FREE! Click here to Join FunTrivia. Thousands of games, quizzes, and lots more!
Quiz about Is Homer Simpson Secretly a Genius
Quiz about Is Homer Simpson Secretly a Genius

Is Homer Simpson Secretly a Genius? Quiz


Sometimes Homer says things that are surprisingly intelligent and knowledgeable. Let's see how you measure up to his occasional flashes of brilliance. (Familiarity with the show is not required.)

A multiple-choice quiz by McAngus. Estimated time: 9 mins.
  1. Home
  2. »
  3. Quizzes
  4. »
  5. General Knowledge Trivia
  6. »
  7. Thematic Fun
  8. »
  9. Thematic Media

Author
McAngus
Time
9 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
347,997
Updated
Jul 23 22
# Qns
15
Difficulty
Average
Avg Score
11 / 15
Plays
1113
Question 1 of 15
1. Bodyguard coach: "As a personal bodyguard, your only loyalty is to your protectee, not anything else, not even Muhammad."
Homer: "Not even during Ramadan?"

Good question. Why might that be an issue?
Hint


Question 2 of 15
2. Homer to Billy Corgan (of the Smashing Pumpkins): "Thanks to your gloomy, depressing music, my children no longer hope for the future I cannot afford to give them."
Corgan: "Yeah, we try to make a difference."

Too true Homer, too true. The rejection of commercialism and mainstream culture among America's youth was a major factor in the rise of what genre of music in the 1980s and 1990s? (This genre includes the Smashing Pumpkins)
Hint


Question 3 of 15
3. Homer to Marge: "You can't keep blaming yourself. Just blame yourself once, and move on."

This sounds like a joke, a very funny joke, but it's also quite good advice. If you were to follow Homer's suggestion, what skill might you be practicing?
Hint


Question 4 of 15
4. Grandpa Simpson: "I'm an old man, no one listens to me."
Lisa: "I'm a young girl, no one listens to me."
Homer: "I'm a white male aged 18 to 49; everyone listens to me, no matter how dumb my suggestions are."
[Homer goes to the cabinet and takes out a can of food titled, "Nuts and Gum: Together At Last"]

Who cares about what 18 to 49 year olds think and why?
Hint


Question 5 of 15
5. [Bart asks Homer to tell him about when Marge was pregnant]
Homer: "It all happened at the beginning of that turbulent decade known as the '80's. Those were idealistic days...The rise of Supertramp, the candidacy of John Anderson, it was an exciting time to be young..."

So who the heck is John Anderson? (Hint: Think Ross, Ralph and Joe)
Hint


Question 6 of 15
6. Homer: "When will you Australians learn? In America we stopped using corporal punishment, and things have never been better! The streets are safe. Old people strut confidently through the darkest alleys. And the weak and nerdy are admired for their computer-programming abilities."

Homer is correct; the U.S. bars judicial corporal punishment but some countries, have still employed it. Going into the 21st century, in which of these countries did corporal punishment NOT remain lawful? (Judicial not school or domestic corporal punishment.)
Hint


Question 7 of 15
7. Homer: "...My gastronomic rapacity knows no satieties."

Huh? Translation please?
Hint


Question 8 of 15
8. Lisa: "The second amendment is just a remnant from revolutionary periods, it has no real meaning today."
Homer: "You couldn't be more wrong Lisa. If I didn't have (...) the King of England could just come in here and start pushing you around. Do you want that, well do ya?"

What did Homer think he should have? (Not what he actually said)
Hint


Question 9 of 15
9. This is my second favorite bit from the show.

Apu: "I have come to make amends, sir. At first, I blamed you for squealing, but then I realized, it was I who wronged you. So I have come to work off my debt. I am at your service."
Homer: "You're...selling what, now?"
Apu: "I am selling only the concept of karmic realignment."
Homer: "You can't sell that! Karma can only be portioned out by the cosmos!" [slams the door]
Apu: "He's got me there."

