The Top Ten: Words that seem to derive from one language but actually come from another

From rigmarole and doolally to khazi and Sassenach...

Que sera sera: It is not Spanish. It's closer to Italian, but incorrectly rendered. 'Basically it's nonsense,' says David Lea

This list was suggested by Pablo Byrne, who had thought dilettante was French. (It's Italian)

1. Yoghurt

John Mullin pretended to think it was Dutch. It's Turkish.

2. Rigmarole

It looked Italian to Rich Greenhill, but he reports that it is from the 18th-century Kentish "ragman roll": a game in which descriptions of characters were written on a scroll.

3. Admiral

Appears to be Latinate, but is from Arabic, emir-al-, via Old French amiral. Saluted by Daniel Rivas Perez.

4. Svelte

May look Scandinavian but is in fact Italian (svelto, the past participle of svellere, to pluck out) via French, as Matt Paice points out.

5. Doolally

Looks like an Anglo-Saxon nonsense construction, but is from Deolali, a British Army transit camp in India where soldiers would spend time with nothing to do, says Matt Grist.

6. Craic

Not an original Irish word, says spoilsport Graham Ramsay. "Crack" was imported from English in the mid-20th century, when it assumed an Irish Gaelic spelling.

7. Khazi

John Dickens always thought it was of Arabic origin, but it is a 19th-century import from Italian, casa, a house, brothel.

8. Sassenach

From Scottish Gaelic "Sasunnoch", but that in turn is from the Saxon, "Saxons". From Dr Colin W.

9. Veranda

I thought it was Indian, which it is, but they got it from the Portuguese. Thanks to Barbary Spencington.

10. Que sera sera

It is not Spanish. It's closer to Italian, but incorrectly rendered. "Basically it's nonsense," says David Lea.

Next week: Original names of bands (Supertramp was called Daddy)

Coming soon: Sieges. Send your suggestions, and ideas for future Top 10s, to top10@independent.co.uk