A Weighty Quiz

Answer: True

Potstone is a steatite which was used in the Stone Age for pot making. Ancient Egyptians carved and glazed amulets from it. Today, it is often used as an insulator or housing for electrical components.

Answer: Fish

A stonecat is a yellowish brown, freshwater catfish of the Mississippi Valley and Great Lakes area. He has poisonous pectoral spines.

Answer: Limestone

Limestone is partially soluble in acid and this leads to erosion of the landscape or Karst. In the Burren, in Ireland, this Karst landscape of caves, swallow holes etc. has a lunar feel. On the down side, however, acid rain, over time, erodes all limestone buildings, and we lose our heritage buildings.

Answer: Floor

Flagstones are flat slabs which can be broken/cut easily and are used for paving today. Liscannor flagstones contain worm fossils and are very popular in Ireland.

Answer: No

A holystone is soft sandstone and it was once used for scouring the decks on wooden sailing ships. This job was done on your knees, as if praying. Perhaps that explains the term.

Answer: Rhine

Rhinestones were the brainchild of George Frederic Strass in Germany about 1775. When well made they sparkled and allowed rich aristocrats to leave the real gems safe at home. Strass is the German for rhinestones.

Answer: Sharpening tools

Tools, knives etc. were all sharpened on a whetstone. Today a whetstone is more like a benchmark. Whetstone in Leicester in the UK gave its name to the first synthetic benchmark programme. By the way, the second such programme was called the Dhrystone programme. What a pun!

Answer: Yes

A flash of lightning, with a thunder bolt was thought of as a stone from the sky. "The all dreaded thunderstone" Cymbeline. Shakespeare is believed to have used a stone rolling in a barrel under the stage, as a sound effect for thunder in the Globe Theatre.

Answer: Stonechat

The stonechat is a small thrush native to Europe. It gets its name from the resemblance of its call to the sound of falling pebbles.

Answer: Black

It is a hard, black stone such as basalt or jasper which was formerly used to test the quality of gold or silver. Today, it is used as a reference point or basis of comparison by which other things can be evaluated. Maybe that's why a movie company took it as a name.
Dictionary.com and Wikipedia were my sources.