The Official Dubliners' Useless Trivia Questions for January 21, 2000
Language & Culture
1. According to David Crystal in the Cambridge Encyclopedia of
The English Language, English is a member of the western branch
of the Germanic family of languages. What language is closest
in structure to English?
2. What is the difference between a transitive verb and an intransitive
verb?
3. What are the names of the two 20th century linguists who developed
the hypothesis that language and culture are so related that language
"is not merely a reproducing instrument for voicing ideas,
but rather is itself the shaper of ideas.. we dissect nature along
lines laid down by our native languages."
4. The term cockney refers to Londoners, particularly those from
the East End. During various periods of English history it has
been used to describe spoiled children, sissies, effeminate men,
and especially city slickers. Originally it came from two Middle
English words: coken ey. What do these words mean?
Religion
5. According to the New Testament, at the last supper Jesus predicted
that one of his disciples would deny him three times that night.
Who was this?
6. Considered by many Biblical Scholars to be the most sensuous
Book of the Bible, from what Book do these passages come? "I
sleep, but my heart waketh: it is the voice of my beloved that
knocketh, saying, Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my
undefiled; for my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the
drops of the night.. I have put off my coat; how shall I put it
on? I have washed my feet; how shall I defile them? My beloved
put in his hand by the hole of the door, and my bowels were moved
for him. I rose up to open to my beloved; and my hands dropped
with myrrh, and my fingers with sweet smelling myrrh, upon the
handles of the lock. I open to my beloved; but my beloved had
withdrawn himself, and was gone......The joints of thy thighs
are like jewels, the work of the hands of a cunning workman. Thy
navel is like a round goblet, which wanteth not liquor; thy belly
is like an heap of wheat set about with lilies. Thy two breast
are like two young roes that are twins.......This thy stature
is like to a palm tree, and thy breasts to clusters of grapes.
I said, I will go up to the palm tree, I will take hold of the
boughs thereof; now also thy breasts shall be as clusters of the
vine, and the smell of thy nose like apples.
History and Politics
7. In 1959 Fidel Castro and what Argentinean guerrilla overthrew
the Batista dictatorship in Cuba?
8. Name the Panamanian strongman who was overthrown, arrested,
tried and jailed in the US for drug-dealing in 1989.
9. Name the leader of the Polish trade union Solidarity.
10. Who led the revolution in Mexico which eventually overthrew
dictator Profirio Diaz in 1911?
11. At the end of WWII most of the decisions involving the peace
treaties were made by "the big three". Name them:
12. In 1982 Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands, a nearby British
colony. they were expelled after a brief war. What were these
islands called by Argentina?
13. How many nations are members of the European Community (EC)?
14. Give or take five years, how long has it taken for the world
population to double?
Animals
15. What bird builds a nest about 12 feet deep and 8 1/2 feet
wide?
16. Which is faster, an ostrich or a racehorse?
17. What are all birds born with, but later lose?
18. Dynamite can't do it, traps can't do it, floods can't do it.
Only one thing can make a beaver leave its home. What is it?
19. The spray of skunks has two functions, one is to ward off
enemies. What is the other function?
20. What sea mammals were responsible for the tales of "mermaid"
sightings?
21. Where do leopards take their prey to eat it?
22. What creature produces a substance twice the strength of epoxy
and stronger than any glue manufactured by man to bond itself
to its home for life?
23. What is the name of the fish that has a fishing rod and lure
growing out of the top of its head?
24. It's 10 feet long and weighs as much as 250 pounds; what is
the name of this, the largest lizard on earth?
25. What is one major difference between moths and butterflies?
Entertainment
26. This famous comedy duo, led by Stan Laurel, started during
the silent film era and later made numerous talkies. What is the
FULL NAME of the other member?
27. What was the English title of the 1970s film by Italian director
Lina Wertmuiller which depicted the relationship between an upper-class
rich bitch, and working class yacht worker stranded on a desert
island?
28. Name Director Steven Spielberg's first full length movie.
29. What motion picture is usually considered to be the first
talking picture, even though there were only a few songs and small
sections of dialog?
30. Name the founder and publisher of Playboy Magazine.
31. Abigail Van Buren and Ann Landers both write syndicated advice
columns, but what else to they have in common?
32. What is the term used to describe the form of Jazz that the
Late Great Charley 'Bird' Parker developed during the 1940s?
33. Whose 1913 ballet entitled The Rite of Spring so shocked the
audience at its first performance that it caused a riot?
34. What was the name of type of music that originated from a
group of composers in New York in the first quarter of the 20th
century?
