The All New All New Groundspeak UK Pub Quiz

[Pajaholic]

Gad sir, they are Barleycorns!

[+Betelgeuse]

Gad sir, they are Barleycorns!

 

Ding!

 

By Jove,he's got it!

[Pajaholic]

Gad sir, they are Barleycorns!

 

Ding!

 

By Jove,he's got it!

Every time I think of shoe sizes I can still hear Phil Jupitus on QI musing on how he might wander into a shoe shop one day and (in a loud and pompous voice) enquire of the hapless wretch trying to serve him, "Kind storekeeper tell me, how many barleycorns am I this fine day!?"

 

Interestingly, at the time of William the Conqueror (1066 and all that), the "inch" was legally defined to be three barleycorns. However, the origins of the inch go back much further, well before standardization - which leads to the next question:

 

What was the original definition of an inch?

[+keehotee]

Gad sir, they are Barleycorns!

 

Ding!

 

By Jove,he's got it!

Every time I think of shoe sizes I can still hear Phil Jupitus on QI musing on how he might wander into a shoe shop one day and (in a loud and pompous voice) enquire of the hapless wretch trying to serve him, "Kind storekeeper tell me, how many barleycorns am I this fine day!?"

 

Interestingly, at the time of William the Conqueror (1066 and all that), the "inch" was legally defined to be three barleycorns. However, the origins of the inch go back much further, well before standardization - which leads to the next question:

 

What was the original definition of an inch?

 

1/12th of a foot?

[Pajaholic]

1/12th of a foot?

No. It was the other way around as the inch pre-dates the foot by some time. Although it is alleged that Henry I tried to standardize the foot on the size of his feet that's unlikely to be true because hardly anyone has two feet the same size and in any case his feet were smaller than 12". A foot just happens to be approximately 12 of the original inches for most people, which is why we have 12 inches to the foot rather than ten.

[+Pharisee]

I seem to remember there being some reference to it being the length of an adult man's top thumb joint..... ish!

[Pajaholic]

I seem to remember there being some reference to it being the length of an adult man's top thumb joint..... ish!

DING!

 

It was originally defined as the size of the top segment of one's thumb (i.e. between the top knuckle and the tip) and each person's inch could be different from the next person's. There is much linguistic evidence for this as many languages (including French, Italian, Spanish, Portugese, Dutch, Sanskrit, many Eastern European languages, and most Scandinavian languages) have the same or very similar words for "thumb" and "inch".

 

Interestingly, the expression "rule of thumb" is often alleged to spring from the regulation of domestic violence. i.e. a man being allowed to beat his wife but only with a stick no thicker than his thumb. However, it really comes from the way that artisans etc. used their thumbs to measure things. Even when the inch had been standardized it was often good enough to gain an approximation by seeing how many times the top joint of your thumb would fit and using that "as a rule of thumb".

 

Over to Pharisee ...

[+MartyBartfast]

 

Over to Pharisee ...

 

Do you think he's out caching?

[Pajaholic]

 

Over to Pharisee ...

 

Do you think he's out caching?

I don't know, but I can set another question on the basis that Pharisee can jump in any time before the ding is given if participants want.

[+eusty]

Over to Pharisee ...

 

Do you think he's out caching?

I don't know, but I can set another question on the basis that Pharisee can jump in any time before the ding is given if participants want.

 

Go for it!!

 

 

[Pajaholic]

Go for it!!

OK, on the basis that Pharisee can jump in any time before the ding is given ...

 

Who 'invented' expiry dates for milk and other perishable goods?

[+Betelgeuse]

Go for it!!

OK, on the basis that Pharisee can jump in any time before the ding is given ...

 

Who 'invented' expiry dates for milk and other perishable goods?

 

That one was on TV the other day

 

It was Al Capone. He donated a million dollars to a children's home with the express condition that the milk be date marked because he hated the sour milk he was given as a child. Just goes to show, eh?

[Pajaholic]

That one was on TV the other day

 

It was Al Capone. He donated a million dollars to a children's home with the express condition that the milk be date marked because he hated the sour milk he was given as a child. Just goes to show, eh?

DING!

 

I wondered whether anyone else had watched Billy Connolly's Route 66.

 

Al Capone, who besides being a notorious and ruthless gangster actually 'committed' many good deeds. He was the first to open soup kitchens after the 1929 Wall Street Crash and provided food and clothing to the needy at his own expense. He is alleged to have paid the hospital fees of several who could not afford medical care. He also provided free milk to children well before the UK Labour Government thought of it. As part of his free milk scheme he insisted that the milk be marked with an expiry date so that those benefiting from the scheme wouldn't have to suffer sour milk as he did during his childhood. According to several sources, this was the first recorded implementation of 'use-by' and other expiry dates for perishable goods.

