quizballs 185 - diversity/words quiz 2 - questions & answers

free language diversity and general knowledge quiz questions and answers - for pub quizzes, pub games, team games, learning and fun

This quiz illustrates the diversity of the English-speaking world. The words in the answers came into the English language from different languages. They reflect cultural diversity - people of different nationalities and ethnicities, etc., mixing together, and often adopting cultural behaviours as well as the language.

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Spelling note: Some UK-English and US-English spellings may vary, notably words ending in our/or, and ise/ize. Where appropriate please change the spellings to suit your local situation.

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quizballs 185 - free language diversity and general knowledge quiz - questions and answers for trivia quizzes and pub quizzes

For each question, what is the 'non-English' word that was adopted into English, from the source language(s) shown:

Forbidden, unmentionable - from Tongan? Taboo (originally tabu - referring to sacred custom)
Mountain guide, and 1975 British Leyland van brand, later the Leyland Daf Pilot - from Tibetan? Sherpa
Seasonal South Asia wind and accompanying rainfall - from Dutch? Monsoon (from early modern Dutch monssoen)
Long wrap-around skirt meaning sheath or quiver - from Malay? Sarong
Clumsy awkward person, whose earlier root gave us also 'clot' in English - from Yiddish? Klutz (Yiddish loosely equates to European-German Jewish)
Variety (of choices) - from Swedish? Smorgasbord (a buffet of Scandinavian delicacies - smorgas = slice of)
The same (not the same as the question above, simply, 'the same') - from Italian? Ditto (earlier from Latin dictus, 'said')
The phonetic neutral vowel sound shown as ə - like the 'eh' at the end of 'sofa' and the start of 'along' (whose symbol is an inverted 'e') - from German - and bonus point - a different word for the same thing from Hebrew instead? Schwa - (German) - Sheva (Hebrew)
Ghost or spirit, typically unseen and moving things - from German? Poltergeist (from root meanings make noise and ghost)
Isolation, quarantine, or secrecy - from Persian/Urdu? Purdah (originally a veil or curtain to screen women from men/strangers)
Beer brewed for storing/keeping - from German? Lager (originally lager-bier - lager = storehouse)
Long story - from Old Norse? Saga
Massacre of an ethnic group - from Russian/Yiddish? Pogrom (the word referred originally to Russian massacre of Jewish people)
Joy in the misfortune of others - from German? Schadenfreude (from the root word meanings harm and joy)
Courage - from a rude Spanish metaphor? Cojones (pronounced 'co-honez' - meaning testicles)
Group journey in specific continent - from Kiswahili? Safari (Kiswahili is East African)
Hot steam bath - from Finnish? Sauna
Happiness or blissful death through elightenment (literally 'blowing out') - from Sanskrit? Nirvana (less correctly from Indian or Hindu - Sanskrit is the ancient Indo-European language, used in Indian Hindu and classical writings, which persists today in Indian religious and scholarly work - Nirvana meant in Sanskrit 'blowing out [destructive feelings such as greed and hatred]')
Soft leather heelless shoe whose sole is upturned to form sides - from Virginian Algonquian? Moccasin (also from other Native American Indian languages)
Military ruler, and Mitsubishi 4x4 - from Japanese? Shogun

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