Answers · #4 · Fri 23 Oct 2026
#4 answers: Language Day
Words wander. They change meaning, cross borders, borrow people's names and get written down in very different ways. Today, one piece of word history was made up.
Each round had two true, sourced statements and one fake. Fakes are marked “Made up by AI · not true”. Don't repeat them as facts.
Round 1
How many players were fooled appears once 5 people have played
- Fake
The word 'clumsy' comes from a Japanese word for a tea servant who spilled things, borrowed into English in the Middle Ages.
Made up by AI · not trueWhy it’s fake: Europeans didn't reach Japan until the 1540s, so English couldn't have borrowed a Japanese word in the Middle Ages. 'Clumsy' really comes from an old Scandinavian word meaning numb with cold.
- True
In Middle English the word 'nice' meant foolish, and it comes from a Latin word meaning 'ignorant'.
It took centuries to drift through 'fussy' and 'precise' before landing on 'pleasant'.
“[Middle English, foolish, from Old French, from Latin nescius, ignorant, from nescīre, to be ignorant; see NESCIENCE.]”
The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language: nice(opens in a new tab) - True
In Old English, the word that later became 'meat' simply meant 'food' of any kind at all.
That's why old phrases like 'meat and drink' mean food and drink in general.
“In Old English, mete was just "food."”
Dictionary.com: meat(opens in a new tab)
Round 2
How many players were fooled appears once 5 people have played
- True
Cuneiform, pressed into clay tablets in ancient Mesopotamia, is the earliest known writing system.
It was first used to write Sumerian, in what is now Iraq.
“Cuneiform is the earliest known writing system and was originally developed to write the Sumerian language of southern Mesopotamia (modern Iraq).”
Wikipedia: Cuneiform(opens in a new tab) - True
Hawaiian is written with very few letters: its standard alphabet uses just five vowels and eight consonants.
Consonants such as F, G and S only appear in borrowed words.
“The current official Hawaiian alphabet consists of 13 letters: five vowels (A a, E e, I i, O o, and U u) and eight consonants (H h, K k, L l, M m, N n, P p, W w, and ʻ).”
Wikipedia: Hawaiian alphabet(opens in a new tab) - Fake
Almost every child in ancient Egypt could read hieroglyphs, so scribes earned less than ordinary farmers.
Made up by AI · not trueWhy it’s fake: Hieroglyphs had hundreds of signs and took years to learn, so reading was a rare skill. Scribes were respected and well paid, not poorer than farmers.
Round 3
How many players were fooled appears once 5 people have played
- Fake
'Fun' first meant a hearty meal, so to 'make fun of' someone once meant to cook them a good dinner.
Made up by AI · not trueWhy it’s fake: We still say 'make fun of' to mean mock someone, a clue that 'fun' began as trickery, not food. It most likely comes from an old verb meaning to make a fool of someone.
- True
The word 'robot' comes from Czech, from an old word that meant forced labour or drudgery.
It was made famous by a 1920 Czech play about artificial workers.
“The term robot came from the Czech language in 1923. The term comes from the Czech word robotník ('forced worker'), from robota 'forced labor, compulsory service, drudgery,' from robotiti 'to work, drudge', from an Old Czech source akin to Old Church Slavonic rabota (работа) 'servitude,' from rabu 'slave'.”
Wikipedia: Robot(opens in a new tab) - True
'Kindergarten' is borrowed from German, where it is made from the words for 'child' and 'garden'.
The idea was a place where children could grow naturally, like plants.
“It comes from terms Kind ('child') and Garten ('garden'), literally meaning "garden of children", as a "metaphorical sense of "place where children can grow in a natural way".”
Wikipedia: Kindergarten(opens in a new tab)
Round 4
How many players were fooled appears once 5 people have played
- Fake
'Busy' first meant 'buzzing', after the sound of bees, and only later meant having a lot to do.
Made up by AI · not trueWhy it’s fake: Sound-alike stories ('busy' sounds like 'buzz') are the classic sign of a made-up word history. 'Busy' comes straight from the Old English word 'bysig'.
- True
The verb 'to boycott' comes from Charles Boycott, a land agent in Ireland who was shunned by his whole community.
Neighbours, shopkeepers and workers all refused to deal with him in 1880.
“Captain Charles Cunningham Boycott (12 March 1832 – 19 June 1897) was an English land agent whose ostracism by his local community in Ireland gave the English language the term boycott.”
Wikipedia: Charles Boycott(opens in a new tab) - True
In the 1530s the word 'bully' meant 'sweetheart', long before it came to mean someone who picks on others.
In between, it meant 'fine fellow' and then 'blusterer'.
“The word bully has gone through a mysterious evolution, from the 1530s when it meant "sweetheart," through the 17th century's meanings of "fine fellow," then "blusterer," and finally "harasser of the weak."”
Dictionary.com: bully(opens in a new tab)
Round 5
How many players were fooled appears once 5 people have played
- True
The word 'silly' comes from an Old English word that meant 'happy' or 'blessed'.
It slid from 'blessed' to 'innocent' to 'pitiful' and finally to 'foolish'.
“Silly ultimately comes from the Old English (c. 450–c1150) word gesǣlig, meaning “happy, blessed.””
Dictionary.com: silly(opens in a new tab) - Fake
'Sloppy' once meant generous, describing a cook who served out big ladlefuls of soup.
Made up by AI · not trueWhy it’s fake: Hard to reason out: 'slop' sounding like soup is exactly the kind of neat sound-alike story that's usually invented. 'Sloppy' first meant muddy.
- True
The word 'pretty' comes from an Old English word meaning 'cunning', which came from a word for a trick.
It passed through 'clever' and 'fine' on its way to 'good-looking'.
“[Middle English prety, clever, fine, handsome, from Old English prættig, cunning, from prætt, trick.]”
The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language: pretty(opens in a new tab)