Q: How do you say “pop quiz” in Japanese?

A: 抜き打ちテスト, “nukiuchi test”

The literal meaning of nukiuchi is to draw your sword and attack in one motion, but over time it’s come to mean “doing something suddenly, without warning”.

These days I’m more likely to draw swords than take quizzes, so I was briefly surprised when I found it used in a discussion of Marika’s performance at school.