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    A Word for Everything! Quiz Book
    A Word for Everything! Quiz Book
    A Word for Everything! Quiz Book
    Ebook270 pages2 hours

    A Word for Everything! Quiz Book

    By Jennifer Stewart

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    About this ebook

    What do you call that little bit on the end of your shoelaces?

    What's a polite name for those annoying, spoilt children you always get stuck next to on a plane?

    And what is a balthazar?

    I bet you're just a little bit curious, aren't you?

    Where can you find the answer to these and 1073 other questions about words?

    In this quiz book! Bonus chapters of X and Z words for Scrabble!

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherJennifer Stewart
    Release dateDec 15, 2010
    ISBN9781458012234
    A Word for Everything! Quiz Book
    Author

    Jennifer Stewart

    Tapping away at a keyboard is what fills my day. It wasn't always this way. For twenty years I was a High School English teacher -- the change really started one day during my long service leave ...I was sitting in the dentist's chair having root canal treatment and it occurred to me that at this time I would normally be teaching my year nine class (around 15 years of age). When I realised that I'd rather be sitting where I was than in front of a class, I knew it was time to look for something new!That something new took the form of a Web site dedicated to helping people improve their writing. I'm still able to focus on my love of education and learning, but now my classroom is the entire world!Since leaving teaching, I've written and marketed a series of writing courses and ebooks, and I've also been a freelance writer, undertaking a variety of assignments for clients from around the globe -- writing articles for the print media,,preparing award submissions for business clients; copy-writing and proof-reading works of non-fiction, editing web pages and e-books, writing press releases and much more.My website, www.write101.com has been part of the Web's writing community since 1998 and continues to offer detailed insights into the workings of the English language presented with just a touch of humour. Voted one of the 101 best websites for writers, Write101 has more than 1,000 pages of articles about all aspects of writing. My weekly writing tips newsletter has 16,000+ subscribers from every continent (except Antarctica!)

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      Book preview

      A Word for Everything! Quiz Book - Jennifer Stewart

      A Word for Everything!

      Quiz Book

      by Jennifer Stewart

      Published by Jennifer Stewart at Smashwords

      Visit the author's website at http://www.write101.com

      Find more ebooks by this author at Smashwords:

      http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/write101

      Copyright 2010 Jennifer Stewart

      Smashwords Edition, License Notes

      This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

      102 Quizzes to super-charge your word power!

      CONTENTS

      Introduction

      Chapter 1: Warming Up

      Answers

      Chapter 2: What Do You Do? What’s Your Father Do?

      Answers

      Chapter 3: Qualities And Feelings

      Answers

      Chapter 4: General Interests

      Science and Maths

      The World Around Us

      Ah! The Theatre!

      A Boating We Will Go

      Answers

      Chapter 5: Food, Glorious Food

      Answers

      Chapter 6: Mostly Villains And The Not-So Bright

      Answers

      Chapter 7: Oo-Er Yuck!

      Answers

      Chapter 8: People

      Answers

      Chapter 9: All Creatures Great and Small

      Answers

      Chapter 10: Words about Words

      Answers

      Conclusion

      Super-Charged Words Containing X & Z

      Answers

      About the Author

      INTRODUCTION

      The English language contains an estimated million words, and that means that there is quite literally a word for every occasion. The important thing is to know what word to use and when to use it …

      Commiserate with the poor soul who was waxing lyrical about architectural history and declared, The Greeks invented three kinds of columns, the Corinthian, Doric and Ironic.

      Or the chap telling people about the ancient Olympic Games, who explained that the Greeks ran races, jumped, hurled the biscuits and threw the java. And then told how the reward to the victor was a coral reef …

      Consider the student who explained how Hamlet rations out his situation by relieving himself in a long soliloquy.

      And the other who wrote that Miguel Cervantes wrote Donkey Hote.

      With so many words to choose from, why do so many people get it so terribly wrong?

