Word Origins Flashcards
$200 ||| Category: WORD ORIGINS ||| This adjective that can mean disrespectful or lively is an alteration of “saucy”
sassy
$400 ||| Category: WORD ORIGINS ||| This, from Middle French for “small ball”, is stronger than the bullet, which is from modern French for “small ball”
the ballot
$600 ||| Category: WORD ORIGINS ||| First appearing more than a century ago, it means gutsy & is probably a blend of bold & audacious
bodacious
$800 ||| Category: WORD ORIGINS ||| This 19th century 2-wheeled cab was named for a Brit, not for its good looks
a Hansom cab
$1000 ||| Category: WORD ORIGINS ||| This nickname for paper measuring 13 by 16 inches gets its name from an old watermark of a court jester’s hat
foolscap
$400 ||| Category: WORD ORIGINS ||| From the Arabic for “sign of god”, it’s a high-ranking Muslim cleric regarded as the most learned of the time period
ayatollah
$800 ||| Category: WORD ORIGINS ||| This small scented pouch takes its name from the French for “little bag”
a sachet
$1200 ||| Category: WORD ORIGINS ||| My gardener told me we don’t need to plant; all my flowers are this type, from the Latin for “through the year”
perennial
$1600 ||| Category: WORD ORIGINS ||| This term for a type of airship is from the Latin for “to direct”
a dirigible
$3000 ||| Category: WORD ORIGINS ||| From the Italian for “of a cave”, this adjective today refers to anything strange or ugly
grotesque
$None ||| Category: WORD ORIGINS ||| This word for a friend comes from the Latin for “with whom you would eat bread”
companion
$200 ||| Category: WORD ORIGINS ||| Aka hump day, it was named for a Norse god
Wednesday
$400 ||| Category: WORD ORIGINS ||| The Persian shaghal gave us the name of this dog-like African carnivore & scavenger
the jackal
$600 ||| Category: WORD ORIGINS ||| The word “drama” comes from the Greek for this verb, which as a noun also means one section of a drama
act
$3000 ||| Category: WORD ORIGINS ||| Peevish or unreasonably irritable, it’s from the Latin petere, meaning “to assail”
petulant
$1000 ||| Category: WORD ORIGINS ||| The name of this gum tree comes from the Greek kaluptein, or “cover”, & it covers more than 500 species
the eucalyptus
$400 ||| Category: WORD ORIGINS ||| Scallop & scaloppine come from a word meaning these; the fillets are so thin they curl up like them
shells
$800 ||| Category: WORD ORIGINS ||| The verb “to pounce” comes from a noun meaning this part of a bird of prey
talons (or claws)
$1200 ||| Category: WORD ORIGINS ||| (<a>Kelly of the Clue Crew shows a line of poetry on the monitor.</a>) A natural break or pause in a line of poetry is called a “caesura”; the “caes” part comes from the Latin for this verb, as in “excise”
cut
$1600 ||| Category: WORD ORIGINS ||| The French for “to throw” gives us this word for a pier
a jetty
$2000 ||| Category: WORD ORIGINS ||| Older baling equipment would malfunction & tangle, a possible origin of this word for crazy or disordered
haywire
$400 ||| Category: WORD ORIGINS ||| This dog, of which there are more than 20 breeds, takes its name from the Latin for “earth”
a terrier
$800 ||| Category: WORD ORIGINS ||| The name of this ballroom dance with gliding turns comes from German for “roll” or “turn”
a waltz
$1200 ||| Category: WORD ORIGINS ||| This word for the art & science of good eating goes back to Greek for “belly”
gastronomy