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The All New All New Groundspeak UK Pub Quiz


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Posted

Why are pirates pirates? Because they "Arrrrrr"!

 

I thought the terms were pretty much synonymous. Pirates attacked anyone regardless of country of origin, privateers (a private man o' war) operated under Letters of Marque issued by a government permitting them to attack enemy vessels. Are buccaneers considered more privateer than pirate?

 

I've read the Hornblower, Aubrey & Maturin & Captain Pugwash books, I know this stuff.

 

Buccaneers eat bouccan, pirates eat like pigs, I dunno.

Posted

Buccaneers only attacked the Spanish and often had backing or the English, French or Dutch. They were pretty much limited to the Caribbean.

 

Unlike buccaneers, pirates could be killed by anyone, and attacked anyone.

Posted

Why are pirates pirates? Because they "Arrrrrr"!

 

I thought the terms were pretty much synonymous. Pirates attacked anyone regardless of country of origin, privateers (a private man o' war) operated under Letters of Marque issued by a government permitting them to attack enemy vessels. Are buccaneers considered more privateer than pirate?

 

I've read the Hornblower, Aubrey & Maturin & Captain Pugwash books, I know this stuff.

 

Buccaneers eat bouccan, pirates eat like pigs, I dunno.

 

Ding.....

 

Pirates were murderous scumbags who attacked anyone and everyone for profit - buccaneers carried Letters of Marque issued by states giving them "legal" rights to attack the enemies of that state.

Posted

Many of you will know of Jon Snow (he of the Channel 4 news), but he had a 19th century namesake John Snow, so

 

What was John Snow's occupation, and what is he best known for?

 

Was he the doctor who discovered the cause of cholera down that well in London?

Posted

Many of you will know of Jon Snow (he of the Channel 4 news), but he had a 19th century namesake John Snow, so

 

What was John Snow's occupation, and what is he best known for?

 

Was he the doctor who discovered the cause of cholera down that well in London?

 

DING

 

Indeed he was, and it was the Broadstreet pump in Soho.

Posted

 

Was he the doctor who discovered the cause of cholera down that well in London?

 

DING

 

Indeed he was, and it was the Broadstreet pump in Soho.

 

There's a pub named after him too, there's glory for you.

 

Literature for a change:

 

"Ill met by moonlight, proud ......"

 

Who?

Posted

Thanks.

 

Besides being the King and Queen of Fairies in A Midsummer Night's Dream, who or what else not of this world are Oberon and Titania?

 

I believe that they are moons circling one or more of the planets a bit further out in our solar system but I've no idea which one(s).

Posted
I believe that they are moons circling one or more of the planets a bit further out in our solar system but I've no idea which one(s).

Good enough for a ding! They're two of the moons of Uranus.

 

BTW, I had to include the phrase, "not of this world" in the question as they were also warships. HMS Oberon was an Oberon-class submarine and HMS Titania a submarine depot ship.

 

Over to Pharisee.

Posted
I believe that they are moons circling one or more of the planets a bit further out in our solar system but I've no idea which one(s).

Good enough for a ding! They're two of the moons of Uranus.

 

BTW, I had to include the phrase, "not of this world" in the question as they were also warships. HMS Oberon was an Oberon-class submarine and HMS Titania a submarine depot ship.

 

Over to Pharisee.

Posted
I believe that they are moons circling one or more of the planets a bit further out in our solar system but I've no idea which one(s).

Good enough for a ding! They're two of the moons of Uranus.

 

BTW, I had to include the phrase, "not of this world" in the question as they were also warships. HMS Oberon was an Oberon-class submarine and HMS Titania a submarine depot ship.

 

Over to Pharisee.

 

Ok.... What's the relationship between 'The eyeballs in the sky' and 'The pooliverse'

Posted (edited)

The eyeballs in the sky are an annual phenominon to the residents of the pooliverse.

 

They actually belong to the family dog of the Perishers comic strip. Every year they go on holiday and the dog looks into a favourite rockpool (the pooliverse). This is known by the residents of the pool as the eyeballs in the sky.

Edited by thehalibutkid
Posted

The eyeballs in the sky are an annual phenominon to the residents of the pooliverse.

 

They actually belong to the family dog of the Perishers comic strip. Every year they go on holiday and the dog looks into a favourite rockpool (the pooliverse). This is known by the residents of the pool as the eyeballs in the sky.

I knew that!

 

Boot/Boots is the dog?

Posted

Pharisee: thanks for bringing back memories of Boot staring into the rock pool and dozens of crabs below chanting in unison, "All hail the eyeballs in the sky"! My parents took the Daily Mirror (in which The Perishers appeared) but I never did and so I haven't seen that strip since leaving home in the early 1970s!

