Free Quiz Questions on words - where they come from and what they mean.

Please note that some of the questions which were here before have been moved to new sub pages for technical terms and slang.

1. What is the collective noun for horses: Team, Squad or Host?

   Team

2. What do you call a large group of rhinos: A crash, a bang or a wallop?

   Crash

3. What political word is used to describe a group of owls?

   Parliament

4. What is the singular of the word `graffiti`?

   Graffito

5. Inflammable means easily set on fire, what does Flammable mean

   The same

6. Taken literally what should you see in a Hippodrome?

   Horses

7. What animals would be studied by a hippologist?

   Horses

8. What is Pachisi: An Italian pasta dish, an Indian board game or an Islamic festival?

   Indian board game

9. What do cartographers make?

   maps

10. Triskaidekaphobia is the fear of what?

    Number 13

11. Where are the islands of Langerhans: in the North Sea, In your body or on the moon?

    Body- pancreas

12. If you has 'caries' who would you consult?

    Dentist - its tooth decay

13. Who would you fancy the most if you were a nanophiliac: Nicole Kidman or Dolly Parton?

    Dolly Parton (short)

14. What would a Scotsman do with a spurtle?

    Eat porridge (it’s a spoon)

15. In Japan – what would you do with a koto: play it, eat it or throw it around a field?

    Play it (musical instrument)

16. What colour is vermilion a shade of?

    Red

17. The words of the song Waltzing Matilda mention a jumbuck - but what is a Jumbuck?

    Sheep

18. What job does a cordwainer do?

    Shoemaker

19. What turns you on if you’re a nanophiliac: sex with short people, sex with people who sweat a lot or sex with people who have long hair?

    Short people

20. What do you do with an Ottoman: eat it, wear it, sit on it?

    Sit on it (type of chair)

21. What would you do with a Yashmak

    Wear it - it's an Arab veil

22. What would you do with a 'maris piper'?

    Eat it - it’s a potato

23. What would you do with a carambola: eat it, play it or cook in it?

    Eat it (it’s the other name for a star fruit)

24. What device was known in Victorian times as a ‘servant regulator’?

    Alarm Clock

25. What is an 'Ulster Chieftain': a type of sheep, a type of potato, or a type of bondage equipment?

    potato

26. During WW2 the Jitterbug was popular, what was it?

    A dance

27. What kind of musical instrument is a marimba: a kind of drum, a trumpet or a xylophone?

    A kind of xylophone

28. In Australia – what is a billabong? Is it a water-hole, a tree or a weapon?

    A water-hole

29. A dipsomaniac would be obsessed with what?

    Alcohol

30. What would an antiquarian collect?

    antiques

31. What is Orchesis - either professional or amateur?

    Art of Dancing

32. What does a pognologist study: Monkeys, cheese or beards?

    Beards

33. Which Ology is the art of ringing bells?

    Campanology

34. From which activity do we get the word “crestfallen”?

    Cockfighting

35. What does the first name "Brian" mean: Strength, Wisdom or Hairy?

    Strength

36. Mensa is the gang for smart-asses. What does Latin word MENSA mean? table, brain or temple?

    table

37. What word invented by Sir Thomas More means a world in which everything and everyone works in perfect harmony?

    Utopia

38. What does the name 'William' mean: 'Helmet of Resolution', 'Dweller in The Valley' or 'Master of The Treasure'?

    Helmet of resolution

39. During which decade did the phrase “lager lout” enter the dictionary?

    1980s

40. During which decade did the phrase “world wide web” enter the Oxford English Dictionary?

    1990s

41. Are canary birds named after the canary islands or are the islands named after the birds?

    Birds after the islands

42. What is pantophobia? Fear of colour, fear of pants or fear of everything?

    Everything

43. What is barophobia: Is it the fear of chickens, the fear of gravity or the fear of going to the bar and spending money on a round of drinks?

    fear of gravity!

44. What is musophobia: The fear of music, fear of mice or fear of metal?

    Fear of Mice

45. Mysophobia, is the fear of what? Dirt and Germs or Spending money?

    fear of dirt and germs

46. What is paediaphobia the fear of?

    Children

47. What is bogyphobia? The fear of demons and goblins, the fear of roads and paths or the fear of apples and pears?

    Demons and Goblins

48. What is Potophobia: is it the fear of alcoholic drinks, the fear of marijuana or fear of flying insects?

    Drinking

49. What is hippophobia: fear of hippos, fear of horses, or fear of hips?

    Horses

50. What is brontophobia: a fear of vegetables, a fear of dinosaurs or a fear of thunderstorms?

    Thunderstorms

51. If you had pogonophobia what would you be afraid of?

    Beards

52. According to a new survey of offensive words: which of these words causes offense to the most people: shit or bollocks?

    Bollocks

53. According to a recent survey, which word do British people fin more offensive: cunt or motherfucker?

    Cunt

54. According to a recent study, which of these words is most offensive to members of the UK public: Prick or Whore?

    Prick

55. Linguistically, where did we get the word cunt from: The Vikings, the Romans or the Germans?

    Vikings

56. What is the only day of the week to be able to be made into an anagram of another English word and what is the anagram?

    Monday – dynamo

57. Which alcoholic drink has a name that means 'strange' or 'peculiar'?

    rum

58. What word is something you would find on a dinner table and golfing terminology for a No 3 wood?

    Spoon