Etymologic!
May 4, 2007 9:14 PM   Subscribe

Etymologic! - claims to be the toughest word game on the web.
posted by Burhanistan (53 comments total)

This post was deleted for the following reason: Poster's Request -- frimble



 
6 out of 10. It would be nice to see the stories behind each word after finding out the answer.
posted by mdonley at 9:22 PM on May 4, 2007


You got 4 answers correct out of 10 questions asked.
posted by T.D. Strange at 9:22 PM on May 4, 2007


You got 9 answers correct out of 10 questions asked.

They're lying. Be nice if I knew which one I got wrong.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 9:24 PM on May 4, 2007


they tell you what's right and wrong after you answer each question!

i had 8 out of 10.
posted by timory at 9:27 PM on May 4, 2007


So they do, I didn't notice that. For some reason I always do these things as fast a possible.

*Plays with pencil, looks out window*
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 9:29 PM on May 4, 2007


9 out of 10. But at least three of the right ones (and the wrong one) were just educated guesses. Ah, PhD., I finally see some return!
posted by LucretiusJones at 9:29 PM on May 4, 2007


You got 9 answers correct out of 10 questions asked.

They're lying. Be nice if I knew which one I got wrong.


9 of 10 for me too. I credit reading Michael Quinion.
posted by Tube at 9:30 PM on May 4, 2007


Oops, at the risk of monopolizing this thread, I just want to clarify that I meant they're lying about the test's difficulty, not my score.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 9:32 PM on May 4, 2007


I got 3 out of ten. gus i shud go back to SA.
posted by Cyclopsis Raptor at 9:51 PM on May 4, 2007


8 out of 10, I blew the first two. I knew most of them but there were a couple that were fairly easy to figure out just from eliminating obviously wrong answers. I'm going back to sort out the others.
posted by Divine_Wino at 9:52 PM on May 4, 2007


Oh look, they change the questions, now I'm hooked, neat. Fuck.
posted by Divine_Wino at 9:56 PM on May 4, 2007


You know, I think some of their answers are actually wrong...or at least are written so poorly as to make me question their accuracy overall.

"Performers in the insane asylum coming from Bethlehem during the Middle Ages", for example, was given as a correct origin for tomfoolery. Elsewhere they identified a Nahuatl or Aztec word as being Spanish. Hrmph.
posted by dilettante at 10:05 PM on May 4, 2007


You got 5 answers correct out of 10 questions asked.

tryed it twice, 5 both times. But pretty fun, thanks for link burhanistan
posted by BostonJake at 10:06 PM on May 4, 2007


Fun link, burhanistan! Thanks!
posted by Lynsey at 10:09 PM on May 4, 2007


6, but as soon as the right answer came up, I said "Damn I KNEW that!!!!!"

Bet go try again.
posted by The Deej at 10:17 PM on May 4, 2007


8 out of ten. Damn you Azimuth!

why the fuck not golden illustrations?
posted by YoBananaBoy at 10:17 PM on May 4, 2007


I got nine out of ten, and reckon they robbed me on the 'evil eye' etymology. One of those 'what's the most common" answers as opposed to what's right.
posted by Abiezer at 10:21 PM on May 4, 2007


8 this time, but DAMN I swear I knew the other two!!!!!!!
posted by The Deej at 10:21 PM on May 4, 2007


I got 7. I'm kinda smart.
posted by flotson at 10:23 PM on May 4, 2007


9/10. Paris Hilton!
posted by facetious at 10:32 PM on May 4, 2007


I'm pretty sure the derivation of "OK" is under dispute.
posted by RavinDave at 10:39 PM on May 4, 2007


10 out of 10.
posted by Skygazer at 10:43 PM on May 4, 2007


I got 6 the first time and 7 the second, but missed "petard" twice! Damn!
posted by wsg at 10:47 PM on May 4, 2007


I got 12.
posted by vacapinta at 10:47 PM on May 4, 2007


Some of those supposed right answers smell of folk etymology to me.
posted by not that girl at 10:59 PM on May 4, 2007


Do you win anything for 10/10? If not, I'll take my 9 and go home (I'd hate to rupture my newly-inflated ego by getting like a 2 next time.)
posted by Opposite George at 11:00 PM on May 4, 2007


It says: PERFECT!
posted by Skygazer at 11:12 PM on May 4, 2007


9/10 here. I forget which one I got wrong, but I'll take a 9.
posted by wanderingmind at 11:16 PM on May 4, 2007


WHERE IS LANGUAGEHAT!!!!!!!!
posted by shmegegge at 11:16 PM on May 4, 2007


I also want languagehat to appear and tell everyone that these are bullshit folk etymologies or something. I got 8 out of 10, but my initial intuition on these sort of quizzes is that they are full of errors.
posted by Falconetti at 11:32 PM on May 4, 2007


"You're person 23456 to play Etymologic!"