You didn't know Homer was so spiritually aware did you? Which of these best describes the idea of Karma and why Apu is oh so wrong?
Hint


Question 10 of 15
10. This is my favorite bit from the show. (The quote is edited down a bit)

Marge: "I'm worried about the kids, Homey. Lisa's becoming very obsessive. This morning I caught her trying to dissect her own raincoat."
Homer: [scoffs] "I know. And this perpetual motion machine she made today is a joke! It just keeps going faster and faster."
Marge:"...we have to get them back to school."
Homer: "I'm with you Marge. Lisa! Get in here."
[Lisa walks in]
Homer: [yelling angrily] "In this house, we obey the laws of THERMODYNAMICS!"

Why does Lisa's machine violate the laws of thermodynamics? (You don't need to be a physicist, just try to remember what you learned in science class, apply a little reasoning and deduction and you should be able to figure it out)
Hint


Question 11 of 15
11. Homer: "Lisa, if you don't like your job you don't strike. You just go in every day and do it really half-assed. That's the American way."

Certainly, there are some strikers who probably wish they had taken Homer's advice. Which of these failed strikes ended in union decertification and mass firings by decision of President Reagan?
Hint


Question 12 of 15
12. Homer: "I used to rock and roll all night and party every day. Then it was every other day. Now I'm lucky if I can find half an hour a week in which to get funky."

I hear ya Homer. Here is a silly little question in honor of classic rock.

The first sentence of the quote is from the well known song "Rock & Roll All Nite" by Kiss. If you haven't heard it listen to it now, it's short.

There are 27 lines in the song (verse, chorus, verse, chorus, refrain) but there aren't really that many unique lines. How many lines of the song do you think are "I wanna rock and roll all night and party everyday"?
Hint


Question 13 of 15
13. Homer: "Oh, I'm sick of doin' Japanese stuff! In jail, we had to be in this dumb Kabuki play about forty-seven ronin, and I wanted to be Yoshi, but they made me Ori."

I guess Homer is worldier than we thought. What is this story of the forty-seven ronin that Homer mentions?
Hint


Question 14 of 15
14. Grandma Simpson & Lisa are singing "How many roads must a man walk down?" together.
Homer overhears and says, "Eight!"
Lisa: "That was a rhetorical question!"
Homer: "Oh. Then, Seven!"
Lisa: "Do you even know what 'rhetorical' means?"
Homer: "Do I know what 'rhetorical' means?"

Do YOU know what 'rhetorical' means? Which of these is most rhetorically rhetorical?
Hint


Question 15 of 15
15. Homer: "Oh, there's so much I don't know about astrophysics. I wish I'd read that book by that wheelchair guy."

It takes a real man to admit his ignorance and it takes real ignorance to say, "that wheelchair guy". If Homer were to read that book by that wheelchair guy, which one of these would it be?
Hint



(Optional) Create a Free FunTrivia ID to save the points you are about to earn:

arrow Select a User ID:
arrow Choose a Password:
arrow Your Email:




Most Recent Scores
Mar 25 2024 : Guest 101: 9/15
Mar 10 2024 : Guest 175: 4/15

Score Distribution

quiz
Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. Bodyguard coach: "As a personal bodyguard, your only loyalty is to your protectee, not anything else, not even Muhammad." Homer: "Not even during Ramadan?" Good question. Why might that be an issue?

Answer: It is a period of fasting and self-restraint (complete loyalty to another might cause contradictions).

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. It is a period where Muslims abstain from not only food and drink, but also misdeeds and sinful thoughts. It is a time to purify the soul, self-sacrifice and refocusing attention on God. During Ramadan, one undergoes both physical and spiritual fasting.

It might be hard to be a bodyguard while you're observing a period of restraint.

The other important holiday's mentioned are:
Mawlid, which celebrates the birth of the prophet Muhammad usually with festivals.

