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littletrimble · 3668 days ago · link · · parent · post: Ask Hubski: What's a phrase that you are interested to know the origins of? OR... what's a word or phrase whose origins you find interesting?
Quiz. "The story goes that a Dublin theatre proprietor by the name of Richard Daly made a bet that he could, within forty-eight hours, make a nonsense word known throughout the city, and that the public would supply a meaning for it. After a performance one evening, he gave his staff cards with the word 'quiz' written on them, and told them to write the word on walls around the city. The next day the strange word was the talk of the town, and within a short time it had become part of the language."