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Posted by Katy R (U14748743) on Friday, 4th February 2011
Hello all,
Friday quiz time....
Now, I realise Burns night has been and gone, but here's this weeks question:
After working on a farm for a while, what occupation did Robert Burns take up?
Good luck!
, in reply to message 1.
Posted by an ex-nordmann - it has ceased to exist (U3472955) on Friday, 4th February 2011
He was an excise man even while he had the farm in Dumfries, Katy. Is that what you're thinking of?
It is indeed! He took on the work to be able to support his growing family....
Well done Nordmann...
, in reply to message 3.
Posted by an ex-nordmann - it has ceased to exist (U3472955) on Friday, 4th February 2011
The only popular taxman in history!
Ok - not entirely unrelated to your question then - what is the significance of this list compiled in 2009?
1. Excise man
2. Titled landowner
3. Professor of Bacteriology
4. Football manager
5. Actor
6. King
7. Steel baron
8. Haberdasher
9. Boilermaker
10. Rock singer
Top 10 list for 'Greatest Ever Scotsman' ?
, in reply to message 5.
Posted by an ex-nordmann - it has ceased to exist (U3472955) on Friday, 4th February 2011
Well done giraffe!
Yep - the list (which didn't include a certain Mr Connery - my how times change!) was compiled based on votes sent by STV viewers. The guys (was there another list just for women?) who fitted the above job descriptions were:
1. Robert Burns
2. William Wallace
3. Sir Alexander Fleming
4. Jock Stein
5. David Tennant
6. Robert The Bruce
7. Andrew Carnegie
8. Sir William Alexander Smith
9. Billy Connolly
10. (The Sensational) Alex Harvey
Which Irishman was (acording to some versions) killed by an arrow (shot by another Irishman, or course!) in France, while on his way to conquer the Roman Empire?
Answer - Niall of the 9 hostages, ancestor of the O'Neill clan.
Anyone else want to have a go?
OK - what do the following have in common?
First United States Army Group (FUSAG)
Carlos and Chamillus, waiters and students in Glasgow and Chislehurst respectively
Major William Martin, RM
The US Ninth Airforce
Operation Fortitude
Like the Urban Spaceman, they don't exist.
FUSAG - cover story to convince the Germans that a further invasion, in the Pas-de-Calais, was still planned.
Carlos & Chamillus - non-existent sub-agents (not sure if they were Garbos or Tricycles)
W Martin - "The man who never was"
US 9th Airforce - dunno.
Fortitude - deception plan for "Neptune" - Normandy landings.
Ur-Lugal - yes, none of them existed.
I think Carlos and Chamillus were Garbo's creations. The US 9th airforce and FUSAG were deceptions to convince the Germans that D Day was aimed at the Pas de Calais. William Martin was the body planted to convince the Gemrna that Sicily was not going to be invaded.
Your turn.
OK, here we go:-
The Birmingham class cruisers of WWI, and the "Improved" and "Modified" Birminghams were a diverse bunch, and included a vessel frequently nicknamed (but I haven't posted it on th "Niknames" thread so don't bother looking) "Longdelayed". What was her official name?
HMAS Adelaide was a Town class light cruiser of the Royal Australian Navy.
She was laid down in 1917, but due to wartime shortages and indecisions covering her overall design, one delay followed another resulting in the ship not being completed until 1922, earning her the nickname "HMAS Longdelayed".
Yes, bandick. The big puzzle is - why was she ever completed? More sense to scrap her, surely, and build Euphrates. The whole B'ham group were - distinctly odd.
Your turn!
I have it she was decommissioned in 1946 and broken up for scrap in 1949… which by today’s standards is about the norm. I suppose to scrap her on the stocks would be political suicide… another case of pouring good money after bad money.
Staying by the sea as opposed to on it…
What name of grammatical oddity links these three settlements?
A popular beach-side suburb of the South Australian capital of Adelaide.
An unincorporated community in Howard County, Maryland, United States
A village in the Highland Region, of western Scotland.
Out all day tomorrow & Thursday, so I'll drop a hint instead of answering.
(BTW - It's a sheer guess on the 2nd location)
Look at
, in reply to message 16.
Posted by George1507 (U2607963) on Wednesday, 9th February 2011
Glenelg?
Spot on George,
Glenelg is a popular beach-side suburb of the South Australian capital of Adelaide.
Glenelg is an unincorporated community in Howard County, Maryland, United States
Glenelg (Scottish Gaelic: Gleann Eilg) is a village in Skye and Lochalsh, Highland Region, in western Scotland.
All linked as a grammatical oddity as ‘Glenelg’ is a palindrome.
Your turn.
, in reply to message 18.
