Thursday, April 20, 2006

The Curious Words Quiz

1. There’s a mistaken impression that the more you press the elevator button the faster it will arrive. Some intelligent soul coined a word to describe this phenomenon. Just name the word for me.

2. Aibophobia is the fear of mechanical dogs. What is Aibohphobia?

3. “A current or former marriage in which one partner is gay or has had a gay affair.” Gimme the term that fits this description.

4. I know you know what an eye candy is. Tell me what’s a thumb candy?

5. Tom Cruise wrongly referred to it as the Flugelbinder in the movie Cocktail. What is it actually called?

6. If I accuse you of being a Euclionist, what will I be accusing you of?

7. Zugzwang is a very curious Chess term It alludes to a situation when you have to make a move, you don’t want to. But sometimes by a stroke of luck a Zugzwang could work for you. What do you call a Zugzwang situation when both the players don’t wish to make a move because the first guy to do it will lose the game? (Clue – There’s a famous font by the same name.)

8. Abso-blooming-lutely and Inde-bloody-pently are examples of?

9. Two geologists IJ Bear and RG Thomas coined this evocative word in 1964. It’s a sweet coinage for the smell of wet earth after the first rain. What’s the good word?

10. Suppose a director doesn’t want to be associated with the film he has created, the Director’s Guild of America, expects him to use a certain pseudonym in the credits. What is the recommended pseudonym?

To view the answers, click on the comment link.

2 comments:

anantha said...

1. Elecelration
2. Fear of Palindromes
3. Brokeback Marriage
4. A no-brainer computer game that just requires a bit of thumbing and eye coordination.
5. Aglet (the plastic or metal tip of the shoe lace).
6. Miserliness.
7. Trébuchet
8. Tmesis, a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is inserted into another word, often for humorous effect.
9. Petrichor
10. Alan Smithee

Anonymous said...

interesting