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Questions and Answers, 61-90 |
76 . 77 . 78 . 79 . 80 . 81 . 82 . 83 . 84 . 85 . 86 . 87 . 88 . 89 . 90 Q61. Mystery Link.
 What is the connection among these? q61/sdc.hq.html A. "color" E. In order, they're diet (dye it), Hugh Hewitt (hue hue it), Tintin (tintin') and Culler (color). Q62. Take your partners
Pair up these people: Sandy Allen A. Bailey/Blair politicians
Brandon/Soul Springer musical Carey/Coleman Calif governor election Foxx/Travers "Crash and Burn" Smith/Smith footballers Jesson/Neil weather presenters Grove/Soros Budapest Berger/Roy Booker Prize Boisbaudran/Tacke elements Godwin/Zipf laws Allen/Dydek tall Dore/Ng words Q63. Make-A-Myth (TM).
Pick a mundane** one-syllable word and construct a believable folk etymology for it. **At least 10,000,000 Google hits Winning answer: When specialized undergarments for women's breasts were developed, their main function was initially envisioned as providing protection rather than comfort or eroticism. So just as soldiers used to wear metal armor, so the underwear was described in terms of metals. (Indeed, the first woman to buy one soon found herself saddled with the nickname "Old Ironsides".) Now, various fabrics were tried in those early days, and one of them was unbleached cotton, which of course is yellowish. One worker seeing a wagon being loaded with these yellow undergarments, thought of a yellow metal and dubbed it "a shipment of brass". And the nickname quickly spread through throughout the trade. But things were different when it came to retail. Education for women was minimal in those days, and when they heard a store owner speaking of "brass" as a mass noun, they often misinterpreted it as a plural. And so by back formation we have today's count noun-- "bra". Monkeys, of course, had nothing to do with it. Q64. Art: An Idiocy.
"Ruined Inaction" (or perhaps "Ennui Indicator") is the greatest of literary masterpieces, according to whose definition? A. Jean Cocteau E. He is quoted as saying, "Un chef-d'oeuvre de la littérature n'est jamais qu'un dictionnaire en désordre" ("The greatest masterpiece in literature is only a dictionary out of order"). RUINED INACTION (or ENNUI INDICATOR) is UN DICTIONNAIRE out of order. Q65. If the salt hath lost its flavor.
I had set up camp somewhere in Western Uganda on one of my monthly safaris through the district that had been assigned to me. That afternoon another traveler arrived in my camp and, as was the custom, I invited him to join me for dinner and to pitch his tent in our encampment. I had never met him before, but I knew of him by reputation and that, amongst other things, he was a noted scholar in his religion. However, I had not planned for an extra mouth to feed, so I dispatched my cook to obtain some basic provisions from the closest village. I could hardly feed our illustrious visitor on reconstituted Z-rations. So I asked the cook in Swahili "Kamata baisekeli, tafadhali kwenda anunua mkate, maziwa, siagi, uki, chumvi na pilipili." Translated - I asked him to take the bicycle, and to please go buy some bread, milk, butter, honey, salt and pepper. My visitor allowed as to how he hadn't understood a word of my request to the cook - except for one he said, which appeared to have the same etymological roots of a word that featured prominently in the discourse of his religious studies. Of which of the world's great religions was this man a member and what triggered the recognition? A. Judaism; He recognised the word "pilipili" (pepper) as being related to the term "pilpul", a form of argument used in studying and interpreting the Talmud, derived from "pilpel", to season. Q66. Whose lines?
"Oh, wow, you're all sweaty and out of breath. Suck me. Suck me!" "And you vibrate me until I explode!" A. nitroglycerine Q67. Not fish.
Thomas Jefferson had one (in _1776_, anyway), but George Washington's three are much better remembered in Americana. What are they? A. mullets E. In the film 1776, Jefferson is shown wearing a "mullet" haircut with a braid. http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B000067D1R.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg A heraldic mullet, which represented the rowel of a spur, has the shape of a modern five-pointed star. 'The red-and-white stripe (and later, stars-and-stripes) motif of the [U.S.] flag may have been based on the Washington family coat-of-arms, which consisted of a shield "argent, two bars gules, above, three mullets gules" (a white shield with two red bars below three red stars). Since 1937, this design has been used as the flag of the District of Columbia.' — http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_the_United_States Q68. On topic.
You have chili at Wendy's, shrimp at Long John Silver's, an Egg McMuffin at McDonald's, a roast-beef sandwich and curly fries at Arby's, and a chocolate cone at Dairy Queen. What should you have next? Please explain. Accepted answer: Starbucks, to complete the classic sequence of courses. E: This is the old formal dinner (soup, fish, entree, remove [meat], releve [vegetable], sweet, [savoury,] dessert) recreated as a fast-food crawl. Q69. "Computer Generated".
Which fictional character links bands The Hothouse Flowers and Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark? A. Liam O'mdonlai E. http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=Liam+O%E2%80%99mdonlai Q70. Circular argument.
A. Rotunda E. http://www.bbc.co.uk/birmingham/your_birmingham/bullring/gallery2/images/stone_rotunda.jpg Q71. Babel-icious.
