..also a Language Quiz

[CactusJack]

8 out of 10

[Larry124]

I got 8 of 10 but I did guess at some.

HAVER – To talk nonsense.
Now since I live in Haverford…how did they know about me…?

Merriam-Webster says: Etymology: origin unknown Date: 1866 Chiefly British : to hem and haw*.

I also found a citation “blether is also an old Scottish word and means much the same.”
Is that the origin of “blather”?
And, “Sir W. Scott – To maunder**; to talk foolishly; to chatter”.

Previously I’d found citations for haver meaning goat in Old English possibly from one of the “Viking” languages. So I thought Haverford was “goat crossing”.

Talk foolishly like a goat…?

*From Michael Quinion:
[Q] From T Foxe: “I was wondering about the expression hem and haw? Has it anything to do with teamstering? I ask because of the horse team commands for turning left and right (gee and haw). Could it be one of the American expressions placing two unrelated actions together indicating confusion or hesitation?”

[A] Nothing at all to do with teamstering commands, so far as I know. Incidentally, yours is the usual American version of the expression. In Britain, we know it as hum and haw. Either way the phrase contains a pair of words that are imitative. A close relative of the first of these is ahem, indicating a gentle clearing of the throat designed to attract attention; hem more often represents the slight clearing of the throat of a hesitating or nonplussed speaker. Haw is very much the same kind of word, and a close relative of that is haw-haw, which is also an imitative word for a kind of loftily affected way of speaking (as in Lord Haw-Haw, the British nickname for William Joyce, who broadcast for Hitler in the Second World War). In the British version of the phrase, hum is another word for a low inarticulate murmur. Either way, the two words together illustrate very well the hesitation and indecisiveness to which the phrases refer. There are other versions and both are closely related to um and er.

** Maunder? From “The Free Dictionary”:
1. To talk incoherently or aimlessly. 2. To move or act aimlessly or vaguely; wander.
[Probably dialectal variant of meander (probably influenced by wander).]


Too much time on my hands I think fer sure…

[Arizona Scot]

7 out of 10

[Livingston]

8 oot o’ 10


and the 2 I missed I changed from the correct answer

[JamesA]

6 out of 10. I need more Scotch I think!

JamesA

[Joe Gondek]

I also got an 8
I must be ready for a trip to Scotland,
visit a pub and converse with the localsint:

[Red Lioness]

You scored

8 oot o’ 10

That wis braw! Ye ken yer neaps frae yer tatties!

[pdcorlis]

9 oot o’ 10

No muckle eejit here!

[SFCRick]

got 8 of 10

[Arlen]

10 oot o' 10!

But then, I do have just a wee bit of an advantage.

Now to master saying the street names in Idaho...