The all new, revised and easier quiz! (mod note posts 1 and 2042)

looksee

Ah I know that! It was because glass was poured onto a flat surface to get a flat sheet, then panes were cut out of it. The last bit that was poured ended up as a dimple in the middle and was 'rubbish' glass, but people now think they are appealing and use them deliberately.

looksee

BrensBenz wrote: »

Well, it looks as if this is something you either know or don't know. Open the link below and marvel at a really clever piece of puppetry. No CGI; no camera tricks (well, other than total black backgrounds); no strings; no hand up jumpers, etc.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I58YeFApfF0

That is a very cute (if somewhat excitable) mouse, but I still have absolutely no memory of him!

Rubecula

Was it Topo Gargo or something?

Jellybaby1

Yep, the cutest thing I've seen in ages, and yet, I have never heard of it, nor seen it, before. You must remember that my family were far too pewer to have a television in the very early days, and when we did, we only had Radio Telefis Eireann for heaven's sake! Blimmin' BOSCO hadn't even been invented yet! (hated that puppet, I did)

Rubecula

OK on a similar theme:

Who had the catchphrase "Swinging ...... Dodgy" ?

looksee

ahem.

Jellybaby1

Where do yiz get these questions from atall atall? No idea. Pass.

looksee

I remember that catchphrase, but I can't remember who said it, was it that tall guy who was still broadcasting at 92 and had very young 'assistants'?

(and Brens never said whether I was right, I have been gazumpped )

Edit, no it wasn't, I just checked

Rubecula

Brens will probably know ... if not answered by tomorrow I will start giving clues

BrensBenz

looksee wrote: »

Ah I know that! It was because glass was poured onto a flat surface to get a flat sheet, then panes were cut out of it. The last bit that was poured ended up as a dimple in the middle and was 'rubbish' glass, but people now think they are appealing and use them deliberately.

Perfecto! Sorry for the delay in responding - usual excuse! But yes, you have been gazzumped! Would you care to set the next question, so that the universe is put back into balance?

Rubecula wrote: »

Was it Topo Gargo or something?

Topo Gigio. Maybe not impressive today but imagine in 1962, on a flickering black and white telly, the magic that Topo Gigio created in the mind of a seven year-old, especially when the "Font of All Wisdom" (his dad) had no idea how it was done either.

Rubecula wrote: »

Who had the catchphrase "Swinging ...... Dodgy" ?

Norman Vaughan, host of Sunday Night at the Palladium and Housewive's Choice on the wurless. "Swinging" = thumbs up; "Dodgy" = thumbs down. He was also the face of Cadbury's Roses.

looksee

How many (and which) days of the week are named after women?

Rubecula

Friday was named after Frig Unsure if you include Saturday (Saturn Roman Goddess)

BrensBenz

looksee wrote: »

How many (and which) days of the week are named after women?

I sense a mantrap of gigantic proportions here because modern English has taken words from so many ancient languages and many of the roots are still debated. But, here is a complete guess:

Monday > Moon > Luna (Latin) De Luain (Gaelic) > Female
Tuesday > Tyr (Norse) > Male
Wednesday > Woden (Norse) > Male
Thursday > Thor (Norse) > Male
Friday > Frigg (Norse) > Female
Saturday > Saturn (Latin) > Male
Sunday > Sol (Latin) > Male

looksee

oh well done Brens, I was counting the sun and moon as gender neutral, but yes, Freya or Frigg (could be either) for Friday is the female among the male gods.

Edit!!!! sorry, Rube said it first, apologies, you are on Rube!

BrensBenz

looksee wrote: »

I was counting the sun and moon as gender neutral

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhh! Snorkkkk! Luna being a Roman goddess was the one I was most sure of.

Mousie Tonge got a clip around the ear because he told our Latin teacher that Luna was male. "LunA" bellowed the man in the black maxi-dress, not LunUS. Thwack!

And we CAN eat meat on Fridays!!!! I wonder how much other stuff they told us was wrong.

Rubecula

looksee wrote: »

oh well done Brens, I was counting the sun and moon as gender neutral, but yes, Freya or Frigg (could be either) for Friday is the female among the male gods.

Edit!!!! sorry, Rube said it first, apologies, you are on Rube!