Posted (edited)

The eyeballs in the sky are an annual phenominon to the residents of the pooliverse.

 

They actually belong to the family dog of the Perishers comic strip. Every year they go on holiday and the dog looks into a favourite rockpool (the pooliverse). This is known by the residents of the pool as the eyeballs in the sky.

 

That would be a big DING to you, sir! The Perishers has to right up at the top of the newspaper cartoon strips... So many different characters but the 'Pooliverse' crabs were my favourites.

Edited by Pharisee
Posted

Mark Cavendish has just become the first Brit to win the green jersey in the tour de france. It's been a long time since we won any jersey of colour. Who was the last brit to win a tour de france jersey?, What colour was it and what year was it?

Posted

Er.. Bradley Wiggins, Yellow, 2011? (AIUI, by being race leader of the TdF you win the yellow jersey for the next stage)

 

Wiggins crashed out really early this year. I don't think he held the Yellow Jersey at any point. But to clarify. Who was the last brit to hold a jersey of any colour at the end of the tour de france on the Champs-Élysées

Posted

In that case, probably Robert Miller who IIRC was "King of the Mountains" some time in the 1980s but I can't remember the exact year or the colour of jersey the KoM gets.

Posted

In that case, probably Robert Miller who IIRC was "King of the Mountains" some time in the 1980s but I can't remember the exact year or the colour of jersey the KoM gets.

 

Close enough for a ding. The Jersey is red polka dot and the year was 1984.

Posted (edited)

Thanks.

 

Continuing with cycling: Which Scot held the World Hour Record for less than a week, having broken it on a home-made bicycle, and won it back the following year from the man who took it off him?

Edited by Pajaholic
Posted

It's been two days since I posted the question and, much to my surprise, it hasn't been answered. So it's 'reduced for a quick sale' and I'll accept the guy's nickname (which was also the name of a 2006 film about his life up to and just beyond the first Hour Record).

Posted

DING! to thehalibutkid :)

 

I'm astonished that nobody knew as I thought that we had some cyclists among us! Surely a Brit who twice broke one of the most prestigious cycling records (and in the spirit of the great British Shed Culture on a home-made bike at that) must be worth remembering? The person concerned is Graeme Obree and the 2006 film (called - as thehalibutkid correctly guessed - "The Flying Scotsman") is well worth watching IMO.

 

Graeme Obree called his bicyle "Old Faithful" and it embodied a number of innovations. So, of course, the ICU sought to ban both it and also the riding position that went with it. FWIW, IMO the ICU is probably the greatest negative influence on the development of the modern bicycle -- as they've banned (or tried to ban) just about every major innovation of recent years!

 

Over to thehalibutkid!

Posted

I can only think of two other Norse gods (or characters of any kind), and as one of them is a GURL (and as we know GURLs aren't into metal work) so I'll guess the other one (but I don't expect it will be right) :

 

Odin

Posted

I can only think of two other Norse gods (or characters of any kind), and as one of them is a GURL (and as we know GURLs aren't into metal work) so I'll guess the other one (but I don't expect it will be right) :

 

Odin

 

Nope sorry.

Posted

Desperately trying to think of Norse gods...

 

Loki

Odin - Who has been mentioned before

I know Maxwell had a silver hammer

Freya - I think that was also a German radar of some sort

 

err.... that's it at the moment. I'll have a think while I'm having my sandwiches.

Posted

Desperately trying to think of Norse gods...

 

Loki

Odin - Who has been mentioned before

I know Maxwell had a silver hammer

Freya - I think that was also a German radar of some sort

 

err.... that's it at the moment. I'll have a think while I'm having my sandwiches.

ISTR something about Loki - the god of mischief - having something to do with it. Also Odin, Freyja, and a few other gods but none of the gods made Thor's hammer. IIRC it was one or more artisans and I vaguely remember that it's a convoluted tale with all sorts of trickery involved - but my knowledge of Norse, Greek and Roman mythology is somewhat rusty!

 

Alternatively: the Asgard created Thor's hammer to prevent worlds under their protection from being invaded by the Goa'uld. The hammer comprised two parts: a scanner by the stargate would detect a symbiote and transport the host to a chamber from which the only way out was guarded by the second part -- an energy field that would kill the symbiote.

Posted

Thanks.

 

Next question (hopefully, a simple one -- particularly for followers of QI):

 

What were the famous last words of John Sedgwick, a Major General of the Unionist army during the American Civil War?

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