Trivia time – the world of literature and language
Question 1:
What are the most common words in the english language? (hint: there are 12 in total)
Question 2:
Why is a spelling competition called a "Bee"?
Question 3:
What is the shortest english sentence ever created using all the letters of the alphabet?
Question 4:
What does the title refer to in the book "Lord of the Flies"?
Question 5:
What are the longest words in the english language? (hint: one of the longest turned to be a hoax – but if you name that word you get bonus points)
Question 6:
Why when abbreviating something do we say, "In a nutshell"?
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13 thoughts on “Trivia time – the world of literature and language”
1.The 12 common words I think are: the, that, to, a, it, is, and, be, I, in, was, of.
2. A theory of the origin of the word bee in spelling bee is that it refers to a social gathering of people where they all participate in one activities in such manner it’s like a, “beehive” which the word, “bee” seems to be derived from in the cohesive word that describes a gathering of people spelling words as a, “spelling bee”
3. PACK MY BOX WITH FIVE DOZEN LIQUOR JUGS (32 letters)
4. William goulding chose this title as a biblical reference to the demon Beelzebub a demon who refers himself as the lord of the flies. As well the title is a general explanation of the theme of the story where it outlines the horrible and primitive attitudes of the boys making it the central theme of the novel.
5. Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanokoniosis (45 letters) a disease of the lungs
6. We summarize things starting with “in a nut shell” because of “The Iliad in a nutshell. Pliny tells us that Cicero asserts that the whole Iliad was written on a piece of parchment which might be put into a nutshell.”
1) 12 most common words in order: the, of, to, and, a, in, is, it, you, that, he, was. (source: http://www.world-english.org)
3)The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.
4)The title “Lord of the Flies” refers to Beelzebub – also known as the Devil.
6)The expression “in a nutshell” means “in essence”, as the essence of the nut – its edible part – is contained inside its shell. (source: http://www.github.com)
Also, I guess we use as few words as possible to abbreviate something “IN a nutshell” because nutshells are small and don’t have a large volume…
1) the,be,and,of,a,in,to,have,to,it,I, that
2) The “bee” in “spelling bee” simply means something to the effect of “gathering” or “get together”.
3) The quick red fox jumped over the lazy brown dog
4) Beelzebub
5)Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis
6) In a nutshell is used when you are going to explain a long or complicated idea, story in a quick and simple way
I’m sorry, I forfeit!!!
1) The 12 most common words are;
–> The, be, to, of, and, a, in, that, have, I, it, for
2) There are actually many answers to this question but here are some i think sound right 😀
–>’bee’ was the first word in history to be misspelled. Someone spelled it ‘B’ trying to be cute in 1776.
In 1850 when they tried to correct their mistake, they tried, ‘be’. But that was wrong.
A female mastermind Bea Este Masters took home the prize of 50 jars of honey with her correct spelling of ‘bee’. Hence, the ‘Spelling Bea’ was coined, named after her. And people have been misspelling the event ever since.
–> Or it could mean,the “bee” in “spelling bee” simply means something to the effect of “gathering” or “get together”.
3) The shortest sentence with all the letters of the alphabet is,
–> PACK MY BOX WITH FIVE DOZEN LIQUOR JUGS
4) Lord of the Flies refers to,
–>Lord of the Flies refers to Beelzebub, another name for the devil. He is also called the Lord of Filth and Dung. Throughout the novel, the children grow dirtier and dirtier, an outward reflection of their inner state.They become savage throughout the book as they have no paren’ts watching after the boys after their plane crash. (had to read this book for English :P)
5)The longest word in the english dictionary is
–>Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis which is a lung disease
But a long word that turned out to be a hoax was
–> Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis which was found to be a hoax
6)when abbreviating we say, “In a nutshell” because it means,
–> that you are going to express something in a simple direct way. So instead of explaining something all complicated, in a nutshell means you’re doing it in a quick and simple way
TA DA (:
oh wait the longest word and the hoax are the same
my bad 😛
1) IN ORDER FROM THE MOST COMMON TO THE LEAST: the, be, and, of, a, in, to, have, to, it, I, that.