I wonder if I win a prize.
posted by Citizen Premier at 11:38 PM on May 4, 2007


10. 10. 10. 10. Oh all right, I used the back button....
posted by popkinson at 11:39 PM on May 4, 2007


3/10. This from a guy who chose camping as a minor in college.
posted by vagabond at 12:32 AM on May 5, 2007


I got 34 green.

What, you guys haven't found challenge mode yet?

On question 7, wait 3 minutes. You have to click the left ear of the elephant when it runs by.
posted by tehloki at 12:57 AM on May 5, 2007


10 out of 10. And my dad said my hobby would never pay off! Oh, and thank the gods for the OED.
posted by kram175 at 12:58 AM on May 5, 2007


Modern student assessment methods have trained me to score well in multiple choice tests on subjects I know nothing about. 8/10.
posted by plant at 1:49 AM on May 5, 2007


"You're person 23456 to play Etymologic!"

I wonder if I win a prize.
posted by Citizen Premier


Yea, me too, CP.... however:

You're person 23456 to play Etymologic!
You're player 134519896 to finish Etymologic!

A bit embarrassed by my Etymo score (4), but I know that math doesn't stack up!
posted by jaruwaan at 2:39 AM on May 5, 2007


I got a pretty low score myself, but just because I don't know etymology doesn't mean I don't know how to find it out.
posted by Citizen Premier at 4:37 AM on May 5, 2007


I'm having trouble with their idea that someone can be described as 'sesquipedalian', unless that someone is a foot and a half long. Maybe they mean their style of communication.
posted by emf at 5:05 AM on May 5, 2007


8 out of 10. I didn't find my score until I hit 6 out of 7...
posted by grateful at 5:20 AM on May 5, 2007


Double, and you can read my bitching about it in that thread.
posted by languagehat at 6:06 AM on May 5, 2007


7 out of 10. It's helps being British, where some of the supposedly obscure words it threw up are still in use (filly, dray, butt). Oh, and a bit of knowledge of the English language helps (many British words have French, and then Latin origins).
posted by humblepigeon at 6:32 AM on May 5, 2007


FYI, this game is trivial to cheat at. Besides popkinson's noted Back button method, the correct selection is indicated in the HTML source code. Like some others here, I didn't notice that they were telling me whether I was right or wrong (bad page design? weird) so I went snooping in the code to find out if it let on there.
posted by intermod at 6:56 AM on May 5, 2007


8/10, and I can concede that the two I missed I had absolutely no business knowing.
posted by hermitosis at 7:02 AM on May 5, 2007


7 -- Why did I second-guess my gut on Nutgraph??
posted by gorgor_balabala at 7:43 AM on May 5, 2007


10 on 10. Mostly educated guesses. :-)
posted by the cydonian at 8:17 AM on May 5, 2007


I'm pretty sure the derivation of "OK" is under dispute.

No, it isn't; the "oll korrect" definition is accepted by all reputable etymologists. However, the "mind your Ps and Qs" definition is absolutely under dispute.
posted by watsondog at 9:58 AM on May 5, 2007


8/10. Also mostly guesses. Sorry, but I don't think it's is the toughest word game on the web. Even on the ones where I had no idea at all, I did reasonably well. On a lot of them you can just guess which one sounds less made up, and it ends up being the right one.
posted by gauchodaspampas at 10:57 AM on May 5, 2007


"CAN AH HAZ CHEEZBOOGAH???"

a. greek
b. latin
c. arabic
d. lolcatian
posted by ZachsMind at 11:41 AM on May 5, 2007


Still waiting on the elephant, tehloki. Eyes hurt.
plz advise.
posted by Kwine at 11:57 AM on May 5, 2007


6 of 10 -- oddly, I seem to have gotten different questions than others. I didn't get asked about "oll korrect," filly, dray, or butt, for instance.
posted by Miko at 8:44 PM on May 5, 2007


OK - 9 out of 10 the second time. It generates a different combination of questions with each play.
posted by Miko at 8:48 PM on May 5, 2007


Argh, 9 out of 10, and I knew that missed one. I did! But there was a lot of French.
posted by dreamsign at 5:26 AM on May 6, 2007


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