 

Over to Betelgeuse ...

[+Betelgeuse]

With a title like that, how could I possibly miss it?

 

Again, if Pharisee wants to jump in all is good.

 

Where and when would you find Baily's Beads?

[+keehotee]

With a title like that, how could I possibly miss it?

 

Again, if Pharisee wants to jump in all is good.

 

Where and when would you find Baily's Beads?

 

Around the edge of the moon, during a solar eclipse.

[+Betelgeuse]

With a title like that, how could I possibly miss it?

 

Again, if Pharisee wants to jump in all is good.

 

Where and when would you find Baily's Beads?

 

Around the edge of the moon, during a solar eclipse.

 

Ding!

 

The effect is caused by the sun shining through valleys in the rugged landscape as the lunar limb moves across it.

 

Over to Keehotee.

[+keehotee]

Whoops - sorry for the delay.

 

OK.....how many planets - including dwarf planets - are currently known to exist within our solar system? And what is a dwarf planet?

[Pajaholic]

Hopefully, the easy bit: A dwarf planet is a body that isn't a satellite of another planet, large enough that its own gravity has made it spherical, yet not large enough to gravitationally pull in everything in its surrounding area.

 

As to how many: I guess the answer depends on how far out you consider the Solar System to extend. Pluto was recently demoted to dwarf planet. ISTR this had something to do with another dwarf planet being found in the same orbit. Ceres is in the Asteroid Belt. So if you consider the Solar System to stop at about the orbit of Pluto, the answer is 8 planets plus three dwarf planets, making 11 in all. However, there are at least two dwarf planets further out than Pluto. So that gives 8 planets plus at least 5 dwarf planets, giving a minimum of 13.

 

That said, I suspect that the answer to this will change in a year or two because 'they' seem to discover new objects in space with monotonous regularity and ISTR conjecture that there could be over a hundred dwarf planets yet to be discovered. This makes sense as it's hard to believe that Ceres is the only body in the Asteroid Belt large enough to be 'gravitationally spherical' and the Solar System beyond Pluto hasn't been fully surveyed AFAICT.

[+keehotee]

Hopefully, the easy bit: A dwarf planet is a body that isn't a satellite of another planet, large enough that its own gravity has made it spherical, yet not large enough to gravitationally pull in everything in its surrounding area.

 

As to how many: I guess the answer depends on how far out you consider the Solar System to extend. Pluto was recently demoted to dwarf planet. ISTR this had something to do with another dwarf planet being found in the same orbit. Ceres is in the Asteroid Belt. So if you consider the Solar System to stop at about the orbit of Pluto, the answer is 8 planets plus three dwarf planets, making 11 in all. However, there are at least two dwarf planets further out than Pluto. So that gives 8 planets plus at least 5 dwarf planets, giving a minimum of 13.

 

That said, I suspect that the answer to this will change in a year or two because 'they' seem to discover new objects in space with monotonous regularity and ISTR conjecture that there could be over a hundred dwarf planets yet to be discovered. This makes sense as it's hard to believe that Ceres is the only body in the Asteroid Belt large enough to be 'gravitationally spherical' and the Solar System beyond Pluto hasn't been fully surveyed AFAICT.

 

Ding.

 

At the moment there are 8 full planets, and 5 dwarves

[+Pharisee]

With a title like that, how could I possibly miss it?

 

Again, if Pharisee wants to jump in all is good.

 

Where and when would you find Baily's Beads?

 

Apologies to all.... I've been away for a day or two and returned yesterday evening. I don't have a question prepared so carry on as you are.

[Pajaholic]

Ding.

 

At the moment there are 8 full planets, and 5 dwarves

Thanks. I wasn't expecting to have been correct as I did a quick search after answering to discover there are another 4 dwarf planets known in the outer Solar System.

 

Pharisee: Thanks for the go-ahead.

 

Next question: Who or what is or was "Cruithne" (pronounced Crew-een-ya)?

[+Betelgeuse]

Ding.

 

At the moment there are 8 full planets, and 5 dwarves

Thanks. I wasn't expecting to have been correct as I did a quick search after answering to discover there are another 4 dwarf planets known in the outer Solar System.

 

Pharisee: Thanks for the go-ahead.

