WAMC's Ian Pickus and resident quizzer Mike Nothnagel break out the berets and Chablis.
Last week's challenge
Start with an adjective you could use to describe Pope Francis. Rearrange this nine-letter word and you can spell a fruit. What are the words?
Answer: The adjective is ARGENTINE, and the fruit is a TANGERINE.
THIS WEEK'S CATEGORY: FRENCH PHRASES
On-air questions: Observed annually on March 20, UN French Language Day is one of six days established by UNESCO, each one promoting a different one of the UN's six official working languages: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, and Spanish. (Loyal listeners will remember we talked about International Mother Language Day back in show #130, which is related to these six language days.) To commemorate UN French Language Day, this week our quiz is about French words and phrases that are commonly used in English.
1. Literally translated as "apart from the main work," what do we call food that is eaten before the main courses of a meal or during a reception or cocktail party, usually without the use of cutlery?
2. Meaning "to speak the truth," and originally referring to an oath taken by jurors, what name do we give to the process in the U.S. legal system by which attorneys question expert witnesses about their qualifications before testifying in court, or by which potential jurors are asked about their backgrounds and biases?
3. Meaning "let them do," what phrase refers to an economic system in which private transactions are free from unnecessary governmental restrictions (except those that maintain property rights), and was developed in the 18th century by economists including Adam Smith?
4. From the French for "foot on the ground," what name do we give to a small apartment or other residence located away from a person's primary home, which is used on a temporary basis not as a vacation home, but often by commuters or those working in a city for an extended but limited period of time?
5. Translated as "blow of state," what do we call the sudden and illegal overthrow of a government by a small group with the intent of replacing those in power with a new ruling body?
Extra credit
1. Meaning "according to the menu," what phrase do we use to describe the process of ordering individual items from a menu (as opposed to a prix fixe model), or the process of selecting individual goods or services rather than in a pre-packaged format?
2. Translated as "water of life," by what name do we know a distilled beverage (often brandy) made from fruit other than grapes, and similar to the German-style Schnapps?
This week's challenge
Start with the phrase FLEUR DE LIS. Change one letter to an S and you can spell the two-word name for things (5,5) that aren't seen in math classes that much anymore. What are they?
ANSWERS
On-air questions
1. Hors d'oeuvre
2. Voir dire
3. Laissez-faire
4. Pied-á-terre
5. Coup d'etat
Extra credit
1. À la carte
2. Eau de vie
