When I use a word . . .: A Christmas quiz

doi:10.1136/bmj.323.7327.1497

BMJ 2001;323:1497 ( 22-29 December )

Filler

When I use a word . . .

A Christmas quiz

The origin of the word quiz is not known. Of course, that doesn't stop people hypothesising; the supposed origin of quiz wasfirst related by B H Smart in his 1836 dictionary, Walker Remodelled:"All these words [quiz, to quiz, quizzing, etc], which occur onlyin vulgar or colloquial use, and which Webster traces to learnedroots, originated in a joke: Daly, the manager of a Dublin play-house,wagered that a word of no meaning should be the common talk andpuzzle of the city in twenty-four hours; in the course of thattime the letters Q, u, i, z were chalked or pasted on all thewalls of Dublin with an effect that won the wager." This explanationis now generally agreed to be wrong, albeitentertaining.

So here, for Christmas, is a quiz. All answers are drug names; there is a £75 book prize for a complete set.
1 An -ololbut not a $beta$ blocker.
2 A palindromic brand name.
3 Connected with a countess.
4 Group named after a Frenchfilm.
5 Half of a vitamin?
6 Might have been namedafter an Italian city.
7 Named after a Prussian spa.
8 Two anagrams and a near anagram.
9 Two named after Americanstates.
10 Two named after a Scottishcity.

Tie breaker: You are about to market a drug that cures anxiety, manic depression, and schizophrenia. What brand name willyouchoose?

Jeff Aronson, clinical pharmacologist.

Oxford

© BMJ 2001