QUIZ
Call My Bluff Quiz
Adam Jacot de Boinod was a researcher for the television series QI and is the author of The Meaning
of Tingo and Other Extraordinary Words from around the World, published by Penguin Books. Here
he sets us a “Call-My-Bluff Quiz”. Can you guess the correct answer for the definitions of the
following words (listed with their coinage date):
1) GARBIST {1640}
a) n old man given to telling
a
anecdotes
b) one who is adept at engaging in
polite behaviour
5) SIMOUS {1634}
a) sullen, shy and repellent in manner
b) aving a very flat, snub nose or with
h
the end turned up
c) of a yellowish golden colour
c) a female wool-gatherer
2) MIMP {1786}
6) GRIZZLE {1842}
a) o speak in a prissy manner usually
t
with pursed lips
a) o fret, sulk; to cry in a whining or
t
whimpering fashion
b) to poke around with one’s nose, as
dogs do
b) o eat all of the host’s food and drink
t
all of the host’s drinks
c) a spur attached to the heel of a
fighting cock
9) PUGIL {1576}
3) DODDYPOLL {1401}
a) a scarecrow made of old garments
b) ne who disappears and then pops
o
up again
c) a hornless cow, hence a fool
c) handful or what is taken up
a
between the thumb and two
first fingers
a) a turnstile
b) the impression of a horse’s hoof
upon soft ground
b) thief, especially one who
a
deliberately starts fights between
others in order to rob them
in the confusion
7) DIDAPPER {1612}
a) ne who uses shifts and evasions
o
in argument
c) the second swarm of bees in the
same season
4) PYSMATIC {1652}
a) nterrogatory, always asking
i
questions r inquiring
o
8) SERMOCINATION {1753}
a) he use of ambiguous language or
t
evasive writing
b) distemper peculiar to sailors in hot
a
climates, wherein they imagine the
sea to be green fields, and will throw
themselves into it
b) tired from complaining
c) aving a jaw which extends past the
h
rest of one’s face
c) speaker quickly answering his
a
own question
a) the process of spreading manure
b) he action of a feverish patient in
t
picking at the bedclothes during
his delirium
c) he act of whipping a palsied or
t
benumbed limb with nettles to
restore its feeling
6)a o fret, sulk; to cry in a whining or whimpering
t
fashion
3)c a hornless cow, hence a fool
5)b aving a very flat, snub nose or with the end
h
turned up
2)a o speak in a prissy manner usually with pursed
t
lips
4)a nterrogatory, always asking questions or
i
inquiring
1)b One who is adept at engaging in polite
10)b he action of a feverish patient in picking at the
t
bedclothes during his delirium
9)c handful or what is taken up between the
a
thumb and two first fingers
8)c speaker quickly answering his own question
a
7)b ne who disappears and then pops up again
o
34 | dialogue
10) FLOCCILL ATION {1842}
behaviour
c) to knock the feet together in walking