Q 01/05

What does a farrier do?

A) Breeds and trains falcons

B) Repairs wagon and carriage wheels

C) Trims horses' hooves and fits horseshoes

D) Ferries passengers across rivers

Answer · why

C) Trims horses' hooves and fits horseshoes

Trims horses' hooves and fits horseshoes: the farrier's name comes from the Latin ferrum, iron, because shoeing horses was once a blacksmith's job.

Q 02/05

What does a cooper make?

A) Copper pots and pans

B) Wooden barrels and casks

C) Chicken coops

D) Rope and cordage

Answer · why

B) Wooden barrels and casks

Wooden barrels and casks: a cooper's workshop is called a cooperage, and the trade gave English the surname Cooper.

Q 03/05

What did a fletcher traditionally do?

A) Skin and tan animal hides

B) Salt and smoke fish

C) Lay stone floors

D) Attach feathers to arrows

Answer · why

D) Attach feathers to arrows

Attach feathers to arrows: fletcher comes from the Old French fleche, arrow, and the trade survives in the surname Fletcher.

Q 04/05

By British tradition a cordwainer made new shoes, while which tradesman was only allowed to repair them?

A) A clogger

B) A cobbler

C) A bootblack

D) A saddler

Answer · why

B) A cobbler

A cobbler was restricted to mending, and often barred by law from making shoes, while the cordwainer, named for the fine leather of Cordoba in Spain, ...

Q 05/05

The wright in wheelwright, shipwright and playwright comes from an Old English word meaning what?

A) Writer

B) Worker

C) Timber

D) Master

Answer · why

B) Worker

Worker: wright comes from the Old English wryhta, a worker or maker, which is why a playwright is spelled like a wheelwright and not like a writer.