Q 01/05

A grammatical English sentence made of one word repeated eight times uses the name of which New York city?

A) Rochester

B) Buffalo

C) Syracuse

D) Albany

Answer · why

B) Buffalo

Buffalo works because the one word is a city, the bison that live there and a verb meaning to bully. The sentence has been discussed in print since 19...

Q 02/05

Which word names a spiny-finned freshwater fish and, said with a different vowel, the lowest male singing voice?

A) Bass

B) Tenor

C) Perch

D) Pike

Answer · why

A) Bass

Bass the fish began as Old English 'bærs', a perch, named for its bristly dorsal fins. The musical word arrived separately from Late Latin 'bassus', m...

Q 03/05

Which nationality, when written without its capital letter, becomes a verb meaning to rub a surface until it shines?

A) Finnish

B) Danish

C) Polish

D) Turkish

Answer · why

C) Polish

Polish changes its sound as well as its meaning with the capital letter: the nationality has a long 'o'. The verb comes from Latin 'polire', to make s...

Q 04/05

Which everyday verb form is spelled exactly like the plural of the word for a female deer?

A) Bucks

B) Rams

C) Bears

D) Does

Answer · why

D) Does

Does is two words in one spelling: said 'duz' it is a form of 'do', and said 'doze' it means more than one doe. The deer word goes back to Old English...

Q 05/05

Which word means a rip in cloth when it rhymes with 'hair' and a sign of crying when it rhymes with 'fear'?

A) Pear

B) Tear

C) Wear

D) Bear

Answer · why

B) Tear

Tear the eye-drop and tear the rip have been separate words since Old English, 'tear' for a drop and 'teran' for pulling apart. Only the spelling has ...