Language Flashcards
Which five-letter word for a type of board contains four of the five vowels and is
derived from the French and German words for ‘yes’?
Ouija
Which five-letter word meaning ‘goodbye’ contains four of the five vowels and is
derived from the French meaning ‘to God’?
Adieu
Which title, ultimately derived from the word ‘Caesar’, was used for rulers of the
German empire up until 1918?
Kaiser
Which title, ultimately derived from the word ‘Caesar’, was used for rulers of the
Russian empire up until 1917?
Czar/Tsar
The earliest known use of what word for a scruffily or disreputably attired person
is as the name of a demon in John Langland’s Middle English poem Piers
Plowman?
Ragamuffin
The earliest known use of what word for bombastic displays of self-confidence is
as the name of a boastful character in Edmund Spenser’s allegorical epic The
Faerie Queene?
Braggadocio
Which type of wide-brimmed hat, particularly associated with Mexico, has a name
derived from the Spanish for ‘shade’?
Sombrero
What item of Latin American clothing, worn over other clothes, is made from a
single large sheet of fabric with a hole in the centre for the head, and has a name
that comes from the Quechua meaning ‘blanket’?
Poncho
What word is used in physics to mean space devoid of matter, and in everyday
life can also refer to a household cleaning device?
Vacuum
What is the usual name in British English for the part of a car known in American English as the trunk?
Boot
In Italian, when the letters G and I are next to each other in a word they combine to make the sound of what single English letter not normally used in the Italian alphabet?
J
In Italian, when the letters C and H are next to each other in a word they combine to make the sound of what single English letter not normally used in the Italian alphabet?
K
What is the usual name in British English for the part of a car known in American English as the hood?
Bonnet
