Here's a nice simple quiz for y'all, which I don't believe has been seen here yet. Once you get a chance to try it, I'll post the answers.
1. How long did the Hundred Years War last?
2. In which month did Russians celebrate the October Revolution?
3. In what country are Panama hats made?
4. From what country do we get Peruvian Balsam?
5. Which seabird has the zoological name Puffinus puffinus?
6. From what animal do we get catgut?
7. From what material are moleskin trousers made?
8. Where do Chinese gooseberries come from? [Shame on anyone who misses this one!]
9. Louis XVIII was the last one. How many previous kings of France were named Louis?
10. What kind of creatures were the Canary Islands named for?
11. What was King George VI's first name?
12. What color is a purple finch?
13. In what season of the year does Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream take place?
14. What is a camel's hair brush made of?
15. How long did the Thirty Years War last?
16. Who is buried in Grant's Tomb?
for those as can't wait, here's the link to some answers in this yartish quiz:
http://wordsmith.org/board/showthreaded.pl?Cat=&Board=wordplay&Number=10717-joe (unaccented) pate
17. If a plane crashed right on the border of Canada and the United States, in which country would the survivors be buried?
AThe Hundred Years War lasted more than a hundred years:
Hundred Years' War, armed conflict between France and England during the years from 1337 to 1453.
The October Revolution did not occur in October, because the Gregorian calendar was not adopted
until more than a year later.
Peruvian balsam comes from San Salvador.
Get the drift?
"Hundred Years' War," Microsoft(R) Encarta(R) 98 Encyclopedia. (c) 1993-1997 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
17. If a plane crashed right on the border of Canada and the United States, in which country would the survivors be buried? This one is easy. The U.S. and Canada are too civilized for such barbaric behavior. So it follows that the survivors would be buried up to their necks in the disputed Dakota Indian Territory along the Canadian-US border. The Dakotas would then set loose 10,000 starving, snarling-mad, black ants to dine on the survivors honey-smeared heads. These savage indians are still mad...
In 1879 the Dakotas...
... debated the failure of the US Government to live up to the terms and conditions of the treaties. They debated their pending starvation and the extermination of the buffalo. The Indians noted that when buffalo are killed the Whiteman shipped the bones east for fertilizer.
But later the buffalo bones played out, and so, in desperation, the inventive Whiteman exhumed dead Indian bones and shipped them east to make buttonhooks.The Dakotas, being uncivilized, still hold a grudge.
Man, milum...what did
you have for breakfast today?
A bowl of self-righteous indignation. And you?
Good on ye, Millum
A bowl of self-righteous indignation.
Sustaining, isn't it!
Without research answers are hard to come by, but:
3. In what country are Panama hats made? [Ecuador]
7. From what material are moleskin trousers made? [Cotton]
8. Where do Chinese gooseberries come from? [Zild]
11. What was King George VI's first name? [Albert.]
14. What is a camel's hair brush made of? [A mix of pony and squirrel.]
Caint do no more.
Canary Isles were named after wild dogs (Latin = Canis )
Purple Finches:
"
Perching Birds
Purple Finch
Carpodacus purpureus
Description 5 1/2-6 1/2" (14-17 cm). Larger and
stockier than House Finch, but smaller than
Cassin's and darker than both. Dusky rose-red of
male, more raspberry than purple, extends from
upperparts to breast and flanks, brightest at
crown and rump. Off-white below, mantle
streaked with brown, wings and notched tail
brown. Female has pronounced light stripe behind
eye, dark stripe on jaw, and more heavily
streaked breast than female House or Cassin's
finches."
Well, there have been some correct answers. Here they all are:
1. The Hundred Years War lasted 116 years. 1337-1453
2. Russians celebrated the October Revolution on Nov. 7. Yes, the Julian calendar is behind this.
3. Panama hats are indeed made in Ecuador.
4. Peruvian Balsam comes from El Salvador. It's a medicinal herb grown in the vicinity of the Balsam Islands.
5. Puffinus puffinus is the Manx shearwater. Puffins are Fratercula or Lunda.
6. Catgut is made from the guts of sheep.
7. Moleskin trousers are made of cotton.
8. Chinese gooseberries are better known as Kiwis, from Zild, of course.
9. There were 16 French kings before Louis XVIII. The one known as Louis XVII died in prison during the Revolution without reigning.
10. The Latin name for the Canary Islands was Canariae Insulae -- Island of the Dogs.
11. King George VI's first name was Albert. Queen Victoria had expressed the wish that no future king take the name Albert out of respect for her husband.
12. As winkled out by Dr. Bill, the distinctively colored parts of purple finches are crimson.
13. A Midsummer Night's Dream takes place during the period Apr. 29 to May 1.
14. Camel's hair brushes are usually made of squirrel hair.
15. The Thirty Years War lasted for 30 years, of course. 1618-1648
I have a fascinating article on sheep gut strings garnered from the Web over a year go that I'll try to find today, if anyone's interested. It's quite lengthy, but well worth the read.
What's lengthy - the article or the guts?
- Pfranz
What's lengthy - the article or the guts?
Haggis if I know.
By the way, referring to Kiwis as Chinese gooseberries could be seen as casting aspersions on my friends...
better they should be called gooseberries than dingleberries!
Well, I did say casting as*persions.
Chinese gooseberries come from CHINA. They grow wild and are apparently small and so tart as to be barely edible. The fruit known as kiwifruit (if you wish to continue drawing breath never call the fruit "kiwi" within 30,000 miles of me) was bred from Chinese gooseberry plants brought to Zild from, surprise, surprise, The Middle Kingdom.
Mmm, sjm, it's wonderful to see a post from you! HUG!
Welcome back, matey. I couldn't even be bothered doing the correction. Yes, Chinese gooseberries come from China, but what we currently call Kiwifruit have the same relationship to Chinese gooseberries as Microsoft has to reliable software ...
- Pfranz
>Yes, Chinese gooseberries come from China, but what we currently call Kiwifruit have the same relationship to Chinese gooseberries as Microsoft has to reliable software ...
Which was kinda my point. The quiz asked where Chinese gooseberries come from. I doubt many people who have eaten kiwifruit have ever even seen a Chinese gooseberry, let alone eaten one.