IITB Pairs Quiz 1996 - Answers

1. At the 15th to 17th Academy Award ceremonies, the Oscar statuettes were made of plaster instead of metal. Why?

Metal shortages during World War II

2. The Boeing 747 is nicknamed the Jumbo Jet, after a famous elephant at London Zoo named Jumbo. But what does Jumbo mean?

‘Hello’ in Swahili

3. The Ryder Cup is an annual golf competition between Europe and America. What is the corresponding under-21 competition called?

The Walker Cup (bad pun alert!)

4. Whose was the Immaculate Conception?

Mary’s

5. What word is Latin for “I shall please”?

Placebo

6. “Oh Brave New World, that has such people in it”. Where is this quote, which inspired Aldous Huxley, taken from?

The Tempest

7. Where would you find a school newspaper called ‘The Blue and Gold’?

Riverdale High (as in Archie)

8. They were originally called Sotadics after their inventor, Sotades, a scurrilous Greek poet of the 3rd century BC. What?

Palindromes

9. What is peculiar about the dates 5-15 October, 1582?

They didn’t exist – they were lost in the transition from Julian to Gregorian calendars

10. “12 drops of each of the essential oils, bergamot, citron, neroli, orange and rosemary, with one dram of Malabar cardamoms and a gallon of rectified spirits, to be distilled together.” Johann Maria Farina, a German chemist, invented this recipe for… what?

Eau de Cologne (the ‘German chemist’ was the clue)

11. What is the following an example of?
It was a weakness of Voltaire’s
To forget to say his prayers
And one which, to his shame,
He never overcame.

Clerihew, after their inventor Edward Clerihew Bentley

12. What is the official motto of California state?

Eureka (“I have found it!” – meaning gold)

13. Theatre trivia: actors would hastily memorize their lines while having their faces made up. What word derives from this practice?

To mug up

14. Calliope, Clio, Euterpe, Thalia, Melpomene, Terpsichore, Erato, Polyhymnia and Urania are collectively known as… what?

The Muses

15. Headed by the Grand Wizard, its local leaders were called Exalted Cyclops. What?

The Ku Klux Klan

16. I was the Sailing Master on Captain Cook’s last voyage, and second-in-command to Nelson at the battle of Copenhagen. I discovered the Fiji islands, and was made a Fellow of the Royal Society. Who am I?

Captain William Bligh

17. How do we better know Leonardo of Pisa, son of Bonaccio?

Fibonacci

18. The Arabs called it ‘fruit from India’. What do we call it?

Tamarind

19. In a courtroom, what would you call the partition separating the judge, lawyers, bailiffs etc from the general public?

The Bar – hence called to the bar, barristers etc.

20. Which director’s first movie was titled ‘THX 1138’?

George Lucas

21. How do we better know the composer Evangelos Papathanassios?

Vangelis

22. Who lives at Leslie’s House, 25 Barnes Place, Colombo, Sri Lanka?

Arthur C. Clarke

23. Domenikos Theotokopoulus was a great painter. How do we usually refer to him?

El Greco

24. William Bonney committed his first murder at age 12, and before begin killed at age 21, boasted that he had killed a man for every year of his life. How do we better know him?

Billy the Kid

25. Strange and terrifying noises heard at night in wild and mountainous places were once attributed to the god Pan. Word origin?

Panic

26. We all know Aesop’s fable about a bundle of sticks being stronger than one. So, which modern word derives from the Italian for ‘a bundle of sticks’?

Fascist

27. What, specifically, would you call the mark made by a batsman to indicate where to take guard?

The Block (that’s where he tries to block the ball; hence also block-hole)

28. Name the shield of Zeus.

Aegis

29. Lemuria, Lyonesse and Mu are all examples of something. Name the most famous such example.

Atlantis

30. Which term used in popular music derives from the fact that Detroit was the centre of the US automobile industry?

Motown

31. It is called the Suan-Pan in China; however, its English name is from the Greek for a sand-covered tablet. It was also the name of the multiplication table invented by Pythagoras. What?

