Quiz

BuzzFeed Staff

BuzzFeed

English is basically just 14 other languages in a trench coat.

If You Can Name The Origins Of 7/10 Of These English Words, You're Basically A Linguist

Can You Correctly Identify The Languages These Words Came From?

In the Dutch word "ijsberg," ["ijs" means "ice," and "berg" means "hill."](https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/iceberg)

It's from Dutch!

It probably passed from [Arabic to medieval Latin to Old French to Middle English](https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/algorithm).

It's from Arabic!

It's also an [abbreviation of pianoforte](https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/piano).

It's from Italian!

It's probably a version of the [Old Norse word "leggr."](https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/leg)

It's from Old Norse!

It makes sense if you consider that the Beluga whale is found in the Arctic. The Russian word it's borrowed from [is "belukha."](https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/beluga)

It's from Russian!

English borrowed it from French which borrowed it from [the Greek "akrobatos."](https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/acrobat)

It's from Latin!

There's a chance it's from Italian, but it's probably from the [French word for "large ball."](https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/balloon)

It's from French!

Abnaki is a group of Native American languages, and moose are especially prevalent in North America. (The [origin of “moose”](https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/moose) explains why its plural form doesn’t match the plural of “goose,” which has Germanic origins.)

It's from East Abnaki (or Abenaki)!

The word for "hamster" in German is just "hamster."

It's from German!

You don't know many word origins, but that's okay. At least you know the meanings! That's what's really important.

Not too great.

You knew a lot of those origins! For a non-linguist, that's pretty amazing.

Pretty good!

You're really good at languages! Are you sure you're not a linguist?

Incredible!

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If You Can Name The Origins Of 7/10 Of These English Words, You're Basically A Linguist

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