Themed: Weird & Wonderful Words · Game #5A player

453

5/10 right · avg 7.9s · 12d 7h ago

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English has names for things you didn't know needed one. Could you define them on the spot? A player scored 453 in Weird & Wonderful Words on Outlier Trivia. Can you beat it?

The ten questions

The answers stay hidden. Play the pack to try them yourself.

  1. 1Language › LinguisticsHardIn paired words like zig-zag, tick-tock and ping-pong, which vowel almost always comes first?Right6.2s+94
  2. 2Language › Word OriginsExpertWhich future novelist worked on the OED in 1919-20, on words beginning with W?Right4.7s+96
  3. 3Language › Word OriginsMediumThe "sir" in "sirloin" really comes from a French word meaning what?Wrong7.6s0
  4. 4Language › Word OriginsMediumWho coined the word "scapegoat" in his English Bible translation?Wrong7.4s0
  5. 5Language › Idioms & PhrasesMediumIn "hoist with his own petard", what is a petard?Wrong7.7s0
  6. 6Language › TypographyVery hardIn Spanish the @ sign is 'arroba', also the name of an old unit of what?Wrong7.9s0
  7. 7Language › TypographyHardMany old typewriters had no exclamation mark key. How did typists make one?Right10.8s+86
  8. 8Language › Word OriginsHard'Apricity', recorded in a 1623 dictionary, names what pleasant thing?Right9.0s+89
  9. 9Language › Idioms & PhrasesEasyThe phrase "sour grapes" comes from a fable by whom?Wrong8.1s0
  10. 10Language › Word OriginsEasy"Bus" is short for "omnibus", a Latin word meaning what?Right10.1s+88