Idiomatic Sources/Christian Terms

Question 1

scapegoat

Answer 1

originally “escape goat”, referred to an animal over which the high priest confessed the sins of the people, and it wandered off to carry away the sins

Question 2

handwriting on the wall

Answer 2

when a figure of a hand mysteriously appeared and wrote on the wall that Belshazzar’s rule was at an end

Question 3

talent

Answer 3

a weight of gold or silver, an amount of money, or inborn abilities

Question 4

shibboleth

Answer 4

a test word to distinguish friend from foe, since the enemy could not pronounce “sh”

Question 5

orient

Answer 5

when first used, meant to place a church in the proper position, now means placing anything in its proper position

Question 6

dirge

Answer 6

the first word of the Latin hymn for burial of the dead

Question 7

adieu

Answer 7

meaning “to God”, roughly equivalent to “goodbye”

Question 8

carnival

Answer 8

festival of merrymaking before Lent, originally from the religious practice of abstaining from meat during Lent

Question 9

bonfire

Answer 9

saints were customarily burned in bone fires, “believers” would fish out relics from the ashes

Question 10

lewd

Answer 10

unlettered, one outside the church family, later meant obscene

Question 11

miscreant

Answer 11

rascal, formerly meant non-believer

Question 12

immolate

Answer 12

(non-Christian) to kill

Question 13

apostate

Answer 13

a rebel

Question 14

ciao

Answer 14

goodbye

Question 15

fetish

Answer 15

(non-Christian) a charm

Question 16

Dutch leave

Answer 16

(expressions) going awol