The Friday Question Set — 20-07-2012

Trevor

You know … 

I think I’ve just had a rather good afternoon.

Complete with — I should add — Daily Teaser regulars Trevor, and Debbi: who’s here in the UK with her partner, Rick.

Wasn’t TOO sure if he’d’ve minded having a mugshot here, Debbi: I’m just hoping you and Trevor are … ?

Debbi Mack

Trevor … ?

Oh … 

He’s glued to the Proms … 

But enough … !

Let’s get to the meat of the night’s post, shall we … ?

It is, after all, Friday: which means, of course, the Friday question set:

Here it is, along with the ‘Creative Commons Licence’ …

Online 160

ROUND ONE.   GENERAL KNOWLEDGE.   Q1) Eunice Wayman was the real name of which noted Jazz singer & pianist?A1) Nina Simone.   

Q2) Which George Orwell novels starts “ … it was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking 13?”

A2) 1984.   

Q3) According to the proverb, drowning men will clutch at what?

A3) Straws.   

Q4) In cockney rhyming slang, what are mince pies?

A4) Eyes.   

Q5) What is the capital of Iraq?

A5) Baghdad.   

Q6) Anzac troops come from countries: name either.   (Two points for both)

A6) New Zealand.   

Q7) Blanket, buttonhole and back are all types of what: stitches, bacon or knots?

A7) Stitches.   

Q8) Which country singer’s biography was called Stand By Your Man?

A8) Tammy Wynette.   

Q9) How many consonants does the English version of the alphabet have?

A9) 21.   

Q10) In which Scandinavian country is the port of Bergen?

A10) Norway.   

ROUND TWO.   WORLD TOUR.   

Q11) The capital of Western Australia shares its name with which Scottish city?

A11) Perth.   

Q12) Peking is now better known how?

A12) Beijing.   

Q13) In which country would you see Emu’s fly?

A13) None: Emu’s don’t fly.   

Q14) Is French Provence nearer the Mediterranean or the Channel?

A14) The  Mediterranean.   

Q15) Afrikaans is spoken in two African countries.   Name either.   (Two points for both.)

A15) South Africa and Naimibia.   

Q16) Which bay — to the west of France — is notorious for its rough seas?

A16) The Bay of Biscay.   

Q17) What’s the principle language of Bulgaria?

A17) Bulgarian.   

Q18) If you were visiting Parma, in which European country would you be?

A18) Italy.   

Q19) In which Middle-Eastern country would you find the Wailing Wall?

A19) Jerusalem.   

Q20) Is the Orinoco River in North or South America?

A20) South America.   

ROUND THREE.   BIG BUSINESS.   

Q21) What term describes a level beyond which an employee is unlikely to be promoted?A21) A Glass Ceiling.   

Q22) In business jargon, what do the initial’s ‘PDQ’ stand for?

A22) Pretty Damn Quick.   

Q23) “Taking Care Of Business” was the catchphrase of which Rock & Roll icon?

A23) Elvis Presley.   

Q24) What name is given to the process of buying up a business, and selling off anything it owns of value?

A24) Asset Stripping.   

Q25) Victor Kiam liked the products so much, he bought the company: which company?   (Bonus point for telling us what the product was.)

A25) Remington Steel.   (Electric razor)   

Q26) In slang terms, what is ‘Yuppie’ short for?

A26) Young Upwardly–mobile Professional Person.   

Q27) What name was given to the mostly unscrupulous traders who descended on the southern states of the US, after the US Civil War?

A27) The Carpet Baggers.   

Q28) In which play does a dimwitted apprentice called Willie Mossop rise to riches, as a shoe salesman?

A28) Hobson’s Choice.   (By Harold Brighouse.)   

Q29) Which dietician suffered a serious loss of business credibility, when he died of a heart attack, brought on by his overweight condition, in 2003?

A29) Doctor Robert Atkins.   

Q30) What name was given to the modernisation of the Stock Exchange, back in 1986?

A30) The Big Bang.   

ROUND FOUR.   THE WRITTEN WORD.   

Q31) There were three famously literary Brontë sisters.   Name any of them, for a point.   (Bonus point for all three)A31) Charlotte, Emily and Anne.   

Q32) Which crime writer created private detective Philip Marlowe?

A32) Raymond Chandler.   

Q33) Pelham Grenville were the first and middle names of which comic writer?

A33) P. G. Wodehouse.   

Q34) How were Athos, Porthos and Aramis better known? 

A34) The Three Musketeers.   

Q35) Which spy novelist wrote Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang?

A35) Ian Fleming.   

Q36) What was the name of the skipper of the whaling ship Pequod in Herman Melville’s classic novel,  Moby-Dick?

A36) Captain Ahab.   

Q37) In the 1905 novel by Baroness Orczy, the real name of The Scarlet Pimpernel was Sir Percy … who?   

A37) Sir Percy Blakeney.   

Q38) Frances Eliza Hodgson Burnett was the author of The Secret … what: Garden, House or Lover?

A38) The Secret Garden.   

Q39) Allan Quatermain appears as the central character in which classic Victorian adventure story?

A39) King Solomon’s Mines. (1885) by H. Rider Haggard.   

Q40) Cambodian has the largest alphabet of all the world’s languages.   How many letters does it have: 36, 72, or 144?

A40) 72.   (Chinese uses a character set: and Japanese has a syllabary, rather than an alphabet.)   

ROUND FIVE.   THE LIVING WORLD.   

Q41) What is the correct collective noun for a group of crows?A41) A murder.   

Q42) True or false: John Lennon had a cat called Mozart.

A42) False.   He did have one called Elvis, though.   

Q43) Which American President had a pet Pygmy Hippo: Calvin Coolidge, William Taft or James Buchanan?

A43) Calvin Coolidge: Buchanan had an Elephant, and Taft a cow.   

Q44) Which scientist invented the cat-flap?

A44) Sir Isaac Newton.   (He also invented the mill edged coin.)   

Q45) When were hamsters first domesticated -1730, 1830 or 1930? 

A45) 1930.   

Q46) What kind of animal was the subject of Michael Jackson's 1972 hit ‘Ben?’ 

A46) His pet rat.   

Q47) Which of the following has never been kept as a pet by a president of the USA: an ostrich, a hyena or an alligator?

A47) An ostrich (Theodore Roosevelt had a hyena, while John Quincy Adams had an alligator).   

Q48) What is a female ferret called?

A48) A jill.   

Q49) Who owned a parrot called Captain Flint?

A49) Long John Silver.   

Q50) Where were goldfish first bred?

A50) China: possibly as early as the fourth century AD.   

ROUND SIX.   GENERAL IGNORANCE.   

Q51) Which animal can be described as ursine?A51) A bear.   

Q52) What was the name of the world’s first commercial jet plane: the Comet, the Meteor, or the Asteroid?

A52) The Comet.   

Q53) Which band had hits with Run To The Hills and The Wicker Man?

A53) Iron Maiden.   

Q54) Spell the word ‘labour,’ in American English.

A54) Labor.   

Q55) Ruth Elizabeth Davis was better known as which actress?

A55) Bette Davis.   

Q56) What’s the American word for a dinner jacket?

A56) A Tuxedo.   

Q57) In the phrase VE Day, what does VE stand for?

A57) Victory in Europe.   

Q58) How many hours are there, in a week?

A58) 168.   

Q59) In a poem by William Blake, which animal is described as “… burning bright?”

A59) The Tiger.   

Q60) Which European language is the main one spoken in Mexico?

A60) Spanish.  

Enjoy those, everyone: I hope they help …