Q 01/05

Which English animal name comes from a Spanish phrase meaning 'the lizard'?

A) Iguana

B) Alligator

C) Gecko

D) Chameleon

Answer · why

B) Alligator

Alligator is a corruption of el lagarto: English speakers fused the Spanish article el onto the noun, turning 'the lizard' into a single word.

Q 02/05

The Spanish word 'embarazada' famously means what, not 'embarrassed'?

A) Exhausted

B) Pregnant

C) Engaged

D) Married

Answer · why

B) Pregnant

Pregnant is what embarazada means, though English 'embarrass' may descend, via French, from the very same Spanish verb, embarazar.

Q 03/05

Which country has the most native Spanish speakers?

A) Spain

B) Colombia

C) Mexico

D) Argentina

Answer · why

C) Mexico

Mexico has about 130 million native speakers, yet a 2003 law made Spanish just one of its national languages, with the same validity as its Indigenous...

Q 04/05

Which American cowboy word is an anglicized form of the Spanish 'vaquero'?

A) Ranchero

B) Buckaroo

C) Wrangler

D) Cowhand

Answer · why

B) Buckaroo

Buckaroo comes from vaquero, itself from vaca, 'cow', and English speakers probably bent its spelling toward the familiar word 'buck'.

Q 05/05

Which US state's name comes from the Spanish word for 'snowy'?

A) Montana

B) Colorado

C) Nevada

D) Florida

Answer · why

C) Nevada

Nevada means 'snowy' in Spanish, a nod to its snow-capped mountains, yet it is the driest state in the nation.