      Because they haven’t taken the time to find the correct word; because they’ve never seen the word written down, but have only heard it (or misheard it), which may explain these amazing statements:

      Samuel Morse invented a code of telepathy.

      Louis Pasteur discovered a cure for rabbis

      Charles Darwin was a naturalist who wrote the Organ of the Species.

      We can laugh at these extreme examples, but many people make similar errors every day.

      This little book is an attempt to help you improve your word power and is a compilation of the quiz section of my weekly writing tips newsletter, The Write Way.

      What’s that? You’d like to subscribe now? But, of course. Just click on the link or paste the address into your web browser: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WritingTips/

      To get the most out of your quizzes, have a pen and paper handy (yes, we’re going back to writing things on paper for this!) The mere act of writing the answer in your own sweet hand will help the word stick in your mind. The answers are at the end of each chapter, but try to work each word out before you check the answers, because thinking about the word also helps it take up residence in your little grey cells.

      How do I work out the meaning of a word I’ve never heard before? I hear you ask.

      Let’s pretend you’re reading a book and the writer has described a character who has a vacuous look. Yes, I know you know what it means, but we’re using this to illustrate the technique. The first thing you do is scan your memory banks for words that are similar. What else starts with these letters?

      Vacuum!

      And what does ‘vacuum’ mean? It’s a ‘void, a space, emptiness, nothingness, vacuity.’ So you now know that this word has something to do with emptiness.

      The next step is to look at how the word is used in context. In our example, it’s used to describe a character’s look. Let’s then substitute one of our meanings from ‘vacuum.’

      The man has an empty look.

      Not bad. That makes sense; let’s try this:

      The man has an empty-headed look.

      The man has a blank look.

      The man has a stupid look.

      Exactly!

      Now you know what ‘vacuous’ means.

      Try this technique with any unfamiliar word you come across in your reading. You’ll get pretty close nearly every time.

      Every now and then in the course of this book, I’ll explain the origins of interesting words and toss in a few fascinating ones, just for fun. No, really, words can be fun.

      Don’t believe me?

      Then ponder the word tragedy for a moment. A tragedy, boys and girls, is a play (usually in three acts) where the main character comes to grief because of a fatal flaw in his (or her) personality. It's also used to refer to any disaster that ends in loss of life ... but nowadays it's often used to describe piddling things such as a missed goal in a game of footy.

      Mind you, a quick check in my trusty Webster's reveals some fascinating details about the origin of this word. It comes from two Greek words, tragos ‘a he-goat’ and oide ‘a song’ ... So it means ... a goat singer! See the connection now?

      No?

      Me neither ... let's have another look ...

      Hmmm ... it seems that once upon a time, whenever these old tragedies were performed (the plays that always ended in tears and sent the audience away thanking their lucky stars they hadn't fallen in love with their mothers etc), it was the custom to sacrifice a goat and sing a bit of a song before the play got under way - hence the term part that comes after the goat-singer or tragedy.

      Another guess ... er ...theory is that goats were often offered as prizes for these performances (whether for the playwright or actors my source doesn't say) ... hence the term goat-actors or tragedy!

      Don't fancy that one either? OK, how about Theory Number Three?

      Because these plays dealt with characters who were brought to ruin and suffered extreme sorrow as a consequence of their own tragic flaws, moral weaknesses or inability to cope with unfavourable circumstances, and because these were performed live, without the aid of the instant replay, the actors had to show how down and out on their luck the central characters were, so they dressed in goat-skins ... hence the term daggy, you-got-everything-you-deserved you, you, nasty person dressed in a goatskin you or, tragedy.

      I kid you not (pregnant pause inserted while you marvel at the pun ...) that’s the honest-to-goodness origin of the word.

      OK, can’t wait to get started? Neither can I!

      Grab your pen and paper, and let’s go ...

      One last thing before you dash off. I must stress that all the words in these quizzes are in the dictionary. I want you to remember that as you progress through each set, because I know there will be times when you’ll be saying to yourself, OK. She must have made that one up in some demented nightmare … That can’t possibly be a real word!

