Foreign Words in English

Name:

Date:

Instructions: How well do you know the foreign words and phrases we use every day in English?

1.
What language does the word 'kindergarten' come from?
A
Swedish
B
Dutch
C
Danish
D
German
2.
The word 'tsunami' comes from which language?
A
Chinese
B
Japanese
C
Korean
D
Hawaiian
3.
What does the French phrase 'déjà vu' literally mean?
A
Already seen
B
Never forgotten
C
Seen before
D
Double vision
4.
From which language did English borrow the word 'safari'?
A
Hindi
B
Arabic
C
Zulu
D
Swahili
5.
The musical term 'piano' comes from Italian. What does it literally mean?
A
Beautiful
B
Strings
C
Musical
D
Soft
6.
Which language gave us the word 'ketchup'?
A
Chinese (Hokkien)
B
Portuguese
C
Spanish
D
French
7.
What does the Latin phrase 'carpe diem' mean?
A
Seize the day
B
Live and learn
C
To each their own
D
Time flies
8.
The word 'shampoo' was borrowed from which language?
A
Hindi
B
Persian
C
Turkish
D
Arabic
9.
What is the origin of the word 'robot'?
A
Polish
B
Russian
C
German
D
Czech
10.
The word 'algebra' comes from which language?
A
Latin
B
Sanskrit
C
Greek
D
Arabic
11.
What does the French expression 'RSVP' stand for?
A
Reçu sans vérification préalable
B
Répondez s'il vous plaît
C
Retour sans valeur postale
D
Rencontre spéciale très prochaine
12.
From which language does the word 'chocolate' originate?
A
Portuguese
B
Mayan
C
Nahuatl (Aztec)
D
Spanish
13.
The word 'pajamas' was borrowed from which language?
A
Arabic
B
Malay
C
Hindi/Urdu
D
Turkish
14.
What does the German word 'wanderlust' literally mean?
A
Love of nature
B
Lost in wonder
C
Desire to wander
D
Dream of travel
15.
The word 'typhoon' has roots in which language?
A
Japanese
B
Filipino
C
Chinese
D
Thai
16.
What language gave us the word 'lemon'?
A
Spanish
B
Italian
C
Greek
D
Arabic
17.
The word 'bungalow' comes from which language?
A
Thai
B
Malay
C
Hindi/Bengali
D
Japanese
18.
What does the Italian word 'al fresco' literally mean?
A
Under the sun
B
Outdoors forever
C
In the fresh (air)
D
Near the garden
19.
Which language gave English the word 'boondocks'?
A
Hawaiian
B
Tagalog (Filipino)
C
Samoan
D
Spanish
20.
The word 'yacht' was borrowed from which language?
A
Dutch
B
Norwegian
C
French
D
Swedish

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