On July 23, 1929, the fascist government in Italy banned the use of non-native words. As good a day as any, therefore, to have a quiz on foreign words and phrases in the English language.

1 Which English word originates from the word for zero in the Arabic number system?

2 From which country did the word ‘coach’, used for a horse-drawn carriage with springs above the axles, originate? The name comes from a village in that country.

3 The term ‘killer whale’ is a translation of the Spanish ‘asesina-ballenas’. What is the error in translation that perpetuated a particular myth?

4 An Indian city close to Mumbai, formerly the site of a large British army camp, has given which word to the English dictionary?

5 Which martial race gets its name for the Sanskrit term for cowherd?

6 Which Spanish phrase came into mainstream English usage after the release of the Alfred Hitchcock film The Man Who Knew Too Much ?

7 The Russian acronym for ‘the main administration of camps’ is now a word in the English language. What word, which came into common usage after featuring in the title of a very famous ’70s novel?

8 In the 17th century, French businessman Le Grende, when asked by his finance minister how the state could help merchants, gave a famous reply which has since become a phrase in English. What did he say, or what is the English phrase?

9 Which word, now commonly used in social media, comes from a Hebrew word meaning ‘one who understands?’

10 An Italian word originally meaning ‘candy’, specifically sugared almonds and other savouries, has now become associated almost completely with celebrations. What is the Italian word?

Answers

1. Cipher from sifr

2. Hungary. The original word was kocsi, from the village of Kocs

3. The Spanish term is ‘whale killer’, not ‘killer whale.’ The killer whale is not a whale, but actually the largest member of the dolphin family. The Spanish called them whale killers after observing them attacking much larger sperm and right whales

4. Deolali, which is the origin of doolally, for a mad or eccentric person. A lot of the soldiers waiting to ship back to England would get ‘doolally tap’, the term for eccentric behaviour, because of camp fever while stationed there

5. Gurkha, from the Sanskrit goraksha

6. Que sera sera, which means ‘whatever will be, will be’: a song of the same name was sung by Doris Day in the film

7. Gulag. The novel was The Gulag Archipelagoby Alexander Solzhenitsyn

8. He said, “Laissez-nous faire” (let us do what we want to do), which is now used as simply laissez faire

9. Maven, from the Hebrew mevin. It actually came into common usage after a ’60s commercial for Herrings

10. Confetti

Reminder: The last date for sending in answers to last week’s Google-proof quiz is July 28 (Thursday). Write to blink@thehindu.co.in

In the July 8 edition of FAQ, question no. 4 said “One of the three men to have won nine Wimbledon titles is Roger Federer.” It should have been seven, not nine. The error is regretted.

Joy Bhattacharjyais a quizmaster and Project Director, FIFA U-17 World Cup

Follow Joy on Twitter @joybhattacharj

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