Questions and Answers on Vocabulary
Question 1 : Does a biennial event occur more or less often than a biannual event?
Answer : A biennial event occurs less often than a biannual event. Biennial means “occurring every two years.” Biannual means “occurring twice a year.”
Question 2 : A gastronome, a gourmet, and a gourmand come to your house for dinner. Who has the worst manners?
Answer : The gourmand will probably have the worst manners, since he or she expresses his or her love of food in a piggish or gluttonous manner.
Question 3 : Pick ten words form the list of one thousand that you should know. Look them up and write their definitions down.
Answer : This is a do-it-yourself question.
Question 4 : What is an eponym?
Answer : An eponym is a word, such as maverick, that has come into the language from a person’s proper name.
Question 5 : What’s an enfant terrible, and what is the country of origin of the phrase?
Answer : An enfant terrible is, literally, a terrible child. We often use it to describe artists or celebrities who behave in an infantile manner.
Question 6 : What’s wrong with the word co-conspirator?
Answer : The prefix co- is redundant. The simple noun conspirator provides all the information we need.
Question 7 : What do the psychologists call a fear of bees?
Answer : They call this fear apiphobia.
Question 8 : Is the description “cold as hell” a palindrome or an oxymoron?
Answer : It’s an oxymoron, a figure of speech that combines contradictory terms. Since hell is hot, how can it be cold? A palindrome is a word, phrase, or sentence that reads the same forwards and backwards.
Question 9 : If I repeat something, have I iterated it or reiterated it?
Answer : I have only iterated it. I must repeat it again to reiterate it.
Question 10 : Does one immigrate or emigrate from Texas to Idaho?
Answer : One emigrates from Texas and immigrates into Idaho.