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Where Do You Split It? A Word-Splitting Quiz That Even Elementary Schoolers Love

“Les Misérables,” “tiramisu,” “Triceratops”… Doesn’t a familiar word suddenly start to look strange when you change where you split it? This quiz, hugely popular even with elementary schoolers, has a simple rule—guess where to break a katakana word—but it’s packed with the fun of learning about origins and meanings, too.

Here, we showcase plenty of wordplay that will make you blurt out, “So that’s what it was!” Everyone, come enjoy exploring the depth of language together.

Where Do You Split It? Word Segmentation Quiz That Even Elementary Schoolers Love (11–20)

Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico
  1. Puerto Rico
  2. Puerto Rico
  3. Puerto Rico
See the answer

Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory in the Caribbean, and when correctly divided as a place name it’s “Puerto” and “Rico.” “Puerto” means “port” in Spanish, and “Rico” means “rich,” so together it means “rich port.” The division is easy to get wrong, but “Puerto Rico” is the official name.

In conclusion

Did the word-segmentation quiz turn out to be a fun word game for all the elementary school students? When you think about where to split familiar words—or even tricky katakana words—you start to see unexpected clusters of sounds, don’t you? If everyone takes turns creating questions, you’ll also build up your knowledge of words.

You might even find various bits of history hidden in everyday vocabulary.

Be sure to go exploring and see what you can discover!