Posted by George1507 (U2607963) on Wednesday, 9th February 2011
In 1874, who said "We have been borne down in a torrent of gin and beer"?
, in reply to message 19.
Posted by an ex-nordmann - it has ceased to exist (U3472955) on Wednesday, 9th February 2011
That's be old Bill Gladstone's excuse for election defeat when the pub landlords switched en masse to supporting the Conservatives after the Liberals had restricted their opening hours and, as Churchill put it later "Every inn became a Conservative Club and every drunk a Tory".
, in reply to message 20.
Posted by George1507 (U2607963) on Wednesday, 9th February 2011
Yep, dead right Nordmann.
Your go.
, in reply to message 21.
Posted by George1507 (U2607963) on Wednesday, 9th February 2011
Bandick - isn't it a shame that palindrome isn't a palindromic word?
It would have been far better if the word was palinnilap, or indrommordni or something.
Perhaps Samuel Johnson… needs to edit his great works George.
Good job I just looked back on the board… nordmann just piped me with it… not really, I just couldn’t think of his name… all I could come up with was the chap with the big doctors bag… Mary Poppins had one too.
I thought it may have been the Booths to start with.
its taking so long to log in...
, in reply to message 23.
Posted by an ex-nordmann - it has ceased to exist (U3472955) on Wednesday, 9th February 2011
He could have been a Dutch seafarer, a shortsighted deckhand, a Welsh saint, the devil, a West Indian ghost or even a pub landlord. Americans might know him as a racing driver, a baseball player and Louis Armstrong's music teacher. We do know he was a pop singer, once with a successful 60s US band and once as a cockney hermaphrodite.
Who is he?
, in reply to message 24.
Posted by an ex-nordmann - it has ceased to exist (U3472955) on Wednesday, 9th February 2011
I'll be out of range for the next three hours or so. If anyone wants to proceed in another vein be my guest!
Davy Jones, I trow.
Why would "Sloop John B" be a name of ill omen in the Caribbean?
, in reply to message 26.
Posted by George1507 (U2607963) on Wednesday, 9th February 2011
Maybe a boat called Sloop John B disappeared in the Bermuda Triangle?
Or maybe they just don't like the Beach Boys over there?
Sorry, not that.
Ever met this one by Les Barker?
, in reply to message 28.
Posted by George1507 (U2607963) on Wednesday, 9th February 2011
Bandick - Samuel Johnson's work was rubbish. I quote from Blackadder
Dr. Samuel Johnson: [places two manuscripts on the table, but picks up the top one] Here it is, sir. The very cornerstone of English scholarship. This book, sir, contains every word in our beloved language.
Blackadder: Every single one, sir?
Dr. Samuel Johnson: Every single word, sir!
Blackadder: Oh, well, in that case, sir, I hope you will not object if I also offer the Doctor my most enthusiastic contrafribularities.
Dr. Samuel Johnson: What?
Blackadder: "Contrafribularities", sir? It is a common word down our way.
Dr. Samuel Johnson: Damn!
[writes in the book]
Blackadder: Oh, I'm sorry, sir. I'm anispeptic, frasmotic, even compunctuous to have caused you such pericombobulation.
Ìý
Believe everything you see on Blackadder - it's the way it was.
George I remember that episode really well and often think about it, it made me laugh when I read your post ref palindromes… and
Blackadder's ‘Contrafribularities’ sketch sprang to mind… how are you getting on with nordmanns question… that’s a devil of a teaser, and that damned urnungal… you gotta watch out for him too, he can cause you such pericombobulation’s.
, in reply to message 30.
Posted by George1507 (U2607963) on Wednesday, 9th February 2011
Bandick,
I've no idea about why Sloop John B would be bad in the Caribbean.
Totally discombobujaxed me, to quote Johnson.
'Tis but a whim-wham to wind up a wowser, my friend.
, in reply to message 32.
Posted by George1507 (U2607963) on Wednesday, 9th February 2011
I hope you are anispeptic or even frasmotic that we can't answer your sozzwanger of a question.
Any chance of a clue to either of the quiz questions… please… with a cherry on top.
Like the age old question of the tree falling down in the forest… you know the one. If there’s no one around to see it fall… does it still make a noise?
I want to know if those annoying drumsticks at the top of the page stop beating when you scroll the page up and they disappear from view.
, in reply to message 34.
Posted by an ex-nordmann - it has ceased to exist (U3472955) on Thursday, 10th February 2011
Two questions?
Urly-Gurly answered mine correctly, knew that he did so, and thus proceeded with another one.
OK - New Friday, new quiz, so to finish this one of, the link with a zombie is the generic term jumbee, and "John B" sounds too like that to be a popular choice.
Oh my gawd… that’s just what I want to see while I’m stuck in here… it’s the ‘drools’ conversion kit.
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