 

Next question: Who or what is or was "Cruithne" (pronounced Crew-een-ya)?

 

It's a minor moon of Earth with a very odd orbit. It's also a Celtic deity.

[Pajaholic]

It's a minor moon of Earth with a very odd orbit. It's also a Celtic deity.

I'll give you a DING for the first bit.

 

There are two possible answers:

1. A Celtic tribe also known as the Picts.
2. Earth's second moon.

The second was named after the first.

 

WRT 2. Although it's sometimes called "Earth's second moon", it isn't a true satellite of earth. Rather it co-orbits the Sun in the same region as Earth and so has an orbit synchronous with that of Earth's. From Earth, Cruithne appears to describe a kidney-shaped path that gradually drifts relative to the Sun. There is a third 'moon', called "2002 AA29" with an even odder orbit. Again, this isn't a true satellite of Earth. For those interested, there's some info here. Going back to Keehotee's question: I wonder whether the existence of Cruithne and 2002 AA29 means that Earth isn't a true planet but is, by definition, a dwarf planet?!

 

Over to Betelgeuse ...

[+Betelgeuse]

I'll stick with oddities in the solar system...

 

Which body in the solar system has an axial tilt of almost 98 degrees effectively making it rotate on its side with respect to the ecliptic?

[+MTH]

At last one I know! Uranus.

[+Betelgeuse]

Blimey! That was quick!

 

Ding!

 

Uranus it is. Over to MTH.

[+MTH]

I just happened to look at the right time and for once knew the answer.

 

Keeping it on a vaguely similar theme, where would you find God's Final Message to His Creation, and what was the message?

 

Mark

[+thehalibutkid]

I just happened to look at the right time and for once knew the answer.

 

Keeping it on a vaguely similar theme, where would you find God's Final Message to His Creation, and what was the message?

 

Mark

 

The far side of the Quentulus Quazgar Mountains in the land of Sevorbeupstry on the planet of Preliumtarn, which orbits the star Zarss, which is located in the Grey Binding Fiefdoms of Saxaquine.

 

It is "We apologise for the inconvenience." (at least for Marvin). Though some would argue that it is different for each viewer.

[+MTH]

DING, although I suspect you had to look it up

 

It's in "So Long, And Thanks For all the Fish" by Douglas Adams - the fourth in the Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy Series. Still brilliant almost 30 years later. The book is on the shelf next to me - I must read it again sometime.

 

Mark

Edited September 20, 2011 by MTH

[+thehalibutkid]

DING, although I suspect you had to look it up

 

It's in "So Long, And Thanks For all the Fish" by Douglas Adams - the fourth in the Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy Series. Still brilliant almost 30 years later. The book is on the shelf next to me - I must read it again sometime.

 

Mark

 

I confess my original answer was Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. Some kinda themepark planet. Though I thought i'd look up the exact quote.

 

Another Adams Character is Dirk Gentley. He follows the "zen" method of motoring. How does this work?

[Pajaholic]

I wonder if this is anything to do with something a friend used to do. When lost he would follow any car that looked like its driver knew where he or she was going until he spotted a landmark he recognised. He referred to this as "Zen Navigation" and explained that someone who knew where they were going wouldn't be driving round in circles like he would if he was lost and once they'd led him somewhere he could recognise he was better off - even if the spell of 'zen' had taken him miles out of his way! FWIW, he was also a H2G2 fan. Although he never said where he got "Zen Navigation" from it actually works and it's also got me 'unlost' a few times!

 

So, is the "zen" method of motoring merely to follow a driver who looks like they know where they're going?

[+thehalibutkid]

I wonder if this is anything to do with something a friend used to do. When lost he would follow any car that looked like its driver knew where he or she was going until he spotted a landmark he recognised. He referred to this as "Zen Navigation" and explained that someone who knew where they were going wouldn't be driving round in circles like he would if he was lost and once they'd led him somewhere he could recognise he was better off - even if the spell of 'zen' had taken him miles out of his way! FWIW, he was also a H2G2 fan. Although he never said where he got "Zen Navigation" from it actually works and it's also got me 'unlost' a few times!

 

So, is the "zen" method of motoring merely to follow a driver who looks like they know where they're going?

 

That's a ding.

[Pajaholic]

That's a ding.

Well, I'll be ... and until today I thought that he'd made it up himself!

 

As I know little about the books of Douglas Adams, I'll switch authors to Bram Stoker. Possibly the most famous fictitious vampire was Bram Stoker's 'Dracula'. Some say that Bram was inspired by a stay at a certain British town and that he based Dracula on a genuine historical figure. What was the town and who was the historical figure?

