Today's crossword: English 'loanwords' that are definitely here to stay
You'll be surprised to learn that you've been peppering your conversations with Italian
What do pizzas and broccoli have in common?
Press Start to play today’s crossword and find out!
The answer: They were both Italian words that were absorbed into the English language. The Italians gave English thousands of words in vocabulary, especially in the categories of food and music. Many of these words have become so commonplace, it’s hard to think of them as being once separate from the English lexicon.
According to Dictionary.com, there is no such thing as pure English – it has borrowed so much from other languages that 80% of English vocabulary consists of these “loanwords”. One of the loanwords recently added to world dictionaries is Sudoku, which is an abbreviation of the Japanese “suuji wa dokushin ni kagiru”, meaning “the numbers (or digits) must remain single.”
Play today’s Sudoku puzzle if numbers interest you.
Otherwise, today’s daily crossword awaits. How many words of Italian origin can you guess correctly?
Tell us your score and if you found the puzzle challenging at games@gulfnews.com.