Foreign Words and Phrases
Latin for the school, college, or university you attended.
What is alma mater?
Even if you didn’t graduate from the school, it’s still your alma mater.
This group of individuals appear on U.S. banknotes.
Who are important figures in the founding of the United States of America?
George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Alexander Hamilton, Andrew Jackson, Ulysses S. Grant, and Benjamin Franklin appear on the $1, $5, $10, $20, $50, and $100 bills, respectively.
Another name for frosting.
What is icing?
Icing first appeared on cakes during the 16th century thanks to a French chef.
Louisa May Alcott’s Jo, Meg, Beth, and Amy in Little Women.
Who are the March sisters?
The characters are based on Alcott’s own sisters.
Vivian Vance is the sidekick in more than one sitcom to this actress born August 6, 1911.
Who is Lucille Ball?
Vance plays Ethyl Mertz in I Love Lucy and The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour, and she plays Vivian Bagley (and then Bunson) in The Lucy Show.
Italian for “outside” or “open air”—most often used with dining.
What is alfresco?
Fresco means “fresh” in Italian.
This decreases the purchasing power of money.
What is inflation?
Purchasing power is the amount of goods and/or services you can buy for a given amount of money. During periods of inflation, we cannot buy as much with the same amount of money as we can when there is no inflation.
Individual little cakes.
What are cupcakes?
Google reports “cupcakes” is the fastest growing search term for recipes.
This is Agatha Christie’s amateur female detective.
Who is Miss (Jane) Marple?
Miss Marple first appeared in 1927 in a short story. She later made her way to books and then onto the stage. Before becoming Jessica Fletcher in Murder, She Wrote, Angela Lansbury starred as Miss Marple in the 1980 film The Mirror Crack’d.
Born August 23, 1978, this former Los Angeles Laker NBA player died in a helicopter crash in January 2020.
Who is Kobe Bryant?
He went straight from high school to the NBA.
Yiddish word for gutsy, brash, audacious.
What is chutzpah?
Yiddish originated with the Ashkenazic Jews from Eastern and Central Europe.
This U.S. law enforcement branch was created to stop counterfeiting.
What is Secret Service?
It used to be part of the Treasury Department. Now it’s part of Homeland Security.
During the 19th century, yeast was replaced in cakes by two leavening agents. Name one of them.
What is baking soda or baking powder?
Both contain sodium bicarbonate, what we call baking soda, but baking powder adds two more ingredient—acidifying and drying agents.
This heroine is the glue of the Harry Potter series.
Who is Hermione (Granger)?
Emma Watson plays the role in the films. Hermione is the only character at Hogwarts who has read the book about its history.
Born August 26, 1980, Macaulay Culkin catapulted to stardom in this Christmas movie.
What is Home Alone?
His appearance in Uncle Buck turned him into “Hollywood’s favorite child actor,” but it was Home Alone, the highest-grossing film of 1990, that sealed his fate.
Three-word Latin phrase for an unwelcomed and/or unacceptable person.
What is persona non grata?
He appears on the U.S. $2 banknote, and Monticello appears on the back of older notes.
Who is Thomas Jefferson?
Newer notes show the signing of the Declaration of Independence on the back.
“Let them eat cake” is a bad translation. Cake really means this bread.
What is brioche?
Marie Antoinette is credited with the quote.
This is Charlotte Brontë’s eponymous heroine whose life is full of trials and tribulations. After years of separation, she and Rochester finally marry.
Who is Jane Eyre?
Born August 8, 1988, she is the eldest daughter of Prince Andrew.
Who is Princess Beatrice (of York)?
She’s very down-to-earth, wants people to call her Beatrice, and doesn’t want anyone to curtsey to her.
Latin for “who benefits,” often used in a political context. For example, when something unpopular becomes a law or regulation, people often wonder, “Who benefits?”
What is cui bono?
When translated to Italian, it’s reversed—bono cui.
This country debuted paper banknotes more than 1,000 years ago.
What is China?
The top tier of a wedding cake is most often saved for the first anniversary; however, it can also be saved for this occasion.
What is christening of the first child?
The christening used to frequently take place during the first year of marriage.
From the imagination of Edward Stratemeyer, this iconic, teenage sleuth first appeared in the 1930s.
Who is Nancy Drew?
The books have always been written under the pseudonym Carolyn Keene and penned by various authors, but the character was Stratemeyer’s idea, and he was the original publisher.
Born August 31, 1952, this Canadian-born designer is half of the HGTV hit show Love It or List It.
Who is Hillary (Farr)?
The show’s other star is David Visentin, a real estate agent. They work with homeowners where one wants to renovate their home and the other one wants to move. Hillary renovates their home to try to keep them there, and David tries to find a home they can’t resist. At the end of the show, the couple decides whether to love it (stay) or list it (leave).