35. What is the title of the last album recorded by the Beatles
as a group?
36. What US abstract painter first abandoned even the pretense
of painting by dripping and splashing paint onto the canvas in
the 1940s?
37. What French artist placed an upside-down urinal in an art
exhibit coining the term 'ready-made' art?
Japan Trivia
38. What is the honorific form for the verb 'suru' in Japanese?
39. What is the humble form for the verb 'suru' in Japanese?
40. What is another way to say chodai in Japanese?
41. Who wrote The Tale of Genji, in Japanese 'Genji Monogatari'?
42. What is the name of the 16 year old female singer who recorded
the album First Love, which sold a record 7 million copies last
year?
42. What is the Emperor's wife's first name?
43. Why is it considered taboo to pass food, or anything for that
matter, to someone chopsticks to chopsticks?
44. What is food prepared before and eaten during the first few
days of New Year's called in Japanese?
45. It's in Nara Prefecture. It's considered the world's oldest
wooden structure. It's a temple. What is it called?
46. What 20th century Japanese author committed ritual suicide
(harakiri) at the Self-Defense Headquarters in 1970?
47. Who was the first foreign born sumo wrestler to rise to the
celebrated status of sekiwake?
Science
48. In the 1920s which American astronomer demonstrated that there
are many other galaxies than our own Milky Way?
49. Name one of the two British scientists responsible for the
research into Black Holes.
50. What does the term parthenogenesis mean?
51. What vitamin deficiency can cause rickets?
52. What 19th century Austrian monk's experiments with crossbreeding
varieties of peas led to the modern science of genetics?
53. Whose book Principia Mathematica is still considered the most
influential book ever written in physics?
54. Who coined the term "quantum physics" to describe
the study of tiny particles that make up the atom?
55. What are the electromagnetic waves with the highest frequencies?
56. Fission nuclear reactors use uranium-235 for fuel? Scientists
are now trying to design fusion reactors which would be a lot
cleaner. What kind of fuel would they need?
57. How much less do things weigh on the moon than on earth?
58. What three basic colors does a television use to produce color
pictures?
59. Earth is made up of three concentric spheres or layers. The
crust is on the outside and the core is innermost. What is between
them?
60. What did Crick and Watson get their Nobel Prize for?
61. What does AIDS stand for?
62. What is the theory made famous by psychologist Carl Jung?
63. Who first transmitted radio waves across the Atlantic in 1901?
64. In 1969 Neil Armstrong was the first astronaut to set foot
on the moon. Who followed him down the ladder several minutes
later?
65. How many times did the US land on the Moon?
66. What was the name of the US space shuttle that exploded shortly
after launch in 1986?
67. Where did the main ingredient for chewing gum originate?
68. From what country is the orange thought to have its origin?
69. Who has the lowest life expectancy on earth?
70. What is the 'active' ingredient in alcoholic beverages?
71. What is the alcoholic chemical that give us hangovers?
72. Name four common Japanese foodstuffs made from soy beans:
73. What foodstuff did Henry Ford use to make various parts for
his early cars?
74. Who designed and developed the Volkswagen?
75. What was the name of the rocket developed by Wernher von Braun
toward the end of WWII that could hit and destroy a target 200
miles away?
Sports
76. How many warm-up pitches are pro-baseball pitchers allowed
at the beginning of each inning or when relieving another pitcher?
77. Name the two plays in Professional American Football that
result in two points.
78. Invented by James Naismith in 1891, basketball is the only
major sport strictly of US origin. The baskets are now made of
steel and netting, but originally the first baskets were made
of a fruit baskets. What kind of fruit was in the baskets?
79. What does the term Test Match refer to in Cricket?
80. What is the only major team sport that allows substitutions
while the game is in play?
81. When and where was the first Association Football (i.e., soccer)
World Cup Played?
82. How many players are on a Rugby Union and Rugby League side
respectively?
83. Who was the first person to run the mile in under four minutes?
84. In tennis the term used to refer to zero is 'love' which has
its origins in French. What is the French word, and/or its English
equivalent?
85. According to golf's official rules, including the putter,
many clubs may be carried in a round?
86. What is the nickname for a number 9 iron?
87. Arrange these poker hands from lowest to highest.
88. Winner of the Gold Medal in the 1960 Olympics for light heavyweight,
Muhammad Ali went on to win the World Heavyweight Championship
in 1964. Three questions: What was the name of his opponent?
89. What was Ali's name before he changed it?
90. Finish Ali's motto: Float like a butterfly.........