Thematic Abstract Ideas Trivia

151. In 1992 Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating had one of those awkward moments when he sparked criticism by touching which visiting dignitary?

From Quiz That Awkward Moment When...

Answer: Queen Elizabeth II

Protocol dictates that, other than for a hand shake, it is not appropriate to touch the Queen. Paul Keating was photographed with his arm round her, an action which led the British Press to dub him "The Lizard of Oz". His wife was also criticised for failing to curtsy. In fact many of the protocols that used to exist have been quietly dropped during the Queen's reign. Bowing and curtsying are no longer required, although many people do perform them as a mark of respect.

From Quiz Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep

Answer: Optical fibers in spectacles

This system was first utilized on American pilots during the bombing of Kosovo in 1999. Servicemen could stay awake a full day and a half and function well in their duties. Optical fibers attached to glasses would beam white light around the border of soldiers' and airmen's retinas. This causes the brain to be "fooled" into sensing that the military member has just woken up. Source: danlempriere.com

From Quiz Speed Demon

Answer: Black mamba

Except for the inside of his mouth, which is black, the black mamba is gray. If you see black, you've gotten too close and have provoked him. Over level land he can reach top speeds of 10-12 miles per hour, but only in short bursts. It would still be well nigh impossible to outrun one. They can get to be up to 14 feet in length. When they run they hold their head up about one-third of their body is off the ground. They are very aggressive snakes and since they spring up to strike, they could get to chin level on a lot of people. Without medical treatment the death rate of the bitten is 100%. Although they don't usually attack humans, they are greatly feared in their endemic areas.

From Quiz The Cherry on Top

Answer: Derrick

A derrick is a framework that is positioned over an oil well and supports the drilling machinery. An alternate meaning for derrick is a type of crane that has a movable pivoted arm. They are often used to lift large objects from the pier to on the top of the boat deck. If your name is Derrick, it sounds like you might just rise to the top!

From Quiz Don't Stop Deceiving

Answer: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

The girls were cousins Frances Griffiths (aged 10) and Elsie Wright (aged 16) and in 1915 they produced the first of five photographs of - wait for it - fairies. They took the photograph in Elsie's home village of Cottingley in West Yorkshire. While Elsie's dad, keen photographer Arthur Wright, didn't believe the photo was genuine, his wife did and took the photograph to a meeting of the Theosophical Society of which she was a member. It caused a great stir, and when Elsie and Frances produced two more photos, one showing a fairy hovering near Frances and the other Frances about to shake hands with a winged gnome, Theosophists and Spiritualists throughout England got all excited. One of them was Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of the great rationalist detective Sherlock Holmes. Conan Doyle was a Spiritualist and fervently believed in the existence of fairies and in the authenticity of the photos (even when his friend Sir Oliver Lodge, a prominent researcher into psychic phenomena, said they were fakes). In all, Elsie and Frances produced five photographs featuring what came to be known as The Cottingley Fairies, and Conan Doyle believed that each of them was genuine, despite the skepticism of his peers. Years later, an aged Elsie confessed that the fairies and the gnome were cut from the pages of 'Princess Mary's Gift Book' (published in 1914) and were illustrations by Claude Arthur Shepperson. The girls had suspended them on wire or fixed them in place with hat pins to take the photos.

From Quiz A Plague on Both Your Houses

Answer: The Hatfields and McCoys

In 1865, Asa Harmon McCoy, a Union soldier, was murdered by Jim Vance, a relative of the Hatfields, who were Confederate sympathizers. The two families feuded and set about murdering each other until 1891 when the feuding and fighting finally came to an end. This is a story that is truly brutal and tragic; there were many deaths due to the hatred spawned by the war and murders through the years. Roseanna McCoy has been called the Juliet of the mountains for her ill-fated love affair with Johnson (Johnse) Hatfield. She died before reaching her 30th birthday. (Question by oldstuff28)

From Quiz Crime And Punishment

Answer: She was acquitted

Roxie Hart was a showgirl character that first appeared in a stage play "Chicago" in 1926. It was based on a real murder case. A silent movie starring Phyllis Haver appeared in 1927, and it was remade in 1942 with Ginger Rogers as Roxie. A musical followed in 1975 and it was revived in 1996. In 2002 Renée Zellweger played Roxie in a movie based on the musical. Roxie Hart had killed her lover but the plot showed her efforts to escape punishment. She competed for the attentions of lawyer Billy Flynn with another murderer, Velma Kelly. Both were cleared.

