I have been a trivia quizzer all my life and this page will record any interesting facts I come across.
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October 2013
A Pun is also called a paronomasia.
@ Jeopardy
The actual name for Rock, Paper, Scissors is Roshambo.
@ While designing a level for Klueless
Flotsam is floating wreckage of a ship or its cargo.
Jetsam is part of a ship, its equipment, or its cargo that is purposefully cast overboard or jettisoned to lighten the load in time of distress and that sinks or is washed ashore.
Lagan is cargo that is lying on the bottom of the ocean, sometimes marked by a buoy, which can be reclaimed.
Derelict is cargo that is also on the bottom of the ocean, but which no one has any hope of reclaiming.
@ Archie Comics
“Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo” is a grammatically correct sentence in American English.
It is used as an example of how homonyms and homophones can be used to create complicated linguistic constructs.
@ While doing research on interesting English phrases
Rocky Road – After the Wall Street Crash of 1929, Dreyer and Edy gave the flavor its current name “to give folks something to smile about in the midst of the Great Depression.”
@ Jeopardy
The Parthenon Marbles, also known as the Elgin Marbles is a collection of classical Greek marble sculptures, inscriptions and architectural members that originally were part of the Parthenon and other buildings on the Acropolis of Athens. They are currently displayed at the British Museum.
@Jeopardy
September 2013
Abracadabra, the popular magician chant means “To create what I speak”.
@ While researching to set a quiz
We all know “Talisa Maegyr” from HBO’s “Game of Thrones”. Her real name as Oona Chaplin. Her Grandfather is Charlie Chaplin.
@ http://infinitezounds.blogspot.com/2013/09/q1094.html
Birkin is a famous handbag line by Hermes and is known for its varied materials and limited quantities. The easiest way to identify the difference between the handbags is the handles. The single handle handbag is the Kelly, and the Birkin has two handles.
@ Million Seconds Quiz
Alcohol bottles comes in various sizes. 0.75l is a Standard, 1.5l is a Magnum, 6.0l is an Imperial, 12.0l is a Balthazar!
@ While looking for bottle service at Clubs
The correct term for a shinbone is a Tibia.
@ Million Seconds Quiz
The word Assassin has an interesting history. In 1122, The decaying Fatimid Empire pejoratively called the Nizari Ismailis as “hashishiyya or hashishi” which means “irreligious social outcasts” or “low-class rabble” to separate the believers. However, through many wars and centuries, as the word spread to over Europe and to the Western world, the origin was lost and it became synonymous with pin pointed killings by these “assassins”. The earliest known use of the word assassination is in Macbeth by William Shakespeare in 1605, nearly 500 years later!
@ Angels and Demons (The Dan Brown novel)
A Blunderbuss is a type of a musket. A handgun form of it is called a Dragon which coined the term Dragoon for mounted infantry.
@ Million Seconds Quiz