[+Pharisee]

Got a feeling it was somewhere up on the north east coast... Whitby?

but no idea who the historical figure was...

Edited September 20, 2011 by Pharisee

[+Betelgeuse]

Dracula was based on Vlad the Impaler but the character was in part inspired by Henry Irving

 

He stayed at Whitby.

[Pajaholic]

Dracula was based on Vlad the Impaler but the character was in part inspired by Henry Irving

 

He stayed at Whitby.

DING!

 

A lot of what went on in Whitby made it to the book.

 

WRT the basis of the Dracula character, although I didn't know that Henry Irving inspired it AIUI Vlad the Impaler was nonetheless the basis and even had the same name as the character. Vlad the Impaler's father was inducted into the order of the dragon for his efforts against the Turks. "Dracul" is Romanian for "the dragon" and so Vlad's father (also Vlad) became known as "Vlad Dracul" (Vlad the dragon). In Romanian, the ending "ulea" means "son of" and so Vlad the Impaler was known as "Dracula" (son of the dragon). Thus when Bram Stoker needed a basis for his fictional Dracula, there was already a real-life one with an appropriate name and reputation!

 

Over to Betelgeuse ...

[+Betelgeuse]

Which hoofed mammal found in the rain forests of Central Africa is the only other member of the giraffe family?

[+MTH]

Okapi

[+Betelgeuse]

Blimey - you're on a roll

 

Ding!

Edited September 21, 2011 by Betelgeuse

[+MTH]

Keep asking things I know and I'll keep answering them

 

I'll stick to wildlife for the next question. What unusual characteristic is shared by Eland and Reindeer?

 

Mark

 

P.S Now going offline until tomorrow. Hopefully this will take a bit longer to answer than my last question

Edited September 21, 2011 by MTH

[+Fianccetto]

Furry antlers?

[+The Patrician]

Something to do with their hooves, I know reindeer have extra large ones, more toes? for grip on snow. Are eland similar?

 

Edit - obviously not for grip on snow but for sand in the eland's case.

Edited September 21, 2011 by The Patrician

[+drdick&vick]

I would hazard a guesse and say that its the fact that both sexes have antlers.

[+MTH]

All wrong so far.

 

Eland are Antelope and have horns, not antlers

 

"Furry" antlers, or velvet, is common for all deer when the antlers grow. If you feel them they're warm at this stage as they contain the blood vessels. Once the antlers are grown the velvet dies and the deer will rub it off.

 

Both Reindeer sexes have antlers, but only the females have theirs throughout the winter. Rudolph must be female!

 

It's nothing to do with the hooves either, but it is something that happens when they walk.

 

Mark

[Pajaholic]

I thought that few other animals than giraffe and camels walked with both left legs then both right legs. However, I'm guessing that eland and reindeer also have this gait [edited to add: whereas most other quadrupeds use their legs diagonally - i.e. left fore with right rear then right fore with left rear]?

Edited September 22, 2011 by Pajaholic

[+MTH]

It's not the gait either. I almost asked the Giraffe/Camel question though.

 

I think this is unique to the Eland and Reindeer; I've certainly not heard it from any other species.

 

Mark

[Pajaholic]

It's not the gait either. I almost asked the Giraffe/Camel question though.

 

I think this is unique to the Eland and Reindeer; I've certainly not heard it from any other species.

 

Mark

IIRC, caribou 'click' when they walk as the tendons in their ankles snap into place with each stride. Since caribou are closely related to reindeer (close enough for some to consider them to be essentially the same species), I wonder whether "heard it" is a clue and that this is what you're looking for? (although I don't know whether eland have this trait)

[+MTH]

DING.

 

Reinder click, presumably so the herd can keep together in deep snow and blizzards.

 

Eland also have a very audible click when walking, although it's tendons in their knees. It's thought to indicate body size, and therefore the fighting ability of males.

 

Over to Pajaholic

[Pajaholic]

Thanks. I've learned something new there!

 

Sticking with the theme of unusual wildlife characteristics: The Aye-Aye has an unusual adaptation for hunting its prey. What is this adaptation?

[+MartyBartfast]

Thanks. I've learned something new there!

 

Sticking with the theme of unusual wildlife characteristics: The Aye-Aye has an unusual adaptation for hunting its prey. What is this adaptation?

 

I think that's the one with one enormously long finger for picking its nose out grubs