      It is, dear reader. If it’s in the quiz, it’s in the dictionary.

      And don’t forget the bonus chapter of X and Z words, for when you’re puzzling over what to do with all those Xs and Zs you accumulate with such regularity when playing word games.

      By the time you’ve worked your way through this little lot, you’ll have an additional 1076 words to use so you can say exactly what you mean – every time. And that’s not counting the X and Z words – there are 55 more words in your special bonus chapter!

      You'll also find bonus words tossed with gay abandon throughout the quizzes.

      The answers to the quizzes are at the end of the chapters.

      Chapter 1: WARMING UP

      Quick ... coffee ...

      Must ... have ... coffee ...

      Just got back from ... (gulp) shopping!

      Normally a shopping expedition is a pleasant pastime but not this time! It started with trying to find a parking spot, and isn’t that a fun way to spend the odd half-hour? Driving round and round; searching the horizon for signs of people returning to their cars and trying to outfox all the other lost souls circling endlessly.

      I've actually discovered a way to thwart the competition though. All you do is visualise the desired parking space ... See yourself driving into it ... Watch the look of awe/anguish/admiration on the faces of the aforementioned rivals ... Feel the glow as you skip gaily from your car to the entrance which is located (naturally) only a few metres from where you parked ...

      Hey, it works for me! And if you don't get a spot, at least you stop stressing for a few minutes. Try it next time you go shopping ... Oh, that's right ... You're never going to set foot in that abomination they call a shopping centre car park again, are you? Sorry, I forgot.

      What about we just have a nice cup of coffee, then?

      White? Black? Frothy? Decaf? Latté? Cappuccino? Skinny or fat? Espresso?

      Aargh! Too many choices!

      How about a cup of tea then before we get started?

      It’s always a good idea to warm up before engaging in any exercise … So let’s start with some nice quizzes to ease those little grey cells gently into the workout before stirring them up with some super-charged words.

      Set 1

      Which word in each of the following best fits the definition:

      1. compulsion to steal

      i) kleptomania ii) dipsomania iii) virtuoso

      2. disbelief in God

      i) agnostic ii) atheist iii) scoffer

      3. insane desire to light fires

      i) somnambulist ii) pyromaniac iii) ascetic

      4. highly skilled

      i) active ii) consummate iii) glib

      5. indifferent

      i) antipathetic ii) pathetic iii) apathetic

      6. delusion of grandeur

      i) patricide ii) megalomania iii) atrophy

      7. poignant

      i) sharp ii) intrepid iii) immature

      8. frank

      i) dull ii) ingenuous iii) intrepid

      9. easily tricked

      i) incredulous ii) gullible iii) ingenious

      10. a backwards look

      i) prospect ii) retrospect iii) introspect

      Bonus Word

      Awreak [uh REEK] (vb) to avenge. This is a wonderful word - can't you just hear yourself giving a blood-curdling cry of Awreak, awreak! as someone takes your spot in the car-park? It comes from an Anglo-Saxon word awrecan, which means ‘to take vengeance on’

      Set 2

      This is one small step in the campaign to eliminate a lot from our language! Match up the collection next to each word:

      anthology, archipelago, bale, bunting, chain, fusillade, gaggle, hand, index, menagerie, posy

      1. poems

      2. flowers

      3. bananas

      4. names

      5. islands

      6. animals

      7. wool

      8. mountains

      9. shots

      10.flags

      11.geese

      Set 3

      What always impresses me with the English language (and this applies to most languages) is that there are just so many words - I love discovering just the right word for the right spot - it gives a great feeling of satisfaction.

      Try substituting one word for these expressions:

      1. to happen again

      2. strong or powerful

      3. deep-sounding

      4. to send or throw back sound

      5. a feeling of great respect

      6. to make slight cuts in the skin

      7. that which follows

      8. a story designed to teach a lesson

      9. difficult to defeat

      10.to rid milk of germs by heating

      Bonus Word

      Cunctation (n)

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