Abacus

32. Which word derives from the French for “floating in the air”?

Vol-au-vent

33. How does an MP resign from the House of Commons?

He applies for a government job

34. Which word is a transliteration of the Chinese phrase k’wai-tsze, meaning “the quick ones”?

Chopsticks (think of expats asking coolies to do something “chop-chop” ie quickly)

35. W. C. T. Dobson, the head of the Birmingham School of Design, is supposed to have drawn the first one in 1844. The first commercial one was produced in 1846, and it immediately aroused controversy because it showed a family drinking wine. What are we talking about?

Christmas cards

36. What are the following? Aventine, Caelian, Capitoline, Esquiline, Palatine, Quirinal and Viminal.

The seven hills of Rome

37. What is ‘the cow with the iron tail’?

The water pump (think adulteration of milk)

38. What is common to Juno, Judith, Rachel and Pallas? (Hint: it’s similarly common to Alexander, David, Caesar and Charlemagne)

Queens in a pack of cards (Alex and co. are the Kings)

39. During the American Civil War, the confederate POW camp of Andersonville had a line drawn around it. Any prisoner crossing this line was shot at sight. Word origin?

Deadline

40. This famous road runs from Ludgate Circus to the Strand. It used to be noted for its bookshops and printing presses; now it has a different connotation. Which road?

Fleet Street

41. The Chinese and the Japanese pioneered this technique; Sir Francis Galton wrote two books on it; Sir Edward Henry (commissioner of the London Metropolitan Police from 1903 to 1918) systematized its use. What?

Fingerprinting

42. In Roman mythology, every woman had a personal spirit or Juno (no relation to the Queen of the gods). What did every man have?

A Genius

43. The Saracen leader Tarik defeated King Roderick of Spain in 711, and built a castle called Gebel al Tarik on Spanish territory. What is it called now?

Gibraltar

44. The centre of an archery target is traditionally painted white (not gold). In English, this white circle is called the Bull’s Eye; what is it called in French?

Point Blanc

45. Who was the son of Igraine and Uther Pendragon?

King Arthur

46. It was established in 1479 and terminated in 1834; its first head was Torquemada. What?

The Spanish Inquisition (ha, bet you didn’t expect that!)

47. He has been conjectured to be the Duc de Beaufort; the son of Oliver Cromwell; and the illegitimate elder brother of Louis XIV. He was buried under the name M. de Marchioli. Who?

The Man in the Iron Mask

48. In 1872, Charles T. Russell founded the “International Bible Students” in Philadelphia. In 1931, the organization was renamed… what?

Jehovah’s Witnesses

49. Rommel’s Afrika Korps devised a new kind of container for fluids. What was it called by the British?

Jerrycan

50. In the Middle Ages, what would you call a roaming band of mercenary soldiers, willing to fight for money and maintenance, but providing their own weaponry?

Freelances

51. In 10-pin bowling, what would you call the central skittle which, if knocked down, knocks down all the others?

Kingpin

52. In 1913, Arthur ‘Pop’ Momand started a cartoon strip in the New York Globe, about a young and successful urban couple. Name them.

The Jones family – the strip was called Keeping Up with the Joneses, and was an early depiction of yuppiedom

53. A 12th century Mongol invasion of Japan was destroyed by a typhoon, the ‘divine wind’. What did the Japanese call it?

Kamikaze

54. Moliere and Corneille made plays about him; Byron, Dumas pere, Balzac and Shaw wrote about him; Mozart composed an opera. Who?

Don Juan (Don Giovanni)

55. Pinkerton’s was one of the earliest detective agencies. What was their trademark emblem?

An eye – hence ‘private eye’

56. One of the 7 wonders of the ancient world was a tomb. Whose?

Mausolus – hence mausoleum

57. Who traveled under the name Sigerson?

Sherlock Holmes