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

OldGoat · 09-06-2015 8:26am

BrensBenz wrote: »

PS: Aren't phobias usually expressed in Greek? Although people were still speaking Latin when I was a chiseller, I wasn't allowed to play with the Greek boys so I never learned Greek.

Hybrid words abound. Aquaphobia for one. Homophobia is another. As is television. Automobile.

Samaris · 09-06-2015 10:03am

Hurrah! Well, that one was a bit of a team effort

Ok then, who (or what) are Huginn and Muninn?

looksee · 09-06-2015 10:09am

I feel obliged to suggest some species of gods?

Samaris · 09-06-2015 1:50pm

Nope, but on the right track.

BrensBenz · 09-06-2015 4:04pm

Samaris wrote: »

Hurrah! Well, that one was a bit of a team effort

Ok then, who (or what) are Huginn and Muninn?

Again. local knowledge! Huginn and Muninn are Norse ravens (the black raven is a popular mascot in NCD; "Fingal" is where our Viking ancestors went for their holidays). Huginn and Muninn were a little like U2 aircraft, doing reconnaissance for Wednesday I mean Odin.

Norse mythology is fascinating and, if you also find it so, visit Iceland!

Samaris · 09-06-2015 5:20pm

BrensBenz wrote: »

Again. local knowledge! Huginn and Muninn are Norse ravens (the black raven is a popular mascot in NCD; "Fingal" is where our Viking ancestors went for their holidays). Huginn and Muninn were a little like U2 aircraft, doing reconnaissance for Wednesday I mean Odin.

Norse mythology is fascinating and, if you also find it so, visit Iceland!

Indeed so!

And hah, someday I shall - I'd love to see the geography of the place; it's amazing from the landscape pov as well as the history.

You're up then, Brens!

BrensBenz · 09-06-2015 6:56pm

OK.

Well, I'm sure these two are among Jellybaby's favourites (not) but what have Little Richard and Neil Young got in common?

Hint: It has nothing to do with their careers - more to do with events during their childhoods.

JB: Go on, go on, go on, go on, have a little listen, just a tincey wincey little listen, go on, go on, on......

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jmNe77vces
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2coygw1HT0

looksee · 09-06-2015 7:38pm

Who?

Jellybaby1 · 09-06-2015 7:54pm

BrensBenz wrote: »

....JB: Go on, go on, go on, go on, have a little listen, just a tincey wincey little listen, go on, go on, on......

Whaddya mean? NOT? I'll have yiz all know that I AM an ageing rock'nroller, and proud of it an' all! I used to rock mah crib to those toons y'know. Don't know the answer but I know I should as I've watched a bio-docu-programme about Mr. Young but nothing occurs to me at the minute. Might ask himself as he's a hooge fan of Neil Young. At a wild and crazy guess I'll try childhood illnesses?

BrensBenz · 09-06-2015 8:30pm

Jellybaby1 wrote: »

At a wild and crazy guess I'll try childhood illnesses?

Just thought that, since neither of them has ever appeared in a musical that you wouldn't..........oh, never mind. Actually, did Little Richard make a cameo appearance in "The Girl Can't Help It"? Hmmm? Not sure!

"Childhood illnesses" is good but more detail required. Consequences? I think conferring with himself is allowed.

Jellybaby1 · 09-06-2015 8:49pm

BrensBenz wrote: »

...."Childhood illnesses" is good but more detail required. Consequences? I think conferring with himself is allowed.

Ah, so I'm on the right track.

Childhood diseases......mumps, German measles, measles made by other countries, colic, whooping cough, scarlah fever, chickenpox, croup, polio, rickets as in RUN, Forest, RUN', and last but not least that other childhood disease, infantile paralysis which some may say is like polio but more infantile. Well, am I any warmer?

Regarding 'conferring with himself'. I never even asked!

Samaris · 09-06-2015 9:35pm

Hrm, long term consequences of illness...deafness seems a wee bit unlikely, Beethoven notwithstanding. Damaged eyesight?

BrensBenz · 09-06-2015 10:21pm

Jellybaby1 wrote: »

Ah, so I'm on the right track.

Childhood diseases......mumps, German measles, measles made by other countries, colic, whooping cough, scarlah fever, chickenpox, croup, polio, rickets as in RUN, Forest, RUN', and last but not least that other childhood disease, infantile paralysis which some may say is like polio but more infantile.

Samaris wrote: »

Hrm, long term consequences of illness...deafness seems a wee bit unlikely, Beethoven notwithstanding. Damaged eyesight?

You're both sort of warmish but I'm really looking for (I suppose) life time "consequences" of a childhood disease. Richard and Neil (they insist on me calling them by their first names) are by no means unique in having this consequence of a certain disease caught during their childhood but, if I gave you the name of the best known survivor, the game would be up.

By the way, maybe I've misled you slightly - this disease attacked adults as well as children. Neil and Richard just happened to be affected during their childhood and have the same consequence.

Jellybaby1 · 09-06-2015 10:49pm

Dyslexia? But you wouldn't be that sneaky now would you? To turn the tables like that?

garancafan · 09-06-2015 11:18pm

Tone deafness, surely.

BrensBenz · 09-06-2015 11:22pm

garancafan wrote: »

Tone deafness, surely.

