When Is a Table Not a Table? Trivia Quiz

Answer:

A bedside table is a small table which can be set next to a bed for holding useful items like an alarm clock, a light, a book, and a drink. I suppose, as we go into the second quarter of the twenty-first century, it might become redundant, because a lot of people have one 'device' which provides all of those except the drink. And I am sure somebody is working on that problem.

A coffee table is a low table which is placed in a sitting room within easy reach of some comfortable chairs and sofas. As it's name implies, it can be used to hold coffee cups, but cups of tea or cold drinks, and some snacks could also go on it. It has given its name to a certain type of large glossy book full of photographs; such things are often referred to as coffee table books.

A dining table is a table of a suitable height to use when seated on the chairs which surround it. Its main purpose is as a place to eat a meal. However, it can also be useful for doing a jigsaw puzzle, playing board games, making crafts, or, instead of a desk, for doing paperwork or using a computer.

A dressing table would often be found in a bedroom, although they could also be used in a dressing room at a theatre. They usually have a mirror fixed, or free standing, on the top. They may also have some small drawers for keeping a person's make-up or jewellery. However, ideally they need a space under or between the drawers for the person using the dressing table to be able to sit comfortably on a stool or chair when using it.

A snooker table is a large flat rectangular table, usually covered with green baize, which has a raised edge and cloth pockets at each corner and in the middle of each of the longer sides. When playing snooker twenty-one coloured balls are placed in designated spots on the table. The players take it in turns to hit a small white ball with a cue (a long slim piece of wood). The object of the exercise is for the white cue ball to knock one of the coloured balls into one of the pockets, and score points by doing so. Similar tables are used for playing billiards or pool, when different colours and numbers of balls are used.

A logarithm table is similar to the trigonometric table of the example at the top of the quiz. It contains lists of figures which can be used to simplify complicated arithmetical calculations. With the advent of modern pocket calculators, they (like the slide rule which could also be used) have become more or less obsolete. Skip the next paragraph if you do not want to know how logarithms are used for calculations - it gets very mathematical.

If you take a number, which we will call n, and raise it to the power of a, we can write it as n^a. The same number raised to the power of b is n^b. If we want to multiply n^a by n^b, we get the answer n^(a + b). It is much easier to add two numbers than to multiply them. Hold on to your brains - it now gets more complicated. Any number, p, could be written as 10^a, and any different number, q, could be written as 10^b. p x q = 10^a x 10^b = 10 ^(a + b). So we can take advantage of the ease of addition over multiplication, if we know what a and b are for every value of p and q. Those values are listed in the logarithm tables. For completeness, I will add that the numbers could also be written as e^a and e^b, where e is the irrational number known as Euler's number, and the book of tables probably contains those values, too.

Multiplication tables are some of the first things young children learn at school. They are often referred to as 'times tables', since they are can be recited as "two times one is two, two times two is four, two times three is six", etc. When I was a child we had to learn all our tables up to twelve times, since we used feet and inches for measuring and pounds, shillings and pence for money; there are twelve inches in a foot, and there were twelve pennies in a shilling.

The periodic table is a list of the chemical elements arranged according to their properties. It was first devised by the Russian scientist Dmitri Mendeleev in 1869. He realised that the elements could be in different groups, and he placed those into different columns. The elements could also be divided into different periods, and those were placed into different rows. Although not all the elements which are known in the twenty-first century were known at the time, Mendeleev was able to leave gaps which have subsequently been filled.

The regular movement of large bodies of waters, such as oceans and seas, is determined by the moon's gravitational pull. Since the moon orbits the earth approximately, and not exactly, every twenty-eight days, the water movement which results in the high and low tides seen on the shore is different every day. The times of the tides can be calculated in advance, and lists of the times of high and low tides are made available to seafarers and other users of beaches. These are known as tide tables.

Timetables are not to be confused with times tables - see the multiplication tables information above. A timetable is a list of events that are expected to happen, and the time when they should occur; it could also be referred to as a schedule. It might be something that happens regularly, such as a plan for classes in a school, when the same things might occur each week. It might be a list of events for a special day, such as conference or meeting, or even a party or wedding celebration. It could list the days and times for events coming several days or weeks ahead, such as an exam timetable. The same word, timetable, is also used for the lists of published times for the expected arrival and departure of different forms of public transport (buses, trains, ferries, etc.) at various points along their route.

Are you wondering why an array of data is called a table? Its use comes, apparently, from the tables used in old counting houses. They were covered with a checked cloth to make it easier to sort the piles of coins.

Aver means to assert; avertable is something which can be averted or avoided. Cons could be slang for convicted criminals, or it could be a list of reasons against doing something; adding table to the end gives the name of a type of law enforcement officer - a constable, who might apprehend the cons. To forget is to fail to remember; something which is forgettable is not very memorable. To hit is to strike a blow with a part of one's body or an implement of some sort; something which is hittable can be hit easily - the word if often used to describe the delivery of a ball in a game of baseball or cricket. Temp is short for temporary, and is used as a noun to refer to a casual or short-term employee; temptable can be used to describe someone who is easily led astray.

Are you still a bit bemused? Consider duns, which when capitalised and placed before table leads to Dunstable, a town in Bedfordshire in England. Or think about bird, which goes before table to make what could possibly be described as a piece of garden furniture. Even very short words can be changed by having table added to them. Mu is the twelfth letter of the Greek alphabet; mutable is something which is changeable.