Thanks Looksee

Who was the Celtic sea god?

peckerhead

Rubecula wrote: »

Who was the Celtic sea god?

Manannán Mac Lir, sez I...

Rubecula

yep that is right, your turn.

OldGoat

looksee wrote: »

Oh...confession time...I lurrrved David McCallum in Man from Uncle...sometime in the mid sixties

A tad off topic here but there is a film due for release in August.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1638355/

looksee

BrensBenz wrote: »

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhh! Snorkkkk! Luna being a Roman goddess was the one I was most sure of.

Mousie Tonge got a clip around the ear because he told our Latin teacher that Luna was male. "LunA" bellowed the man in the black maxi-dress, not LunUS. Thwack!

And we CAN eat meat on Fridays!!!! I wonder how much other stuff they told us was wrong.

Ah yes, but you see its Sunday and Mo(o)nday not Solday and Lunaday...yes well, my brain does rather addled thinking these days

looksee

OldGoat wrote: »

A tad off topic here but there is a film due for release in August.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1638355/

But not the same at all without David (is he still around? Must be getting on a bit now)

Edit - just checked, yes he is, 81 and still looking good, if a little wrinkled.

BrensBenz

YooHoo, peckerhead, Thumbs are worn out from being twiddled here. Since you were fastest with Manannán Mac Lir, it's your turn to give us a question so that we can show off our knowledge, wisdom, sheltered childhoods and modesty.

Alternatively, I have a real woozzie, just burning a hole in my head. Actually, I have two woozzies but, by the time I get two right answers, I'll have forgotten one of them.......at least.

looksee

Go for it Brens! I reckon 3 days is enough of a window

BrensBenz

looksee wrote: »

Go for it Brens! I reckon 3 days is enough of a window

Well....OK.....if you're sure........I hear and obey.

Right, if I asked for the origin of "denim", all youze smarta$$es would tell me that denim derives from "serge de Nimes", a cloth first woven in Nimes, France. So, I won't ask that. Instead, I will ask why denim trousers are called "jeans"? And NO, it wasn't because Levi Strauss had a cat called Jean, or a cousin, or auntie or anything else to do with Levi.

BrensBenz

BrensBenz wrote: »

.....why denim trousers are called "jeans"?

Hmmm, is it time for a hint? It has to do with WHERE jeans were first made.

ceekay74

BrensBenz wrote: »

Hmmm, is it time for a hint? It has to do with WHERE jeans were first made.

Denimark?

BrensBenz

ceekay74 wrote: »

Denimark?

Jeans? Denimark? Nope! They don't even rhyme.

OK, another hint: Given their complete lack of interest in anything other than food, perfume and fashion (and that's just the men) French froggie frogs noticed these "pantalon" made of "serge de Nimes" and discovered WHERE they were made. That city's name, when pronounced in Froggish, sounds something like "jeans" sounds to us and it stuck.

"Pah, zoze stewpeed pantilon weel nevverrr be sheek. Unly zuh sailers and zuh pezzent wud ware samzeeng like ziz."

Some millions of years later, Levi Strauss and his buddy, whose name I forget because I'm old, used denim but improved the seams and added copper rivets to the stress points. After that, everybody except French froggie frogs, bought Levi's jeans.

Then, the Yanks renamed them "blue jeans" to distinguish them from.......I dunno......other stuff(?)

ceekay74

ceekay74 wrote: »

Denimark?

:-)

Layinghen

Is anybody else getting an ad for Lee Jeans at the top of this page??????:D:D

Talk about big brother watching you!!!!!!

BrensBenz

OK, time's up! French froggie frogs discovered that pantilons made of serge de Nimes were being made in Genoa. Of course, froggies refuse to pronounce Genoa properly, insisting that the city's name is Gênes. When speakers of proper languages read "Gênes" they pronounced it "jeans" and so jeans were born.

Well, I said I had TWO woozies and I'm fairly confident that Os&Os will get this.....because we was taught proper. Punctuate this:

TIME FLIES YOU CANNOT THEY GO TOO FAST

For readers educated from 1985 onwards, punctuate means "add full stops, commas, colons, semi-colons, dashes, question marks, apostrophes, exclamation marks, etc."