2) The word “bee”, refers to a community social gathering at which friends and neighbors join together in a single activity usually to help one person or family, such as sewing, quilting, and barn raising.
3) “Pack my box with five dozen liquor jugs.”
4) “Lord of the Flies” refers to Beelzebub, who is a Devil in the story.
5) Longest word and Hoax: Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis (lung disease caused by inhaling fine ash and sand dust) – 45 letters
Other Long Words: Pseudopseudohypoparathyroidism – 30 letters
Honorificabilitudinitatibus (from Shakespeare) – 27 letters
Longest Word Not in the Dictionary (http://www.digitalspy.ca/fun/news/a444700/longest-word-has-189819-letters-takes-three-hours-to-pronounce.html#~oKGAj31HnomCSc): Methionylthreonylthreonylglutaminylarginyl…isoleucine (Chemical name of titin: the largest known protein) – 189 819 letters
6) The phrase, “in a nutshell”, means to explain something that is very complicated in a short and simple manner. For example, providing a brief summary of a long book when asked about its plot.
Don’t forfeit. Try again.
1) From most common to least common: the, be, and, of, a, in, to, have, to, it, I, that.
2) The word “bee” in “spelling bee” refers to “gathering” or “get together”. Etymologists believe that the actual origin of “bee”, in the sense of “gathering”, derives from bēn (prayer / favor), an Old English term. This resulted in “bean” meaning “help given by neighbors”. The British dialectic version of “bean” is “bee”. According to David Hiskey from http://www.todayifoundout.com, the term was coined at a “spinning bee” in 1769, where British citizens would take to the streets in protest of high taxes. The first documented case of a “spelling bee” appeared in 1825.
3) Any of the following uses all the letters of the alphabet and it shorter than “Pack my box with five dozen liquor jugs” (32 letters) !
Jackdaws love my big sphinx of quartz. (31 letters)
The five boxing wizards jump quickly. (31 letters)
How quickly daft jumping zebras vex. (30 letters)
Quick zephyrs blow, vexing daft Jim. (29 letters)
Sphinx of black quartz, judge my vow. (29 letters)
Waltz, nymph, for quick jigs vex Bud. (28 letters)
Blowzy night-frumps vex’d Jack Q. (26 letters)
Glum Schwartzkopf vex’d by NJ IQ. (26 letters)
4) “Lord of the Flies” refers to Beelzebub.
5) Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz… or z^google (longest hoax word used to express a long period of dormancy)
6) “In a nutshell” is used to explain something that is long or complicated in a short or simple manner.
1.The most common words in the English language are “the”, “be”, “to”, “of”, “and”, “a”, “in”, “that”, “have”, “I”, “it”, and “for”.
2.A spelling competition is called a “bee” in reference to a social gathering for the benefit of a person or family. For example, a “husking bee” is a group of farmers who husk corn, and an “apple bee” is a group of people who prepare apples for drying.
3.This is debatable, however, the shortest English pangram which adheres to proper grammatical rules such as no abbreviations or acronyms is “Squdgy fez, blank jimp crwth vox!” (26 letters). In modern English terms it means “A short brimless felt hat barely blocks out the sound of a Celtic violin”. The phrase was created by “The Father of Information Theory”, Claude Shannon(Listverse.com).
4.The title in William Golding’s novel refers to one of the biblical names for the Devil, “Beelzebub”. This pseudonym is said to mean “lord of the flies”, or “lord of the dwelling”. The boar’s head in the novel symbolizes evil and savagery, which is reflected upon the boys on the island.
5.The longest words in the English language are antidisestablishmentarianism and pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanokoniosis. The latter is considered a hoax as it was coined simply for the purpose of becoming the longest English word.
6.We say “in a nutshell” when abbreviating, because the shell is relatively small due to the limited size of the nut it encases. If words are the metaphorical nut and they are said in the context of limited time (the metaphorical nut), then it would make sense that they must be brief and to the point, in order to conserve space (time).
edit: said in the context of limited time (the metaphorical shell),
edit: The longest words are considered the longest words in dictionary.
You got them right SkyStriker. Congratulations!