World Geography!
Word Origins That Slap (Etymology)
Multilingual Sayings
Language Facts Except They're Wrong
Body Language Around the World
100

This country has 11 official languages and is nicknamed the “Rainbow Nation.”

What is South Africa?

100
In Spanish, lots of words that start with "a" or "al" ultimately stem from this language. Azúcar (sugar), almohada (pillow), albóndiga (meatball)...

What is Arabic? (entered Spanish during the Muslim Conquest of Spain)

100

You spill these in English when you give away a secret, or perhaps some gossip

What are beans? (spill the beans)

alternatively: "spill the tea"

100

Sign languages have been developed as a visual representation of spoken languages.

SIKE! Sign languages have their own grammar and structure, and vocabulary. They even have idioms that are hard to translate into spoken languages.

100

Germans don't "cross their fingers" for you to wish you good luck, they...

What is "die Daumen drücken" (press their thumbs)? 

200

This country (known for its lakes, forests, and Nordic charm, wink wink) has the highest number of islands out of any country in the world at 267,570.

What is Sweden?

200

This fruit, called pamplemousse in French, ultimately got its name from the Tamil "pampa limasu" (big citrus).

What is a grapefruit?

200

In Spanish, estar en las nubes literally means “to be in the clouds,” but actually means this.

What is “to daydream”?

200

The word “goodbye” in English comes from a contraction over time of the phrase "Good be the eyve" (evening)

SIKE! It shortened over time from “God be with ye.”

200

This cutesy finger heart originated from/was popularized by pop stars from which country?

What is South Korea?

300

This landlocked country in South America has two capitals: La Paz and Sucre.

What is Bolivia?

300

This Swedish word originally meant a varied platter of sandwiches and hors-d'oeuvres, but in English, was adopted to mean a variety in general

What is smorgasbord? (Smörgåsbord)

300

This kind of love is described in French as a "coup de foudre" (a lightning strike)

What is "love at first sight"?

300

With 17.8 million inhabitants, Montreal is the most populous Francophone city in the world.

SIKE! It's Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo.

300

This friendly gesture is common in African American communities and originated during the Vietnam War

What is dapping up?

400

This desert, stretching across China and Mongolia, is expanding every year and is one of the world’s fastest-growing deserts.

What is the Gobi Desert?

400

This word comes from the 14th-century Venetian practice of isolating ships for 40 days to prevent the spread of the Black Plague. Today it’s used for any period of enforced isolation.

What is quarantine? (Quarantina = 40 days)

400

If you don't notice something obvious, Germans might say you have these on your eyes

What are tomatoes? (Tomaten auf den Augen haben)

400

Mandarin Chinese has 12 verb tenses, including some that don't exist in English.

SIKE! Mandarin Chinese has no verb conjugation, plural, or articles. Context does all the work.

400

This signature hand gesture was made famous by a former German world leader

What is the Merkel-Raute? (Merkel rhombus)

500

The town of Tartu is famous for being the intellectual and cultural heart of this small northern European country.

What is Estonia?

500

Spanish has two main words for "avocado". One is aguacate, stemming from Náhuatl, and the other is this word, stemming from Quechua.

What is palta?

500

This Spanish saying involving animals is used when someone tricks or cheats another person

What is dar gato por liebre?

500

In Paraguay, 70-90% of the country speaks the indigenous language Tupí (even non-indigenous people.)

SIKE! The language is Guaraní.

500

In many Middle Eastern countries, a simple "tsk" sound (especially with eyebrows raised) means this

What is "no"?

M
e
n
u