Vocabulary Quiz: Words that begin with the Letter "M"

 

 
Number 16 Vocabulary Quiz #11

Test your knowledge of words that begin with the letter "M."  (Note: All definitions have been taken from the Merriam- Webster Dictionary).  Ready! Set! Go!

1.  Metrology

A.  The study of maps

B.  The study of measurements and weights

C.  The study of metrics

D.  The study of urban sprawl

E.  The study of particular weather patterns

2.  Misanthrope

A.  An unhappy person

B.  An angry person

C.  One who dislikes humankind

D.  One who is extremely cruel

E.  One who has many enemies

3.  Miscegenation

A.  A mixture of races, especially marriage, sexual relations or reproduction between a white person and a member of another race

B.  Migration of a specific ethnic or racial group

C.  Forbidding of marriage or reproduction of people of different races

D.  Friendship between people of different races

E.  None of the above

4.  Manumission 

A.  The buying and selling of slaves

B.  The disciplining of slaves

C.  The capture of a fugitive slave

D.  A secret gathering of slaves for the purpose of escaping

E.  Freeing from slavery

5.  Misandry

A.  Male stereotypes

B.  Dislike of, contempt or, or ingrained prejudice against men

C.  Male solidarity

D.  Male chauvinism

E.   A list of male attributes

6.  Mellifluous

A.  Sweet tasting

B.   Distasteful, sour

C.  Sorrowful, sad, doleful

D.  (Of a voice or words) sweet or musical to hear

E.  Artificially honey-flavoured

7.  Melancholy

A.  A short temper

B.  A carefree feeling

C.  State of sadness or depression

D.  Homesickness

E.   Illness

8.  Marauder

A.   A plunderer, a raider

B.    A landowner

C.   An explorer

D.   A liar

E.   A rodeo rider

9.  Marzipan

A.  A chocolate topping with hazelnuts

B.  A strawberry gelato

C.  A creamy banana dessert

D.  A sweet yellow or white paste of ground almonds, sugar and egg whites.

E.  A caramel topping with ground almonds

10.  Megalomaniac

A.  A person who is insane

B.  A serial killer

C.  A compulsive cheater

D.  One who speaks incessantly

E.  A person who is obsessed with their own power

ANSWERS

1.  B

Metrology (noun): the science of weights and measures or of measurement; a system of weights and measures

2.  C

Misanthrope (noun): A person who dislikes human kind and avoids human society.

3. A

Miscegenation (noun): a mixture of races especially: marriage, cohabitation, or sexual intercourse between a white person and a member of another race

4.  E

Manumission (noun): The act or process of manumitting, especially formal emancipation from slavery

5.  B

Misandry (noun): A hatred of men

6.  D

Mellifluous (adjective): Having a smooth rich flow; filled with something (such as honey) that sweetens

7.  C

Melancholy (noun):  A state of sadness or depression of spirits; dejection

8.  A

Marauder (noun):  One who roams from place to place making attacks and raids in search of plunder

9.  D

 Marzipan (noun): A confection of crushed almonds paste, sugar, and egg whites that is often shaped into various forms

10. E

Megalomaniac (noun):  One who suffers from a delusional mental illness that is marked by feelings of personal omnipotence and grandeur

- Joanne

Why I am cheering for the Montreal Canadiens to win the Stanley Cup this year

I live in Toronto and I have been a Leafs fan all my life, although I was thoroughly disappointed by the team's 2025-2026 season.  To be frank, it was a complete and utter disaster.  I hope the situation will greatly improve now that the Blue and White have a new general manager and are about to hire a new coach.  The Leafs were also fortunate to win the draft lottery and will have the first pick of the new crop of NHL players.  Next season has to be better.  It couldn't be much worse.

The last time the Leafs won the Cup, way back in 1967, they defeated the Montreal Canadiens.  So, why do I find myself cheering for the Habs, who were the Leafs' greatest rivals for years.  The answer is simple.  It's about time that Lord Stanley's Jug came home to Canada.  It's been 33 years since a Canadian-based team has won the Cup.  That would be the Montreal Canadiens in 1993, which coincidentally is the same year Gary Bettman became commissioner of the National Hockey League.  Frankly, I am tired of sun-belt teams in Florida and California and Las Vegas winning hockey's greatest trophy.  The Tampa Bay Lightning captured the championship in 2020 and 2021.  The Las Vegas Golden Knight won in 2023 and the Florida Panthers won in 2024 and 2025.  See what I mean.

Hockey has a great history and an outstanding tradition in Montreal.  It really matters.  I watched how enthusiastic the city's fans were for their team.  They were really rocking (By the way, I felt bad for the Buffalo Sabres, but I wanted Montreal to win more).  You won't see Montreal's excitement in Florida or North Carolina.  It's not just that they are American.  Places such as Minnesota, Buffalo, Detroit, Chicago, Boston and New York, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and Colorado also have a hockey history., and they actually have winters.  However, hockey has Canadian roots.  In fact, the inaugural Stanley Cup Championship took place on March 22, 1894.  It was a contest between the Montreal Amateur Athletic Association. (MAAA) and the Ottawa Hockey Club, also called the Ottawa Generals.  The game was part of a tournament designated as the Dominion Hockey Challenge by Lord Stanley, the Governor General of Canada.  Montreal defeated Ottawa by a score of 3-1, marking the first time the Stanley Cup was officially awarded.

The Montreal Canadiens have won 24 Stanley Cups.  I want them to win their 25th.  Bring it home, Habs!  Someday, maybe the Leafs.

