Capital Cities
This city became the official capital of Wales only in 1955, making it one of the youngest capitals in Europe.
What is Cardiff?
This city, home to a famous castle perched on an ancient volcanic rock, serves as the capital of Scotland.
What is Edinburgh?
This poetic name for Great Britain, derived from Latin, evokes white cliffs and has been used by poets and patriots for centuries.
What is Albion?
This informal term for a working-class person from London's East End also refers to a distinctive accent and rhyming slang tradition.
What is a Cockney?
I was born in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1564. I wrote 37 plays and 154 sonnets. Many consider me the greatest writer in the English language.
Who is William Shakespeare?
If a British person tells you they were absolutely this after hearing some shocking news, they mean they were completely astonished. It sounds like something hit them in the face — and etymologically, it did.
What is gobsmacked?
This capital city's name comes from its native language — "Baile Átha Cliath" — meaning "town of the hurdled ford."
What is Dublin?
This country left the Commonwealth in 1949, making it the only nation to do so while sharing a land border with a current member state.
What is Ireland?
This nickname for Ireland refers to its lush green landscape, famously intensified by its mild, rainy Atlantic climate.
What is the Emerald Isle?
This informal, sometimes affectionate, sometimes patronising term is used for an Irish person, and is also a common Irish given name.
What is Paddy?
I was born in Dublin in 1854. I wrote a novel about a man who never ages while his portrait bears the consequences. I was famously tried and imprisoned for "gross indecency."
Who is Oscar Wilde?
This Irish toast, used when raising a glass, has been adopted by English speakers worldwide and means "health."
What is sláinte?
This city has been the capital of Alaska since 1906 and is one of the few capital cities in the world accessible only by sea or air — no roads connect it to the rest of the state.
What is Juneau?
This city, sitting at over 1,700 metres above sea level, is the capital of Kenya and the economic hub of East Africa.
What is Nairobi?
This nickname for Las Vegas, Nevada, reflects the city's reputation for gambling, excess, and what happens there staying there.
What is Sin City?
This term for a white, rural, working-class American from the South originally referred to the sunburned neck of a manual outdoor labourer.
What is a redneck?
I was born in Georgia in 1929. I led a civil rights movement through nonviolent resistance. I delivered a speech beginning "I have a dream" before being assassinated in 1968.
Who is Martin Luther King Jr.?
This theatrical expression, widely used in American English to wish someone good luck, is always said instead of the word it actually means — as saying that word backstage is considered bad luck.
What is "break a leg"?
This city has been the capital of Canada since 1857, chosen partly for its strategically defensible position near the US border.
What is Ottawa?
This country is unique in having three capital cities, each serving a different branch of government — executive, legislative, and judicial.
What is South Africa?
This nickname for Canada reflects both its vast wilderness and its reputation as a welcoming, spacious nation with endless natural resources.
What is the Great White North?
This informal nickname for a Canadian, of disputed origin, is widely used both affectionately and as a sports team name.
What is a Canuck?
I was born in Montreal in 1934. I wrote "Hallelujah" and "Suzanne." I was as celebrated for my poetry and novels as for my music.
Who is Leonard Cohen?
Canadians end sentences with this short question tag, now so associated with the country that it has become a national stereotype and appears on souvenirs.
What is "eh"?
This city became the capital of Australia in 1913 as a compromise between two rival cities, and was purpose-built from scratch in open countryside.
What is Canberra?
This Caribbean nation made global headlines in 2021 when it became a republic while remaining in the Commonwealth — and simultaneously named a global pop star as a national hero.
What is Barbados?
This nickname for Australia, coined by poet Dorothea Mackellar, captures the continent's harsh, drought-prone interior in a single vivid image.
What is the Sunburnt Country?
This Australian slang term for a woman has been used since the 19th century and is thought to derive from a common Irish female name brought over by early immigrants.
What is sheila?
I was born in Melbourne in 1934. I revolutionised media ownership across three continents. My newspapers and television channels have shaped political landscapes worldwide.
Who is Rupert Murdoch?
This greeting, now recognised worldwide as distinctly Australian, is simply a contraction of two very ordinary English words.
What is G'day?
This city has been the capital of New Zealand since 1865, chosen for its central position between the country's two main islands.
What is Wellington?
This city, the capital of India, is often confused with the country's largest and most famous city, much like Canberra and Ottawa before it.
What is New Delhi?
This poetic nickname for New Zealand comes from the Māori language and refers to a native bird whose long white feather was traditionally worn by chiefs.
What is the Land of the Long White Cloud?
This poetic nickname for New Zealand comes from the Māori language and refers to a native bird whose long white feather was traditionally worn by chiefs.
What is a Kiwi?
I was born in New Zealand in 1919. I was the first person to reach the summit of Mount Everest, alongside Tenzing Norgay, in 1953.
Who is Edmund Hillary?
In New Zealand English, this expression leaves its comparison unfinished — but everyone understands it means something is excellent or perfectly fine.
What is "sweet as"?