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Jul 6, 2022

Read, Read, Read

#1 Which letter of the alphabet is used most frequently in English?  #2 What word (particularly relevant this year) comes from an old Italian term for the 40-day period that a ship used to be kept in isolation if it was thought to be carrying sick passengers?  #3 What 11-letter word starts and ends with the letters “und”? (Hint: dig around and you might get it…) #4 If you say “meri kurisumasu” to someone, what are you wishing them, and in what language? #5 The dot over the letter “i” is officially known as a tittle, jittle or swittle? #6 What’s the only number in the English language that has the same number of letters in its written name as its value? #7 What English word is derived from the first two letters of the Greek alphabet? #8 What product did Jacques Nicot introduce for the first time into France in the 1500s? #9 What word can mean all of the following: to give a negative review of a movie; to search for gold; a cooking utensil?  #10 What common three-letter word is the only definite article in the English language? #11 “Queueing” is a relatively common word, but what is its very uncommon feature? #12 In Cockney rhyming slang, what do the following phrases mean: “bag of fruit”, “trouble and strife”, “butcher’s hook”? #13 Triskaidekaphobia means having an irrational fear of which number? #14 A “couch potato” is someone who sits in front of the television for long periods of time. What does a “mouse potato” do?  #15 What 10-letter word starting with “t” can you spell by just using the top row of a QWERTY typewriter? #16 Which of these words has the most definitions (over 400, in fact) listed in the dictionary: set, hand or fall? #17 Make a five-letter word using the letters ABCDEF and without repeating any letter. #18 What’s the technical word for having a rumbly tummy: borborygmus, brucellosis or bruxism? #19 Which animal appears as the very first word in many dictionaries? #20 On a similar theme, the word that often appears last in the dictionary is “zyzzyva”. Is it a type of insect, a breeze or a musical instrument?
hilokal-notebook-image
hilokal-notebook-image

#1 The letter “e” (for every appearance of “q” in English, “e” is said to appear 56 times) #2 Quarantine (“40” in Italian is “quaranta”) #3 Underground #4 “Merry Christmas”, in Japanese #5 Tittle #6 Four #7 Alphabet (alpha and beta) #8 Tobacco (the word “nicotine” is named after him) #9 Pan #10 The #11 It has five consecutive vowels #12 “Bag of fruit” is a suit; your “trouble and strife” is your wife; a “butcher’s hook” is to have a look at something #13 13 #14 Sits in front of a computer for a long period of time #15 Typewriter #16 Set #17 Faced (we’ll also pay “decaf”, though we won’t drink the stuff…) #18 Borborygmus (brucellosis is a contagious infection and bruxism is teeth-grinding) #19 Aardvark #20 Insect (it’s a type of weevil) 

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  • English

  • Beginner