp tone, this 6-letter adjective is also a verb meaning “to scream.”

A

Shrill

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12
Q

Referring to the bright blue of the sky, this color comes from the Persian name for lapis lazuli.

A

Azure

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13
Q

The adjective pyroclastic refers to fragments that can dangerously blast away from one of these.

A

Volcano

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14
Q

Originally an electronics word for an output signal returning as input, today it means “criticism” or “evaluation.”

A

Feedback

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15
Q

The dialectical word “yinz,” common in Pittsburgh and western Pennsylvania, is used as a replacement for what word?

A

You

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16
Q

It’s come to mean immune to criticism; it was discovered by DuPont chemist Roy Plunkett in 1938.

A

Teflon

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17
Q

The irregularity of spelling in English and need for orthographic reform have been famously demonstrated in a mischievous re-spelling of “fish” incorrectly attributed to George Bernard Shaw. What is the correct spelling of that novel five-letter word?

A

Ghoti

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18
Q

This English word is a combination of the French words for “wine” and “sour.”

A

Vinegar

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19
Q

This English word is a combination of the French words for “cover” and “fire.”

A

Curfew

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20
Q

This English word is a variation of the French words for “lion’s teeth.”

A

Dandelion

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21
Q

This English word is a combination of the French words for “pig” and “spiky.”

A

Porcupine

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22
Q

The spelling of this English word is related to its origin in the French city of Nîmes.

A

Denim

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23
Q

This English word is a combination of the French words for “death” and “pledge.”

A

Mortgage

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24
Q

This English term is a variation of the French phrase “come help me.”

A

Mayday

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25
Q

A two-syllable adjective for a comment that sums things up in a few words.

A

Pithy

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26
Q

A statistical term or a synonym for ordinary, this adjective may have come from Arabic for “damaged goods.”

A

Average

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27
Q

Change three letters in “maleficent” to get this word for “generous.”

A

Munificent

28
Q

This word dates back to the 19th century and referred to what the sun did to roofless seating.

A

Bleachers

29
Q

An “ailurophile” is somebody who likes this.

A

Cats

30
Q

This term of a villain’s minion or underling once meant a highland chief’s right-hand man.

A

Henchman

31
Q

“Basiphobia” is a fear of what?

A

Falling

32
Q

It’s the proper term for someone who writes or compiles a dictionary.

A

Lexicographer

33
Q

Adding “P” to a word for a chronic back condition gets you this synonym for graphite or pencil lead.

A

Plumbago

34
Q

What kind of animal is described jumping by the most famous English “pangram”?

A

(Quick brown) Fox

35
Q

An agricultural device gives its name to what term for a U-shaped bend in a river? The term is also used for a lake formed when a river bend becomes so sharp that the river cuts through the narrow neck of land in the middle.

A

Oxbow

36
Q

The term for the cartilaginous flap that covers the opening of the windpipe is one example of the use of what three-letter prefix that indicates “above,” “over,” or “upon”?

A

Epi (Epiglottis)

37
Q

The name for what vocation could be considered outdated, as its namesake chemical element (from Latin) has largely been banned for use by its tradesmen for decades?

A

Plumber

38
Q

What English word, derogatory (and arguably offensive) in modern usage, comes from the name for a secretive gang of murderers and robbers devoted to the Hindu god Kali?

A

Thug

39
Q

This is the process of removing material from one part of a water environment and relocating it to another.

A

Dredging

40
Q

c. 1666 a British work used this word for a literal barrier; a 1971 text on operating system principles gave it a new sense.

A

Firewall

41
Q

After Caesar’s death, some Romans believed he was “catasterized” meaning he was turned into what?

A

Star / Celestial Object

42
Q

Beginning and ending with “M”, it’s a wise saying or rule of conduct.

A

Maxim

43
Q

These two words are just one letter different; one is a whirlpool and the other a geometry term for a meeting point.

A

Vortex, Vertex

44
Q

While in its more common noun form it denotes a particular time of year, when used as an adjective this word means to be marked by majestic dignity or grandeur.

A

August

45
Q

This adjective’s historical meaning refers to the particolored costume of a jester. Today it refers to something that is incongruously varied in appearance or character.

A

Motley

46
Q

Add an “s” to this word meaning “acrid” and you get a cocktail ingredient that helps in digestion.

A

Bitters

47
Q

It was originally a string, perhaps to help find your way in a labyrinth; then it was a piece of evidence that helps solve a crime.

A

Clue

48
Q

This 8-letter word for a reaction against a trend comes from an engineering term for a jolt caused by a gap in machine parts.

A

Backlash

49
Q

NASA wished John Glenn this 8-letter word when he made the 1st U.S. manned orbital flight in 1962 and again upon his passing in 2016.

A

Godspeed

50
Q

What do you call the dot at the top of a lowercase i or j?

A

Tittle

51
Q

An archaic word that the Oxford English Dictionary defines as “to move with force or impetus” is rarely used today, except, in adjective form, in the title of a classic 1840s novel. What is that word?

A

Wuther (Wuthering Heights)

52
Q

This term refers to the deliberate sinking of a ship by allowing water to flow into the hull. A famous example of this is the German fleet outside of Scotland’s Scapa Flow after World War I.

A

Scuttling

53
Q

Meaning “Stop!”, this nautical interjection is often heard before “ye matey”

A

Avast

54
Q

Term for the process by which new groups adopt the language, values and customs of a host culture.

A

Assimilation

55
Q

This adjectival form of a structure created by Daedalus refers to something that winds and winds.

A

Labyrinthine

56
Q

Prefab metal sheets used to print newspapers gave us this term for standard wording, as in contracts.

A

Boilerplate

57
Q

What word’s definitions include “excessive pride in oneself”, “an elaborate metaphor”, and “an extended rhetorical device”?

A

Conceit

58
Q

Deriving from a term used by the native Salish tribes of the Pacific Northwest that roughly translates as “wild man”, what name was coined by a Canadian cryptozoologist in the 1920s to describe an evasive entity that was supposedly stirring up fear among the locals?

A

Sasquatch

59
Q

One example of a contronym—a word that has contradictory meanings based on context—is a word that means both “confidently optimistic” and “bloodthirsty”. What is that word?

A

Sanguine

60
Q

What word, an 8-letter, 20 point Scrabble word (70 points, if you count the BINGO for using all your tiles), is the shortest word in the English language that uses each of the letters a, b, c, d, e, and f? If you don’t like this question, I’d certainly like to know.

A

Feedback

61
Q

What sociology term was borrowed into English from a Tongan word cognate with the Hawaiian “kapu”?

A

The Tongan equivalent is “tabu,” which is where we get our word “taboo,” for a cultural no-no.

62
Q

Preceded by “un”, it means mysterious; we want the 5-letter version meaning clever.

A

Canny

63
Q

Now meaning “behaving badly”, this adjective comes from a word meaning “nothing”.

A

Naughty

64
Q

The name of what modern scientific discipline originally referred to skills of rhetoric and debate?

A

“Forensics” used to refer to oratorical skill in the pre-CSI era.

65
Q

What familiar word refers to a common, often age-related medical disorder and is also a geographical term synonymous with “powerful waterfall” (and in fact comes directly from the Latin for “waterfall”)?

A

Cataract

66
Q

What word, defined as a large trunk or suitcase used for traveling, is perhaps better known in its newer, literary sense, as coined and utilized frequently by Lewis Carroll?

A

Portmanteau

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