From Quiz Set

Answer: Tennis

Often heard during tennis matches, the phrase 'game, set and match' uttered by the umpire indicates that one player has definitively beaten the opponent in a certain situation, most often at the end of a tennis match.

From Quiz Quiz: Question-Free!

Answer: Interrogative Sentence

A question mark at the end of a sentence makes the sentence an interrogative sentence. An interrogative sentence usually is a sentence that may or may not have a question mark at the end of it, but it usually requires an answer. For instance, an interrogative sentence that does not involve the question mark (since I resolve not to use a question mark in this quiz), is "tell me what two plus two is." The sentence requires a response, and can be asked as a question as well. An exclamatory sentence, or interjection, is a sentence that ends in an exclamation point!

From Quiz The Key to the City

Answer: Prince Carnival

During this week the mayor of a city will ceremoniously grant power to the Prince Carnival for the festivities. A new Prince Carnival is elected each year in participating towns. The cities of Brussels, Belgium and Cologne, Germany have a similar week of parties administered by a Prince Carnival.

From Quiz Flirting with Disaster

Answer: Alfred Kinsey

Originally named the "Institute for Sex Research", the Kinsey Institute was founded in 1947. Over the years, the work of the Institute has been hailed as valuable scientific research by some, and branded immoral and vilified by other sections of the community.

From Quiz End Over End

Answer: Ty Beanie Babies

As Y2K rolled around, Ty Beanie Babies, at the near-apex of their popularity, surged in sales with the release of The End, a black Beanie Baby that many thought would be the very last of the popular collectible line. With Ty Warner, the owner of the company, effectively 'retiring' all pre-2000 Beanie Babies, an unprecedented number of sales earned millions for the novelty company. After New Year's Day, Ty released a new bear known as 'The Beginning', restarting the cycle and continuing sales.

From Quiz The Edacity of Hope

Answer: September 2004

In September 2004, Clinton was campaigning for John Kerry when he had an angina attack. On September 6, he had bypass surgery at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in New York. At the time, his doctors said the former president was only months away from a heart attack without the surgery. Clinton had a fairly rapid recovery, and was assisting with relief efforts for victims of the 2004 Tsunami in early 2005.

From Quiz To Err is Human

Answer: The Beatles

Well how wrong can you be? The Beatles spawned a string of hits, movies, sell-out concerts, television appearances including "The Ed Sullivan Show", and an influence on popular culture and music that still lingers on. I wonder if anyone at Decca talks about it today. Question written by Cazza2902

From Quiz The Insight of Hindsight

Answer: James Dean

The legend of the curse of "Little Bastard" stemmed from Dean himself, as he was killed in a road accident whilst driving the car. The wreck was later bought by George Barris - a car customizer who said that he had many reservations about the car from the first moment he saw it. Shortly after its purchase, the wreck fell on top of two mechanics, breaking both of their legs. Barris later sold the engine to Troy McHenry - a doctor who raced cars for sport. Whilst racing in the car which contained the engine of "Little Bastard", McHenry lost control and hit a tree. The impact was fatal. The curse of the car continued as the garage in which it was later kept burned to the ground.

From Quiz Cause and Effect

Answer: Yes - in either case

Of course there's a one-to-many relationship both ways! Just come up with some examples. If my house burns down (because you're upset with this quiz, perhaps?), the effects are that I'm homeless, I lose possessions, my neighbors are upset, etc. Good earnings reports, lowered unemployment, or the end of a war are all causes that might have the effect of the stock market going up. "Cause and effect" certainly does not have to be one-to-one.

From Quiz Understatements Of The Century!

Answer: James Watson and Francis Crick, 1953

Rutherford was in charge of the experiments that described the atomic nucleus. Gallo claims to have discovered the AIDS virus (though French scientist Luc Montagnier has perhaps a better claim--he shared the Nobel Prize for the discovery of HIV). And Ash certainly discovered an interesting biological structure, but it ended up eating most of the cast. Crick and Watson posted their incredible understatement, regarding the discovery of the structure of DNA, in a letter to "Nature" magazine, and it changed the course of science.

From Quiz I'll Be Back

Answer: Douglas MacArthur

MacArthur was the USA's most decorated soldier of The Great War. In the 1930s he helped to reshape the Army of the Philippines and when war broke out between the USA and Japan in 1941 he was appointed commander of United States Armed Forces in the Far East. His defence of the Philippines against Japanese invasion was criticised in many quarters and 70,000 US soldiers and their Filipino allies were forced to surrender to the Japanese at Bataan. On leaving the Philippines and landing in Australia he made the now legendary promise: ""I came out of Bataan and I shall return". This was abbreviated in newspaper reports to: "I came through and I shall return". He fulfilled that promise in 1944 when allied troops landed again in the Philippines.

