LandaBlog
LandaBooks: Final Word Quiz Answers
ADIOS:
1. Apostasy (uh-POSS-tuh-see). Someone who's in a state of apostasy might well have:
c. deserted his religion, party, or principles
Some of the tea-partiers condemn any mention of raising taxes as an act of apostasy. << MORE >>
LandaBooks Word Quiz Answers: Straight A's
- To acerbate is to make bitter, or to exasperate (from Latin acerbare, to make bitter).
- Argyle means having a diamond-shaped pattern, usually of two or more colors. The design was worn by the Campbell clan of Argyll, Scotland—in Old Irish, it literally means "land of the Gaels."
- To alleviate is to lighten, make easier to endure. (From Latin al-levi, not heavy.)
- To adumbrate is to outline or sketch, make a faint image of—from Latin ad (to) and umbr (shade, shadow).
- Arugula is a pungent Mediterranean plant of the mustard family, used in making salads. (From Latin eruca.)
Bye, Bimonthly
And we should say goodbye to the term bimonthly, because it can get us into trouble.
Sometimes we ask the working adults in our writing classes this questions: "If a magazine is published bimonthly, how many issues come out each year?"
About a third of the answers say six, a third say twenty-four, and a third say they aren't sure. Which answer is right? << MORE >>
LandaBooks Word Quiz Answers: LEAFS
- To limn is to describe (in words or drawings)—from late Middle English Lymne, illuminate (originally from Latin illuminare).
- Enervate (from Latin enervatus, weakened) means to weaken, to tire thoroughly. Onomatomaniacs never find these word quizzes an enervating experience.
- Abeyance means suspension, inaction—Congress held the matter in abeyance until after the election (from Anglo-French abeance, a gaping at or toward).
- Fastidious (from Latin fastidiosus, squeamish) means picky, demanding, hard to please—choose your words carefully, but don’t be too fastidious about others’ usage.
LandaBooks Word Quiz Answers: Mind Your Ps and Qs
- To palpate is to feel with fingers and hands, especially as part of a physical examination. (From Latin palpare—to stroke, touch.)
- To parboil is to cook partly, precook (from Latin perbullire, to cook thoroughly, changed through confusion of per, through, with par, part).
- A quartile is the number or value that divides a set of data into four equal-sized parts: one-fourth would fall below the first quartile, one-half below the second, and so on (from Latin quart, fourth).
- Quasars (from quasi-stellar radio source) are thought to be the most distant objects in the universe.
- A quid is a hunk of chewing tobacco (used mostly by young white males in the American South), as well as another term for British pound sterling.
A Zeugma
A zeugma (ZOOG-muh) is a figure of speech that uses a word in two different senses, usually in the same sentence: "Her tastes were rich, but her husband
wasn't."
Zeugmas are usually intentional, and can be fun. You most often find them in print, carefully crafted by clever writers. But my favorite one came from a conversation I overheard. << MORE >>
Zeugmas are usually intentional, and can be fun. You most often find them in print, carefully crafted by clever writers. But my favorite one came from a conversation I overheard. << MORE >>
LandaBooks Answers: September Song
- In the early Roman calendar, September was the seventh month, and Latin septem means seven.
- Emery is a hard, abrasive mineral, often ground and applied to paper (sandpaper, emery boards). The name comes from Greek smyris, akin to their term for smear.
- Nomenclature is the set of names or terms used in a specific art, science, etc.
“The Proof Is in the Pudding?”
A couple of folks I used to work with asked me about that old expression, saying that it didn’t seem to make sense.
And it doesn’t—not by itself, anyway.
Like some other maxims that have been used a lot, over a long period of time, part of the wording has been eroded away. << MORE >>
And it doesn’t—not by itself, anyway.
Like some other maxims that have been used a lot, over a long period of time, part of the wording has been eroded away. << MORE >>
LandaBooksWord Quiz Answers: AUTUM
- Abstruse means hard to understand, esoteric—abstruse formulas or theories (from Latin abstrusus, concealed).
- The ulna (from Latin ulna, elbow) is one of the bones in the forearm (the other is the radius). The ulnar nerve near it is called the crazy bone or funny bone.
- Turmeric (from Old French terre merite, lit. meritorious earth) is a tropical plant with yellow flowers and a stem that, dried and powdered, is used as a condiment or dye.
LandaBooks Word Quiz Answers: LABOR
- A wild rabbit. Lagomorphs, which have short tails and two pairs of upper incisor teeth (one behind the other), include rabbits, hares, and pikas.
- Potent drink.