An eccentric Englishman wrote an equally eccentric tale in French. Another Englishman translated it from French to English (though he claimed to have translated it from Arabic). Later, a writer in Spanish playfully observed that the original French version wasn't faithful to the English rendering. What was the name of the tale? A. Vathek E. It was written in French by William Beckford in 1782 and translated into English by Samuel Henley in 1785. Jorge Luis Borges wrote, "El original es infiel a la traducción" ("The original is unfaithful to the translation"). Q72. Aptronyms again.
If Omar Lucida existed, what would he do for a living? A. opera singer E. "O mar lucida", first words of the song "Santa Lucia". Q73. I'm home.
There were three jovial Welshmen found in Japan. What am I? A. cock E. http://www.engrish.com/detail.php?imagename=imcock.jpg&category=Clothing&date=2003-04-08 Q74. No-Go Area
"Rather like Soweto, or Granny's fanny, people know it's there but don't know how to get there." To what was Christopher Hitchens referring in his article "An Insular Depression"? A. Kowloon - the walled city (demolished 1992) Q75. Silence!
This word, "usually used in the plural", has never** appeared on aue in the plural form, and only once in the singular. What is it? A. branks Q76. Like the blind leading the blind.
Madison was Adams's teacher. Explain. A. Joanne Madison "Anne" Sullivan was Helen Adams Keller's teacher. E. Anne was nearly blind, and Helen was blind. Q77. At full speed
This is a toughie because it's not generally googlable. So, please remove one item from the list below to make the remaining list meaningful and complete. A. Wednesday before the second Tuesday of April. A. c. The others are Scottish fasting days. Q78. A Cropper Came....
See ../sdc2005/q78/sdc_ab4.jpg
A. ED LIO E. It's a pub in Erdington. Q79. "The name's the game"
../sdc2005/q79/sdc_ab7.jpg Bonus Q: Find a better example. A. Gene Pool E. http://www.frionaind.com/feedyard/swisher.htm Q80. (Not) Taking Sides
By my reckoning there are 25 "E" states and 25 "C" states, the "C" states being: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont. What do "E" and "C" signify? A. Edge and Center - approx location of state capitals Q81. Holy Vitamin C
What connects St Athan with oranges? A. Athan from Tathan, orange (ultimately) from narang Q82. One is darker than the other five.
Which does not belong? Amlib A. Filme E. Reversed, it's not a city in Africa. (The rest are; e.g., Bilma.) Q83. Def Jam
Extricate the ten words: attract band befit beverage beverage brace clothing container contest courtship disembowel dismiss draw drill exercises face fair fuse gathering glide handsome haven invigorate just left light marriage match monkey move pair performers plane please plunder port sack sower strip stripe suit suit support tie tool tool tool tree unite window A. band, brace, draw, drill, fair, match, plane, port, sack, suit E. Q84. Come again?
See q84/sdc_ab_1.html. A. problem names: Crapo, Bumgarner, Titiyo, Arsene/Arsenal, Clapp, Shittu Q85. 9/1/83
Add one item to complete this list: Alabama, Alaska, Kentucky, Nevada, Pennsylvania. A. Henry M Jackson E. SSBNs based at Bangor, WA http://www.chinfo.navy.mil/navpalib/ships/lists/homeport.html Q86. Post-nuptial
But what's the verbal connection? A. marilyn E. http://bubl.ac.uk/org/tacit/marilyns/ Q87. A weed that's hard to get rid of.
This word came from a language that's not the source of any other English word that the Panel knows of--but you might have thought its origin was more ordinary, since it's been subject to exactly the same folk etymologizing as a common English given name (a process that proceeded farther in North America than in Britain). A. ailanthus E. From Amboinese "ai lanto" (or something like that), meaning "tree of heaven". The word has been altered as if it came from Greek "anthos", flower--the same thing that happened to "Anthony". Q88. Reverse Picture Alphabet
A picture has been placed on each of 25 webpages with URLs of the form http://alt-usage-english.org/sdc2005/q88/___.htm If, for example, the picture is of a yak, the URL of the next page will be http://alt-usage-english.org/sdc2005/q88/yak.htm. Navigate through the pictures in reverse alphabetical order and let us know the word that begins with the letter A. To start you off, we need to give you a picture of something beginning with the letter Z, so here you are:
A. Z is for "zilch". Subsequent answers have been added to each web page. To see them, use your mouse to select the area next to "Answer:". Q89. th.
Back in the 1980s I read about a fascinating mathematical fact in Dipole's column in 'Electronics and Power' magazine. Imagine my surprise therefore to read on the internet that this fact was only discovered in the autumn of 1994... By whom? A. Cody Birsner E. http://www.geom.uiuc.edu/~rminer/1over89/ Q90. Foodstuff etymology.
AUE is renowned for its discussion of ethnic foods as well as its insightful deconstruction of the works of various novelists, essayists and associated ink-stained wretches. And its dicussion of etymologies is unequalled in any hall of academe. So therefore, wouldn't it be nice if we could associate the etymology of the name a foodstuff with an oeuvre by some author, famous or notorious, take your pick. To reduce the field of candidates a bit, we can tell you that this foodstuff (for lack of a better sobriquet) has has not been discussed directly in these hallowed halls. But associated products have triggered impassioned repartee between Yanks and Brits while causing Aussies to choke on their breakfasts. What is it and which author is it connected with? A. Bovril; Bulwer-Lytton E. Bovril. Banned in connection with outbreak of Mad Cow Disease in the U.K. Further elucidation available at http://www.medianet.ca/bovril/bovril.htm or Wikipedia
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