The Hajj is not a holiday, but it is a sacred religious duty that must be carried out by all able-bodied Muslims at least once in their life.

The Day of Ashura is when Shi'as mourn and Sunnis celebrate Husayn ibn Ali's defeat at the battle of Karbala. This was a pivotal event in Islamic history and part of the reason for the divide between Shia and Sunni Muslims today.

Episode: "Mayored to the Mob"
2. Homer to Billy Corgan (of the Smashing Pumpkins): "Thanks to your gloomy, depressing music, my children no longer hope for the future I cannot afford to give them." Corgan: "Yeah, we try to make a difference." Too true Homer, too true. The rejection of commercialism and mainstream culture among America's youth was a major factor in the rise of what genre of music in the 1980s and 1990s? (This genre includes the Smashing Pumpkins)

Answer: Alternative Rock

Alternative rock is rooted in the independent music scene of the 1980s. The term is used broadly and covers a diverse range of sounds, moods and styles with sub-genres that include grunge and indie rock. Two of the most well known alternative rock bands would be Nirvana and R.E.M.

Some credit the rise of this type of music to the growing disillusionment with the American dream. This, coupled with the dominating presence of mass culture and commercialism led to feelings of alienation and aimlessness among many of the nation's youth. Many were made painfully aware of their difference while in school. When someone faces hostility towards their views, it is a common response to strike back with pronounced rejection and anti-culture. The often-stated irony of this trend however, is that alternative rock's independent persona has now been replaced by its mass appeal and commercial viability.

Episode: "Homerpalooza"
3. Homer to Marge: "You can't keep blaming yourself. Just blame yourself once, and move on." This sounds like a joke, a very funny joke, but it's also quite good advice. If you were to follow Homer's suggestion, what skill might you be practicing?

Answer: Dealing with failure

The ability to appropriately deal with failure by accepting and learning from it is an important skill to develop. It shouldn't be confused with denial or optimism. Pretending it didn't happen isn't going to help and pretending everything will just turn out well isn't much better. The important thing is to accept it as a part of your experience and then move on without letting it drag you down in the future. Everybody faces failure but it's those who handle it well that are most likely to see eventual success.

Here are a few quotes that put things nicely.

"Develop success from failures. Discouragement and failure are two of the surest stepping stones to success." -Dale Carnegie

"I've come to believe that all my past failures and frustrations were actually laying the foundation for the understandings that have created the new level of living I now enjoy." -Tony Robbins (I haven't read any of his work but I thought this was a good way to look at things.)

This is just a quote about optimism and pessimism that I always enjoyed.
"The optimist proclaims that we live in the best of all possible worlds; and the pessimist fears this is true." - James Branch Cabell

Episode: "A Milhouse Divided"
4. Grandpa Simpson: "I'm an old man, no one listens to me." Lisa: "I'm a young girl, no one listens to me." Homer: "I'm a white male aged 18 to 49; everyone listens to me, no matter how dumb my suggestions are." [Homer goes to the cabinet and takes out a can of food titled, "Nuts and Gum: Together At Last"] Who cares about what 18 to 49 year olds think and why?

Answer: This age demographic is the most commercially important group for US advertisers and media producers

Marketing and advertising agencies like the Nielsen Company have identified 18 to 49 year olds as the most commercially important demographic. For TV shows, even the total number of viewers is not as important as the number of viewers from that age group. It is believed that these are the most active consumers and therefore become the target audience for much advertising.

Homer's comment points out that his demographic's importance lies not in any higher level of intelligence or taste but rather in their greater potential as consumers.

Episode: "Lisa vs. Malibu Stacy"
5. [Bart asks Homer to tell him about when Marge was pregnant] Homer: "It all happened at the beginning of that turbulent decade known as the '80's. Those were idealistic days...The rise of Supertramp, the candidacy of John Anderson, it was an exciting time to be young..." So who the heck is John Anderson? (Hint: Think Ross, Ralph and Joe)

Answer: An Illinois Congressman and independent presidential candidate in 1980

John B. Anderson ran as an independent in the 1980 presidential election...he lost. His campaign wasn't a total bunk. It did see at least some moderate success, if you consider 5% of the popular vote a success.