- Joanne

Will this be a lost season for the Blue Jays?

The 2026 season is on the line for the Toronto Blue Jays.  If they don't pick it up soon, they won't be in contention for a playoff spot.  Yes, I know it's only early May, but the Jays have a lot of ground to make up.  As I write this, they are 9.5 games behind the AL East Division leaders, the New York Yankees.  Only the woeful Boston Red Sox have a worse record.  

It seems like the Jays are at the tipping point.  They need to have a winning streak soon.  The injuries haven't helped, especially the one to catcher Alejandro Kirk, but good teams can overcome injuries. The Jays seem mediocre at the moment.

The magic of last season, doesn't seem to be there right now.  The bats have gone cold.  Vladdy is hitting well, but not for power.  He only has 2 home runs so far, but his batting average is an impressive .319.  He has 43 hits and 16 RBI.

Some of this is not unexpected.  It's almost impossible to replicate what happened last season,  However, GM Ross Atkins failed to make up for the loss of Bo Bichette's production.  Anthony Santaner struggled last season and couldn't be counted on to surge this season.  As it turned out, he underwent surgery and will be out for months.

The season isn't lost yet, but time is running out.  If the Jays' hitting drought doesn't end soon, I'm afraid they won't be in contention.  They've lost that winning feeling and they need to get it back before it's too late.

- Joanne

Greed and climate change

"The world’s top 100 oil and gas companies banked more than $30m every hour in unearned profit in the first month of the US-Israeli war in Iran, according to exclusive analysis for the Guardian. Saudi Aramco, Gazprom and ExxonMobil are among the biggest beneficiaries of the bonanza, meaning key opponents of climate action continue to prosper."

- The Guardian

Big Oil has made Big Money from the American war against Iran.  An analysis, published by The Guardian on April 15. 2026, found Russia and major fossil fuel firms are poised to make an extra $234 billion by the end of 2026, if the price of oil remains in the $100 range.

 

Earth Day has come and gone in 2026.  As usual, initiatives were taken to clean up neighbourhoods.  Lip service was paid to environmental concerns.  However, now that April 22nd is over, many will forget about clean and water pollution.  They will concentrate on paying their household expenses.

It seems as if environmental concerns have been put on the backburner by many.  Few politicians, outside of green party candidates, have been making climate change a central issue in their election campaigns.  In the 2024 U.S. election, Kamala Harris made little mention of the environment. Too many Americans agreed with Trump that climate change is a hoax and his promises to revive the fossil fuel industry.

It is understandable that people are greatly concerned about kitchen table issues such as inflation, jobs, pensions, the price of gas etc.  Many feel that they have to choose between the economy and the environment.  This is flawed thinking.  The economy and the environment are not separate entities.  Clean air results in better health and fewer respiratory diseases, which in turn lowers health costs.  Green jobs can create employment and reduce reliance on fossil fuels.  Reliance on oil gives an upper hand to oil-producing countries that have unacceptable human rights records.

Climate change has resulted in wild fires and hurricanes. It has resulted to untold damage to people and to property.  It has caused the extinction of many animal species.  What kind of a future will we leave to future generations, if any future at all?

Sadly, in January of 2025, four of Canada's biggest banks abandoned the UN-backed Net Zero Banking Alliance, whose goal is to accelerate climate institutions.  I am calling out those banks because they may think they have gotten away with it.  They may think Canadians haven't noticed.  I urge Canadians to take note of the fact that BMO, TD Bank Group and CIBC have confirmed that they have withdrawn their membership in Net Zero Banking.  Shame on them!  They followed the example of the six largest banks in the United States. which withdrew from the Alliance ahead of the presidential inauguration of notorious climate change denier Donald Trump. 

in 2021, Canada's prime minister, Mark Carney, was the UN special envoy for climate action.  On stage at the UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Scotland, Carney proclaimed, "Right here, right now is where finance draws the line.  That's when 160 financial institutions signed onto a climate finance super-group known as the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ).  The future prime minister described it as a watershed moment for energy transition.

When Carney became a politician and leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, his fervour for the environment seemed to have dissipated.  During the federal election campaign of 2025, the carbon tax was a major issue.  The Conservatives, who are supposed to conserve, strongly criticized the carbon tax.  It had become highly unpopular with Canadian voters, so unpopular that Carney promised to scrap it if the Liberals won the election.  The truth is that they might have been voted out of power if the carbon tax had been retained.

When the Liberals won a minority government on April 28, 2025, the first action Carney took was to scrap the carbon tax.  Until recently, he hasn't focused much on the environment.  However, on Tuesday, March 31, the prime minister announced $3.8 billion in funding to protect nature.  There will be new conservation sites in James Bay and Manitoba as the government intends to create national parks and marine reserves.  The government is also seeking private sector investment to fund its conservation strategy,  During his press conference in Wakefield, Quebec, Carney stated that creating conservation areas is ambitious and requires a great deal of funding.  "We can't do it with public money alone," he emphasized.

On April 21 (the day before Earth Day), Prime Minister announced a Strategy to Protect Nature.  His strategy is dependent on private investment and alternative money.  The plan is to credit non-governmental efforts to conserve lands.  But will businesses and investors put private funding into conservation?  Canadians had better hope so because Canada has only four years remaining to achieve its goal of protecting 30 per cent of its lands and waters by 2030.  Only 14 per cent of Canada is presently protected.

90-year-old environmental champion, Dr. David Suzuki told the CBC that it may be too late for humanity to escape the ravages of climate change, but he's not giving up the fight.  He believes the future of the movement is through the actins of local communities.

- Joanne