Guess the Ten Anagrams of “Serbia”
Every Friday, Blooming Twig Books posts an informational piece about something interesting in the nation of Serbia. The fascinating little country in Southeastern Europe certainly provides plenty of subject matter, and in just the last several weeks we have featured stories on great athletes, weird animals, wild parties, ancient magic, and more. Serbia has also produced some great literature, the focus of Blooming Twig’s Serbia Modern Literature Series, “SMiLeS” for short, which celebrates prominent Serbian authors who have had their works translated into English.
So don’t worry — next week you can expect another informative article about some aspect of Serbia’s amazing landscape, history, or culture. In the meantime, in the spirit of “SMiLeS,” I hope this week’s piece will amuse a few of you.
Part One: Honest-to-Goodness Anagrams
We’ll start with the simplest ones. These first two are actual words you can spell with the letters in “Serbia” — no more, no less. Take a look at the pictures, and then scroll down to see the answers.
1: Rabies
If you ever see a dog looking vicious and foaming at the mouth like the one above, it might have rabies. Steer clear, but as you flee, smile to yourself at the thought that its disease is an anagram of Serbia.
2: Sea RIB
I doubt anybody guessed this one, but it is real; RIB stands for “Rigid Inflatable Boat.” If you think that sounds cool, you can buy one at http://www.searibs.co.uk.
Part Two: Picture Riddles
These five may not be words you could find in a dictionary (not that you could find sea RIB either), but the clever wordsmiths among you ought to be able to guess a few. Good luck.
3: I, a Serb
Did you know the noun for a person from Serbia is not “Serbian,” but “Serb?” You can tell by the flag on this Serb’s shirt he is proud of his country.
4: Bear is
Did you guess this one? If so, you’re cool. We should hang out.
For those who are still confused, the man in the portrait is prominent seventeenth-century philosopher René Descartes, perhaps best known the saying, “Cogito, ergo sum.” In English, that translates to “I think, therefore I am.” The bear is thinking. Therefore, it is.
Now you can be cool with us.
5: Sir Abe
Hey, we’ve already had Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. If anything, him being a knight would be less weird.
6: Air E.B.s
If you guessed this one, congratulations on your ability to recognize Charlotte’s Web author E.B. White on sight. I’m not sure what you do all day. Oh, and, you know, he’s in the air. And there’s more than one of him.
I’m trying my best.
7: Raise “B”
Today’s Serbia blog is brought to you by the letter B.
Part Three: Fake Definitions
These three are not in the dictionary…YET!
8: be a sir verb intr.
To behave in a gentlemanly manner; to uphold the highest standards of etiquette and class. cf. be a lamb
Cyril, please do be a sir and aid me in untying my Oxfords.
9: bi-sear verb tr.
To cook the surface of items such as pieces of meat quickly, with sudden heat, and in pairs.
The neighbors like to flip their steaks individually, but I bi-sear them to seal in the flavor.
10: ab sire noun
fig. The progenitor of one’s abdominal muscles, i.e. the exercise that has caused one’s abdominal muscles to develop.
Everyone assumes I do tons of sit-ups, but my ab sire is actually planking.
Playing with words and talking about Serbia are two of my favorite pastimes as a Blooming Twig intern, so writing this post was a hoot and a half for me. I hope you all enjoyed it, too.
Image credits: I created the images on canva.com. Here are the sources for the pictures I used:
1: https://theneedleblog.wordpress.com/2013/01/03/what-do-you-do-with-a-rabid-dog/
2: http://www.semirrigidasonline.com/recurso.php?ns=prova&id=23
3: http://www.zazzle.com/serbian+tshirts
4: https://twitter.com/cuteemergency/status/491184566900883457
5: http://www.radikewl.com/89684962.html
6: http://weknowyourdreamz.com/air.html
7: http://blogs.disney.com/oh-my-disney/2015/01/25/10-wise-rafiki-quotes-you-need-to-read/
8: http://beatsandeats.net/2014/08/20/like-sir-9-featuring-live-ostrich-chef-dan-ryan-hells-kitchen/
9: http://dadcooksdinner.com/2015/05/the-best-grilled-steak-reverse-sear-or-sear-and-move.html/
10: http://www.popsugar.com/fitness/photo-gallery/34376556/image/34377573/Core-Full-Sit-Ups