His candidacy was idealistic in the sense that independent candidates in the U.S. face significant challenges when attempting to operate outside of the traditional two-party system. The Republican and Democratic parties are so dominant that it becomes extremely difficult for independents to see any meaningful success. There are many who believe that new parties would be able to address the shortcomings of the two-party system. Ross Perot, Ralph Nader and Joe Lieberman have all been independent candidates...they lost too.

"Supertramp" is a British rock band formed in 1969. I don't know much about them and I probably never ever will.

Episode: "I Married Marge"
6. Homer: "When will you Australians learn? In America we stopped using corporal punishment, and things have never been better! The streets are safe. Old people strut confidently through the darkest alleys. And the weak and nerdy are admired for their computer-programming abilities." Homer is correct; the U.S. bars judicial corporal punishment but some countries, have still employed it. Going into the 21st century, in which of these countries did corporal punishment NOT remain lawful? (Judicial not school or domestic corporal punishment.)

Answer: Australia

Australia does not actually permit judicial corporate punishment. The last reported case of sanctioned corporal punishment was in 1957. Whips were the typical tool used to carry out these sentences. Sorry, there is no record of punishment by kick in the backside though I'm sure at least some of the "whippers" wore large shoes.

Corporal punishment has survived into the 21st century in varying degree and severity. One of the most notable modern instances is that of Michael P. Fay in 1994. He was charged with theft and vandalism in Singapore and sentenced to six cane strokes on the rear. However, after U.S. requests for leniency, the sentence was reduced. Fay received four cane strokes in the end. (Yes! Successful pun!)

Unlike judicial punishment, school and domestic corporal punishment in the U.S. are jurisdictions of individual states. They are illegal in some and permitted in others.

Episode: "Bart vs. Australia"
7. Homer: "...My gastronomic rapacity knows no satieties." Huh? Translation please?

Answer: "I'm still hungry"

Gastronomic (or gastronomy) - of or relating to cooking or eating food
Rapacity - a ravenous need or an inordinate greed for something
Satieties - something that satisfies a need or desire
Homer - a home run in baseball or something that...homes

Episode: "Bart's Friends Fall in Love" (Homer buys a weight-loss tape but accidentally gets a vocabulary improvement tape instead)
8. Lisa: "The second amendment is just a remnant from revolutionary periods, it has no real meaning today." Homer: "You couldn't be more wrong Lisa. If I didn't have (...) the King of England could just come in here and start pushing you around. Do you want that, well do ya?" What did Homer think he should have? (Not what he actually said)

Answer: The right to bear arms

The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution states, "A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."

Lisa's point was that the amendment was required at the time but has become unnecessary today. Of course, most people who cite the amendment in opposition to gun laws probably understand that. But people, no matter their views, will always fight to maintain their lifestyles and the things that are important to them even if it means ignoring certain details. This is something that we can all be guilty of.

In the quote, Homer says, "If I didn't have these guns the King of England...".

Episode: "The Cartridge Family"
9. This is my second favorite bit from the show. Apu: "I have come to make amends, sir. At first, I blamed you for squealing, but then I realized, it was I who wronged you. So I have come to work off my debt. I am at your service." Homer: "You're...selling what, now?" Apu: "I am selling only the concept of karmic realignment." Homer: "You can't sell that! Karma can only be portioned out by the cosmos!" [slams the door] Apu: "He's got me there." You didn't know Homer was so spiritually aware did you? Which of these best describes the idea of Karma and why Apu is oh so wrong?

Answer: It is action, either good or bad, but always of one's own volition that begins the cycle of cause and effect

Karma is the concept of willful human actions that begins the cycle of cause and effect (Samsara). Karma is commonly used to refer to effects as well but a more accurate term would be Vipaka. This law of moral causation is a fundamental doctrine in Buddhism.

