Word Origins

A. Finland: Sauna

B. France: aubergine (vegetable), avant garde (new and experimental ideas and methods in art, music, or literature), boutique, chauffeur (driver), coup, crèche (day nursery), cuisine, cul de sac (dead end, closed), duvet, elite, gateau (cookie, biscuit), saute (food)

C. Germany: blitz (lightning), dachshund (dog), delicatessen (fine foods), frankfurter (sausage), hamburger, kindergarten, poodle, Rottweiler (dog), seminar, snorkel (diving mask), waltz

D. Greece: dogma (a principle or set of principles laid down by an authority as incontrovertibly true), drama, hippopotamus (hippo), pseudonym (a fictitious name, especially one used by an author), psychology, synonym, theory

E. Holland: cruise, easel, tattoo, yacht

F. Italy: ballerina, bandit (robber), casino, confetti (small pieces or streamers of paper), fiasco (a complete and ignominious failure), ghetto (a part of a city, especially a slum area, occupied by a minority group or groups), piano, soprano, spaghetti, vendetta (a very long and violent fight between two families or groups)

G. Norway: fjord (a long, narrow inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by glacial erosion), lemming (small rodents), ski

H. Portugal: cobra, dodo (bird), marmalade (jam)

I. Russia: bistro (a small restaurant), cosmonaut (astronaut), mammoth, sputnik (the first artificial Earth satellite), steppe, tsar, tundra

J. Spain: bonanza (something that produces very good results), embargo, guerrilla (a member of a small independent group taking part in irregular fighting, typically against larger regular forces), junta (a military or political group that rules a country after taking power by force), lasso (a rope with a noose at one end, used especially in North America for catching cattle), macho (a man who is aggressively proud of his masculinity), mosquito, patio, siesta (an afternoon rest or nap, especially one taken during the hottest hours of the day in a hot climate)

K. Sweden: ombudsman (an official appointed to investigate individuals' complaints against a company or organization, especially a public authority)

(Source: English Vocabulary in Use, Cambridge University Press)

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