# How good are you at etymology? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 31, 2005, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-are-you-at-etymology/337831 "2005-12-31T06:14:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![4.66](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/4/2bfe46/32.png) [@4.66](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/4.66)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2006, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-are-you-at-etymology/337831/41 "2006-01-02T00:02:54Z")
8/10, but I guess I was lucky. I wouldn’t have scored that high in my first language ---
**Author:** ![Valentine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7ab992/32.png) [@Valentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valentine)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2006, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-are-you-at-etymology/337831/42 "2006-01-02T06:53:06Z")
6/10 reporting in. ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2006, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-are-you-at-etymology/337831/43 "2006-01-02T07:05:02Z")
Well, I thought I was pretty good at such things, but I go 2/10, so I guess I was wrong. Looks like I’m tied with **caligynephobia** for last place. Come to think of it, I don’t know what “caligynephobia” means either, so I guess I lose. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2006, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-are-you-at-etymology/337831/44 "2006-01-02T07:52:09Z")
8/10. Not bad, considering I learnt English in high school. :: proud:: ---
**Author:** ![mamboman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecb155/32.png) [@mamboman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mamboman)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2006, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-are-you-at-etymology/337831/45 "2006-01-02T08:40:30Z")
19/20. The word that messed me up? “nice”. I hate that word! mm ---
**Author:** ![Lama\_Pacos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Lama\_Pacos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lama_Pacos)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2006, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-are-you-at-etymology/337831/46 "2006-01-02T18:15:35Z")
7/10. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2006, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-are-you-at-etymology/337831/47 "2006-01-02T21:15:09Z")
> [@jackelope](#): > > Looks like I’m tied with **caligynephobia** for last place. Come to think of it, I don’t know what “caligynephobia” means either, so I guess I lose. ‘Fear of beautiful women’. I promise to wear a face-veil if I ever meet the fellow F2F. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2006, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-are-you-at-etymology/337831/48 "2006-01-02T21:31:50Z")
9/10 Most were too easy. A couple were safe enough to guess. “Sycophant” threw me, and I guessed wrong. I feel a little better now, since I looked it up and _they_ had it wrong, too. ---
**Author:** ![PastAllReason](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f07891/32.png) [@PastAllReason](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastAllReason)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2006, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-are-you-at-etymology/337831/49 "2006-01-03T02:59:07Z")
I went through it a few times and averaged 7 or 8 out of 10. The easiest ones for me were the defintion ones. It took me the first time through as well to realize that when you selected the wrong answer it told you at the top of the next screen. ---
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2006, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-are-you-at-etymology/337831/50 "2006-01-03T03:19:53Z")
Averaged 8/10. I did three tests, and got 8, 7, 9. ---
**Author:** ![anyrose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/54ee81/32.png) [@anyrose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anyrose)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2006, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-are-you-at-etymology/337831/51 "2006-01-03T03:24:53Z")
3/10 the first time, 6/10 the second time I didn’t even try a third time ask me some math questions next time ---
**Author:** ![Daithi\_Lacha](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daithi_lacha/32/5430_2.png) [@Daithi\_Lacha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daithi_Lacha)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2006, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-are-you-at-etymology/337831/52 "2006-01-03T18:21:10Z")
10/10, then 9/10, but my old man was an English teacher and mad for etymology, so I’m a ringer. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-are-you-at-etymology/337831.md?page=2)