From Quiz A Beginning, Middle, and End

Answer: cosmogony

Cosmogony, cosmotography, and cosmology all pertain to the cosmos; either its beginning, charting it, or studying it. Cosmetology is what a beautician or hair stylist studies (cosmetics).

From Quiz Famous Daydreams

Answer: right brain

Roger Perry and Robert Ornstein in the 1950s and the 1960s did tests which established to them that daydreaming takes place in the right brain. Their studies helped establish that the brain needs to daydream, in order to give a period of rest to the more analytical left brain. Psychologists and neurologists have increasingly realized that our brains actually turn on--not off--during daydreaming.

From Quiz Can a Zebra Really Change Its Stripes?

Answer: Arlen Specter

Arlen Specter, the senior senator from Pennsylvania, has had an interesting history of switching political parties. He was a Democrat before becoming a Republican in 1965. After 44 years as a Republican, he exchanged parties again, becoming a Democrat on April 28, 2009. Robert A. Casey, Junior has been the junior Democratic senator from Pennsylvania. Alan Stuart (Al) Franken has been the Democratic junior senator from Minnesota. Margaret Chase Smith was a Republican senator from Maine.

From Quiz Spots, Spots, Marvellous Spots.

Answer: Cindy Crawford

Cindy Crawford was one of the most popular supermodels during the '80s and '90s. She has been on numerous magazine covers and spent a lot of time on the catwalk and in fashion campaigns. She has even tried her hand at acting which hasn't gone amazingly well for her, although this is not necessarily due to her acting ability.

From Quiz Smells Like Team Spirit - A Guild Tribute

Answer: Benjamin Franklin

One of the great Renaissance men of history, Franklin was respected as an inventor and scientist (engineering the Franklin stove and conducting early experiments with electricity) as well as a civic figure (founding early libraries, postal services, and fire departments) notwithstanding his abilities as a diplomat (serving as ambassador to France during the American Revolution) and a writer. The above quote was his admonition to the Second Continental Congress at the signing of the Declaration of Independence; Franklin knew full well that failure likely meant execution for treason. The question, but not the threat, came from Guilder mr_lusk.

From Quiz Aphrodisiac

Answer: Increases libido

The shape, scent or chemical basis of certain foods has a high impact on how we react in certain situations. We have all heard the saying "You are what you eat". Did you know you also smell like what you eat? Eating natural foods like honey, and fruits will sweeten your scent, which will increase your appeal.

From Quiz Trivia About Trivia

Answer: Commonplace; ordinary

While some of the trivia asked on this site could hardly be called ordinary, it is true. A trivial solution to a problem also means one that is obvious and an easy-to-find solution (the numbers 0 and 1 are often trivial solutions).

From Quiz See If You Can Measure Up

Answer: Septipedalian

"Septi" denotes seven and "ped" denotes feet. A person who is 7' tall could be described as septipedalian. Yao Ming from China, at 7'6" and Margo Dydek from Poland, at 7'2", could be described as septipedalian basketball players. Ming is in the NBA while Dydek is in the WNBA. Muggsy Bogues, the former NBA player, could not have been described as septipedalian. At 5'3" he was barely quintipedalian (five feet high.) However he was still able to dunk a basketball through a hoop set 10' above the floor. Big things do come in small packages.

From Quiz A Whiff of Scandal

Answer: Daily Mirror

This happened back in 1959. Liberace won £8,000 in damages, a lot at that time. His reply was 'I cried all the way to the bank'.

From Quiz Stress Less: A Relaxing Quiz

Answer: polymer

FIMO polymer clay was originally popularized in the 1940s by Maureen "Fifi" Kruse, daughter of a popular German doll designer Kathe Kruse. Eberhardt Faber purchased the compound in the 1960s and they named it after her. Polymer clay comes in all colors, remains soft till baked in the oven, and is a relatively new art medium that allows for almost endless creativity. It is supremely satisfying to sit back and appreciate a completed project that you have created. The creation of this quiz serves the same purpose.

From Quiz Famous Passwords

Answer: 12345

When Dark Helmet first heard the password, he said "12345? That's the stupidest combination I've ever heard of in my life!" I think most of us agree on that.

From Quiz Speed It Up

Answer: bus

Keanu Reeves starred as a cop trying to save the passengers of the bus, which is rigged with a bomb that is set to explode if the bus goes below 50 mph. A sequel to the hit movie was made using a boat as the speedy vehicle.

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Last Updated Apr 27 2024 5:50 AM

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