Broadly speaking, one's deed will lead to a result that can be either good or bad depending on the deed. Everything happens for a reason and a person's conscious behavior will influence those events. It does have to be action of one's own volition, accidents or unconscious behavior is not included. Karma is, in most views, governed by the cosmos. Thus Apu cannot sell Karma and Homer get's a win.

Episode: "Apu Loses the Quik-E-Mart"
10. This is my favorite bit from the show. (The quote is edited down a bit) Marge: "I'm worried about the kids, Homey. Lisa's becoming very obsessive. This morning I caught her trying to dissect her own raincoat." Homer: [scoffs] "I know. And this perpetual motion machine she made today is a joke! It just keeps going faster and faster." Marge:"...we have to get them back to school." Homer: "I'm with you Marge. Lisa! Get in here." [Lisa walks in] Homer: [yelling angrily] "In this house, we obey the laws of THERMODYNAMICS!" Why does Lisa's machine violate the laws of thermodynamics? (You don't need to be a physicist, just try to remember what you learned in science class, apply a little reasoning and deduction and you should be able to figure it out)

Answer: As an "isolated system", the machine cannot make more energy than it uses or even enough to keep itself operating

A perpetual motion machine would violate the first two laws of thermodynamics. Those laws being:
1. In any isolated system, you cannot create new energy
2. You always lose a little energy
An isolated system is one that does not interact with and is not connected to any external sources of power such as a battery. Basically, you need energy to create energy and an isolated system cannot create energy because it has nothing else to power it.

Perpetual motion machines are considered impossible by the scientific community. However, it would be most accurate to say that it is impossible in terms of our current understanding of physics. This is just taking into account the possibility of previously undiscovered laws.

The other answers I just made up, I'm pretty sure they don't make sense. I have no expertise in physics whatsoever so I tried my best to explain it simply and accurately. Thanks to Wikipedia for providing the information as well as the vast majority of my adult education.

Episode: "The PTA Disbands"
11. Homer: "Lisa, if you don't like your job you don't strike. You just go in every day and do it really half-assed. That's the American way." Certainly, there are some strikers who probably wish they had taken Homer's advice. Which of these failed strikes ended in union decertification and mass firings by decision of President Reagan?

Answer: Air Traffic Controllers' (aka PATCO) Strike

The Air Traffic Controllers' strike by the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization in 1981 is among the most crucial events in U.S. labor history. The union declared a strike on August 3 in demand of better working conditions. Another chief goal of the strike was for the union to be released from obligations set forth by United State's Civil Service.

Approximately 13,000 controllers participated, 1,300 of whom returned to work following demands by Reagan. When the rest of the union refused to return to work, Reagan saw it as a "peril to national safety" and invoked a law that forbade government unions from going on strike, any that did would forfeit their jobs. He fired over 11,300 controllers and banned them from federal service for life. PATCO was decertified shortly after.

Former chair of the Federal Reserve Alan Greenspan said this about the strike's legacy, "...The President invoked the law that striking government employees forfeit their jobs, an action that unsettled those who cynically believed no President would ever uphold that law...his action gave weight to the legal right of private employers, previously not fully exercised, to use their own discretion to both hire and discharge workers."

Episode: "The PTA Disbands"
12. Homer: "I used to rock and roll all night and party every day. Then it was every other day. Now I'm lucky if I can find half an hour a week in which to get funky." I hear ya Homer. Here is a silly little question in honor of classic rock. The first sentence of the quote is from the well known song "Rock & Roll All Nite" by Kiss. If you haven't heard it listen to it now, it's short. There are 27 lines in the song (verse, chorus, verse, chorus, refrain) but there aren't really that many unique lines. How many lines of the song do you think are "I wanna rock and roll all night and party everyday"?