Mods, come on! Grasp the ban hammer in both hands and smite this...this....Philistine.....on the bonce....really hard.

BrensBenz · 09-06-2015 11:24pm

Jellybaby1 wrote: »

Dyslexia?

No. Wrong direction entirely. Their "consequences" are visible.

Samaris · 09-06-2015 11:32pm

Huh... a limp?

BrensBenz · 10-06-2015 12:11am

Samaris wrote: »

Huh... a limp?

Excellente! You've played this before. They both have minor deformities of the leg, caused by polio, causing slight limps.

And silver medal for Jellybaby1.

I was reading about survivors of polio and the author was suggesting that the will power required to overcome that dreadful disease made the victims stronger and more determined to succeed. Other survivors are Joni Mitchell, Donald Sutherland, Alan Alda, Mia Farrow and, yes, Johnny Weissmuller!

The most obvious victim, whose name would have given the answer away was, of course, Ian Dury.

Your turn, Samaris.

Samaris · 10-06-2015 12:20am

Huh! I have to admit, that was just a guess based on a physical issue caused by illness.

Even the name Ian Dury wouldn't have told me anything.

Hrrrrrm. Uhm.

What is a tittle?

looksee · 10-06-2015 8:31am

A very small bit, as in 'not having a tittle of wit'

Edit: good one! I checked it up and I am only a small bit right, we await the actual answer!

BrensBenz · 10-06-2015 11:30am

Samaris wrote: »

What is a tittle?

looksee wrote: »

A very small bit, as in 'not having a tittle of wit'

In these here parts, an eegit is said not to have a "titter of wit."

I have a vague memory of an English class of 13 year-old fellas in an all boys school run by men in black dresses. A list of punctuation devices were read out and some brave hero asked "a whoh, farder?" "A semi-colon". "No, not dat one, farder, the one you said after dat?" "A tittle." Much tittering behind hands and copy books broke out and we never spoke of it again.

I'm now an oulfella and, other than something vaguely to do with punctuation in English and possibly other languages, I still don't know what a tittle is. Despite this gap in my knowledge, I have had a full and satisfying career (did I tell yiz that I'm a grandad.....almost twice?) and I suspect that Samaris is trying to lead us all into iniquity. This needs an independent inquiry so that we have all of the information before we batter Samaris with the ban hammer.

looksee · 10-06-2015 1:04pm

Goodness Brens, you are right, it is a titter! Ok, well I looked up tittle and it does have a meaning. What precise variety of enquiry are you considering, I might be inclined to co-operate

BrensBenz · 10-06-2015 3:47pm

Samaris wrote: »

What is a tittle?

Hmmm. let's look at this methodically:
A tittle is very rude to 13 year-old boys but not to a holy man in a black dress teaching English;
Our Irish teacher didn't mention tittles when he bored us to death with the history and meaning of sheibhehhehehs and fadas, so maybe Irish doesn't have tittles but English does. Indeed, it doesn't sound Irish or European;
It is included in "punctuation" (I think) but it must be on the fringes because it's so obscure;
Unlike apostrophes and commas, the grammar police on AH don't rant about tittles so maybe they're optional.

Going back to Irish, we have full stops, commas and all of the usual stuff but the Irish alphabet is different: We have no "J", "K", "Q", "V" (and I know Sinn Fein (Votail Ta) and the O'Cuiv family will disagree but putting "V" into Irish is pure makey-uppie), "W", "X", "Y" and "Z". Of the remaining 18 letters, the only one that caused problems in low and high babies classes was the letter "i" because "Irish is plain, English is dotty".

Therefore, and in conclusion, I suggest to the court that a tittle is nothing to do with punctuation a tall a tall but the dot over "i" in English and not in Irish. Using this logic, I contend that the dot over "j" in English (Irish is J-less) is also a tittle. There are, in fact, two tittles. Little wonder that the topic was never raised again in our holy skewell. The defense rests.

garancafan · 10-06-2015 3:53pm

Most tittle-ating.

Samaris · 10-06-2015 5:16pm

Oh, very good, Brens! It's also found in various other languages with other symbols than just the dot on the i or j, but those are the only ones in English. The phrase "to a T" is thought to derive from "to a tittle", which was the older phrase. Probably got mixed in with "crossing the t's and dotting the i's" I didn't know though that Irish has no dot on the i!

You're up again then!

BrensBenz · 10-06-2015 5:24pm

Samaris wrote: »

I didn't know though that Irish has no dot on the i!

Yes. Check the "old" / proper Irish road signs. No dots and definitely no "v"!

OK.

Just like our lot, British prime ministers come from all sorts of professions. It's not all that long ago when occupants of No.10 had to have another job (or independent wealth) because they weren't paid for their political work. Unsurprisingly, several barristers were elected to No. 10 but only one solicitor. Who was he?

looksee · 10-06-2015 5:49pm

I'm sure there's a joke there about soliciting brown envelopes...

Layinghen · 10-06-2015 7:38pm

The man from the valleys David Lloyd George was a Solicitor, so if there was only one it must be him?

BrensBenz · 10-06-2015 7:41pm

Layinghen wrote: »

The man from the valleys David Lloyd George was a Solicitor, so if there was only one it must be him?

Yes, 100% correct. Now that is a biography I can recommend!

Over to you.

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

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