Again this year we’re beginning each month with five pub quiz style questions, with a different subject each month. They’re not difficult, but it is unlikely everyone will know all the answers, so hopefully you’ll learn something new, as well as have a bit of fun.
May Quiz Questions: Literature & Language
What does the word conniption mean?
What is regarded as the world’s oldest language which is still spoken?
Who wrote Songs of Innocence and Visions of the Daughters of Albion?
Even with a small word list and simple structure it is possible to say almost anything in Basic English. How many words are in the lexicon of Basic English?
In which play do the following lines occur? “A lioness hath whelped in the streets; And graves have yawn’d, and yielded up their dead”
This year our Ten Things each month are words with particular endings. Clearly this won’t be all the words with the nominated ending, but a selection of the more interesting and/or unusual.
Ten Words ending with -ca
yucca
saltimbocca
angelica
basilica
majolica
wicca
erotica
verruca
sambuca
alpaca
Your challenge, if you choose to accept it, is to write a story in at most three sentences using all these words correctly. Post your attempt in the comments before the end of the month and there’s an e-drink for anyone who I consider succeeds.
Something else which occurred to me while ill was the prevalence of (mostly noun; sometimes verb) combinations of the form “this and that“. When I started writing them down I realised there are dozens in daily use which we never think about; they’ve just become a part of the language as if they were simple nouns.
Here is an example for each letter of the alphabet.
Alpha & omega
Bacon & egg
Cat & mouse
Dog & bone
Elephant & Castle
Fish & chips
Gin & tonic
Hither & yon
Ice & lemon
Jack & Jill
Knife & fork
Law & order
Mutt & Jeff
Nip & tuck
Oil & vinegar
Pick & mix
Quality & substance
Rock & roll
Sixes & sevens
Time & tide
Uncle & aunt
Venus & Mars
Wear & tear
X & Y
Young & old
Zig & zag
I got a list of 134 without trying too hard. How many can you think of? Can you beat me?
This year our Ten Things each month are words with particular endings. Clearly this won’t be all the words with the nominated ending, but a selection of the more interesting and/or unusual.
Ten Words ending with -bus
circumbendibus
omnibus
cumulonimbus
trolleybus
harquebus
syllabus
rhombus
rebus
nimbus
incubus
Your challenge, if you choose to accept it, is to write a story in at most three sentences using all these words correctly. Post your attempt in the comments before the end of the month and there’s an e-drink for anyone who I consider succeeds.
This year our Ten Things each month are words with particular endings. Clearly this won’t be all the words with the nominated ending, but a selection of the more interesting and/or unusual.
Ten Words ending with -lum
baculum
speculum
antebellum
curriculum
reticulum
pendulum
tantalum
frenulum
hoodlum
phylum
Your challenge, if you choose to accept it, is to write a story in at most three sentences using all these words correctly. Post your attempt in the comments before the end of the month and there’s an e-drink for anyone who I consider succeeds.
This year our Ten Things each month are words with particular endings. Clearly this won’t be all the words with the nominated ending, but a selection of the more interesting and/or unusual.
Ten Words ending with -u
coypu
tiramisu
flambeau
kinkajou
jiujitsu
parvenu
caribou
apercu
haiku
bijou
Your challenge, if you choose to accept it, is to write a story in at most three sentences using all these words correctly. Post your attempt in the comments before the end of the month and there’s an e-drink for anyone who I consider succeeds.
This year our Ten Things each month are words with particular endings. Clearly this won’t be all the words with the nominated ending, but a selection of the more interesting and/or unusual.
Ten Words ending with -ea
panacea
apnoea
bougainvillea
amenorrhea
counterplea
miscellanea
diarrhoea
chickpea
archaea
thiourea
Your challenge, if you choose to accept it, is to write a story in at most three sentences using all these words correctly. Post your attempt in the comments before the end of the month and there’s an e-drink for anyone who I consider succeeds.
This year our Ten Things each month are words with particular endings. Clearly this won’t be all the words with the nominated ending, but a selection of the more interesting and/or unusual.
Ten Words ending with -ra
cobra
abracadabra
kookaburra
aspidistra
chakra
capybara
chimera
tempura
tantra
mudra
Your challenge, if you choose to accept it, is to write a story in at most three sentences using all these words correctly. Post your attempt in the comments before the end of the month and there’s an e-drink for anyone who I consider succeeds.
This year our Ten Things each month are words with particular endings. Clearly this won’t be all the words with the nominated ending, but a selection of the more interesting and/or unusual.
Ten Words ending with -i
dhobi
mehari
punani
barramundi
maharishi
origami
chapati
biryani
kimchi
yogini
Your challenge, if you choose to accept it, is to write a story in at most three sentences using all these words correctly. Post your attempt in the comments before the end of the month and there’s an e-drink for anyone who I consider succeeds.
This year our Ten Things each month are words with particular endings. Clearly this won’t be all the words with the nominated ending, but a selection of the more interesting and/or unusual.
Ten Words ending with -oon
doubloon
quadroon
protozoon
forenoon
typhoon
dragoon
buffoon
lampoon
cardoon
baboon
Your challenge, if you choose to accept it, is to write a story in at most three sentences using all these words correctly. Post your attempt in the comments before the end of the month and there’s an e-drink for anyone who I consider succeeds.
Eccentric looks at life through the thoughts of a retired working thinker