Answer: A lot, almost half

"I wanna rock and roll all night and party everyday" makes up 12 of the 27 lines in the song. If you consider other repeated lines, then there are actually only seven unique lines in the entire song. This isn't disparaging the song, it's great. After all, it was written specifically as an anthem, a rallying cry for Kiss fans.

No particularly educational info here, just appreciating iconic music. Another good Kiss song is "Back in the New York Groove" I challenge any of you to not have a strong desire to get funky while listening to that.

Episode: "Homerpalooza"
13. Homer: "Oh, I'm sick of doin' Japanese stuff! In jail, we had to be in this dumb Kabuki play about forty-seven ronin, and I wanted to be Yoshi, but they made me Ori." I guess Homer is worldier than we thought. What is this story of the forty-seven ronin that Homer mentions?

Answer: The story is a real historical event and a traditional Japanese play

Ronin were the masterless samurai of feudal Japan.

The story is about forty-seven 18th century samurai who become ronin when their lord is forced to commit seppuku (ritual suicide) for assaulting a court official. The ronin swore to avenge their lord and, after hiding for two years, eventually did so by killing the official. The ronin themselves then committed seppuku for their crime of murder.

This story is legend in Japan and has become known worldwide. The forty-seven ronin represent the best of loyalty, honor and sacrifice, all central to the Bushido code. The fictionalized accounts of the story are called Chusingura and come in various forms including kabuki, books, TV and film. The story is still popular today.

The summary I gave is basically the standard legend. As with all historical accounts, there are exaggerations, unclear details, disputed accounts and missing information.

Episode: "Thirty Minutes Over Tokyo"
14. Grandma Simpson & Lisa are singing "How many roads must a man walk down?" together. Homer overhears and says, "Eight!" Lisa: "That was a rhetorical question!" Homer: "Oh. Then, Seven!" Lisa: "Do you even know what 'rhetorical' means?" Homer: "Do I know what 'rhetorical' means?" Do YOU know what 'rhetorical' means? Which of these is most rhetorically rhetorical?

Answer: Geez, how many times have I told you what 'rhetorical' means?

Rhetorical question - A question asked solely to produce an effect or to make an assertion and not to elicit a reply - definition provided by dictionary.com

J. Gardiner's "Manual of Composition and Rhetoric" says, "The effectiveness of rhetorical questions in argument comes from their dramatic quality. They suggest dialogue, especially when the speaker both asks and answers them himself, as if he were playing two parts on the stage. They are not always impassioned; they may be mildly ironical or merely argumentative: but they are always to some extent dramatic, and, if used to excess, they tend to give one's style a theatrical air."

Episode: "Mother Simpson"
15. Homer: "Oh, there's so much I don't know about astrophysics. I wish I'd read that book by that wheelchair guy." It takes a real man to admit his ignorance and it takes real ignorance to say, "that wheelchair guy". If Homer were to read that book by that wheelchair guy, which one of these would it be?

Answer: "A Brief History of Time"

"A Brief History of Time" by Stephen Hawking is a best-selling book that covers a range of topics from the creation of the universe to the bodies of immense destruction known as black holes. It was written for those unfamiliar with astrophysics to introduce the general audience to a fascinating subject. However, it is not "dumbed down" as Hawking also covers some of the more complicated aspects of the field. It also has a lot of pretty pictures.

Hawking ends the book with this, "If we do discover a complete theory, it should in time be understandable in broad principle by everyone, not just a few scientists. Then we shall all, philosophers, scientists, and just ordinary people, be able to take part in the discussion of the question of why it is that we and the universe exist. If we find the answer to that, it would be the ultimate triumph of human reason - for then we would know the mind of God."

Now who wouldn't want to read a book about that?

Episode: "Treehouse of Horror VI"
Source: Author McAngus

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor Snowman before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.
3/29/2024, Copyright 2024 FunTrivia, Inc. - Report an Error / Contact Us