Sleuth Home - Message Boards - The Gumshoe Lounge

Jun-7-2005 23:57

OK ... as there are so many readers and writers here, we'll see if this is popular ...

I'll post a list of dictionary definitions and see if you can provide the word. I'll try to balance between making it too hard and making it interesting. I'll try and make it so that, even if you don't one right, you'll at least have heard the word before. For each quiz, all answers will begin with the same letter:

Jun-12-2005 11:35

All answers beginning with 'K':

1)n. a would-be musical instrument, a tube with a strip of cat-gut, etc., that resonates to the voice.

2)adj. dust-coloured, dull brownish or greenish yellow. (Urdu & Pers.)
3)n. a child in thieves’ slang.

4)n. the unopened bud of a flower: an architectural ornament resembling that. (Ger.)

5)n. credit, fame, renown, prestige.

6)n. a castle or fortress in a N.African town or the area round it, esp. in Algiers (has an alternative spelling beginning with ‘c’).

B: n. government by the worst.

Jun-12-2005 12:01

1) Kazoo
2) kurd
3) kid
4)
5) kudos
6)
B) kleptocracy

Jun-12-2005 12:32

1. Kazoo
2. Khaki
3. Kife
4. knosp
5. kudos
6. Kasbah
B. Kleptocracy

Jun-12-2005 14:03

Lady Grey - 2/6: Luvely K - 5/6.

Word 3 and the bonus "silly" word are still outstanding (though kleptocracy is pretty good - I can't find it in any of my dictionaries but could it be a government based on heavy taxation??) : o )

Jun-12-2005 14:12

Its government by thieves Blaise.

Jun-12-2005 14:22

3) kit?

Jun-12-2005 14:29

Bonus: Kakistocracy??

Jun-12-2005 16:00

Lady Grey: Yes I know. It was a joke for those of us who live in countries of high taxation, which is theft by other means : o )

Luvely K: Yup. A government by the worst is called a 'kakistocracy' - which I think is set to become one of my favourite words ever!

The answer to (3)is 'kinchin'.

Jun-12-2005 16:21

All answers beginning with 'L':

1) adj. glaringly, wanly or dingily reddish-yellow or yellowish-brown: gloomily threatening: ghastly pale, wan: ghastly: melodramatically sensational: brimstony.

2) adj. mournful: dismal.

3) v.i. to study by lamplight: to discourne learnedly or pedantically.

4) adj. clear: transparent.

5) adj. expressing or expressed in few words: sententiously brief.

6) n. a bestowal or distribution of gifts.

B - n. excessive flow of words (could apply to this thread!)

Jun-12-2005 16:40

1) Lurid
2) lugubrious
3) Lucid or Lucent
4) Legacy
5) Loquacious