BySrinath Bhashyam

BQC QuizNov 18th

The words X and Y derive from the same root. Both words derive from the greek root which was used for the pilot of a ship – a person who controlled how the the ship movedX,popularly known in biotechnology, is to do with the science of regulatory systems. It has also come to mean the way computer programs control robotics, or how social groups are arranged into hierarchiesY, generally came to mean a person in charge

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Ans: X – Cybernetics Y - Governor

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Ans: Both stamps are coated with material from what is depicted on the stamp

Connect these stamps

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Ans: Glow in the dark stamps

From Ken Jennings’ book Maphead. Id similar looking geographical entities

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Ans:

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Ans: Pythagoras theorem is also called Windmill and Dhul Qarnayn

"If you write anything criticizing, editing or proofreading, there will be a fault of some kind in what you have written“

What law states thus?

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Ans: Muphry’s law – the name of course is a deliberate misspelling of Murphy’s law

The Manchester Murals are a series of twelve paintings by Ford Madox Brown based on the history of Manchester. One of those paintings is shown below. Who is the subject?

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Ans: John Dalton

In picture, Czechoslovakia’s first 100 Korun note which entered circulation in 1919. Who designed this note?

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Ans: Alphonse Mucha

What phrase meaning “deceive the eye” in French, is an art technique involving realistic imagery in order to create the optical illusion that the depicted objects exist in three dimensions?

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Ans: Trompe l’oeil

The Allahakbarries was an amateur cricket team that was active from 1890 to 1913. The team comprised of literary figures such Arthur Conan Doyle, Jerome K. Jerome over various periods of time. Who founded this team?

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Ans: J.M. Barrie

Who was the first American actor to be nominated for multiple Emmy awards for playing the same character in three different shows?

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Ans: Kelsey Grammer for playing Frasier Crane in Cheers, Frasier and Wings

Which Sahitya Akademi winning poet was mentioned by Allen Ginsberg in his poem September on Jessore road?

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Ans: Sunil Gangopadhyay

The ceremony that you see in the picture gave rise to what term?

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Ans: Ivy league from “Planting the ivy”

The Rostropria X was named after a reclusive Hollywood movie star, as scientists thought that it would be appropriate to name a solitary, female wasp after her. Which actress?

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Ans: Greta Garbo, because of her famous “I want to be alone” statement

Dans Le Noir is a chain of ‘concept’ restaurants and spas. The chain was founded in 2004 in Paris, with subsequent locations in London, Barcelon, NY, St. Petersburg and Kiev.

The ‘concept’ is supposed to intensify the sense of taste and smell. So what is unique about this chain?

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Ans: Dining in total darkness

The X Giraffe in picture is named after famous family of the Tring Museum’s founder. The museum houses one of the finest collections of stuffed mammals, birds, reptiles and insects in the United Kingdom. X?

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Ans: Rothschild’s Giraffe

Although the name of X sounds suspiciously close to a famous baseball player, the Company claims that they actually named the candy bar after the daughter of President Grover Cleveland. Many thought that the story was concocted to avoid paying royalties to the above mentioned baseball player. X?

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Ans: Baby Ruth candy bars

The title of the blog about news on China on Economist.com means “things gathered up”or “literary fragments” and alludes to the title of a Confucian classic. What is the title?

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Ans: Analects

What is Dutch/Afrikaans for ‘Seal’ as in the animal?

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Ans: Robben (Robben Island named so because of the seals spotted there)

In linguistics, what is the term given to an idiosyncratic substitution of a word or phrase for a word or words that sound similar or identical in the speaker’s dialect? This is as opposed to a malapropism, where the substitution creates a nonsensical phrase. Examples of such phrases:Old-timers disease – Alzheimer’s diseaseBaited breath – Bated breathEx-patriot – ExpatriatePreying mantis – Praying mantisMating name – Maiden nameThe term itself is an example of this substitution for what you see in pic

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Ans: An ‘Eggcorn’ (for acorn)

The scientific name for which plant is Dionaea Muscipula?

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Ans: Venus Flytrap; Dionea meaning Diana’s daughter referring to Aphrodite (the Greek equivalent of Venus) and Muscipula meaning mousetrap

These terms come from the science of phrenology, the nineteenth-century science of regarding the shape of the skull as the key to intelligence. Phrenology thrived as a popular science in the late nineteenth century and led eventually to the racial theories of the Nazis, for whom the Jewish cranium and pale, sunken face were clear indications of Jewish racial inferiority.A tall forehead meant intelligence and a short one meant stupidity, and thus these terms have acquired these very meanings in common English. What?

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Ans: Highbrow and Lowbrow

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Ans: Usage of initials to increase chance of publishing – S.E Hinton, J.K Rowling and E.L James

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Ans: Mackerel – Mackerel fish, tabby and cloud patterns

Cyanotype is a photographic printing process that was popular in the engineering circles well into the 20th century. The simple and the low-cost process enabled them to produce large scale copies of their work. The two chemicals used in the process are Ammonium iron citrate and Potassium ferricyanide.

What were these copies called?

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Ans: Blueprint

This dispute of semantics is leading to significant disputes between Iran and Azerbaijan. A major bone of contention is access to mineral resources.

The definition of the subject of dispute leads to far reaching economic dispute as there are separate laws governing sharing of resources based on the semantics.

What are we talking about?

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Ans: Caspian sea or lake?

Asterix in Belgium - Reference to which painting?

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Ans: The Peasant Wedding by Pieter Brueghel the Elder

In 1924, Bram Stoker’s Dracula premiered on stage in London, adapted by Irish actor and playwright Hamilton Deane. Without the subtleties a novel provides, Count Dracula’s sophisticated demeanor and seductive nature was communicated more explicitly for the stage.

How was this production responsible in forming the image that we currently associate with Dracula?

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Ans: Dracula’s clothes – with tuxedo, stand-up collar and clothes

This book was originally titled the ‘Land of wild horses’. Shortly after starting working on this book the author realised that he did not know how to draw horses. When his editor asked him what else he could draw, he gave her an ambiguous answer and a classic resulted out of that ambiguity.

Which book are we talking about?

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Ans: Where the wild things are

X was a Scottish weaver, doggerel poet and actor. He won notoriety as an extremely bad poet who exhibited no recognition of or concern for his peers' opinions of his work.He wrote about 200 poems, including his infamous "The Tay Bridge Disaster", which are widely regarded as some of the worst in English literature. How has he been commemorated in Harry Potter?

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Ans: William McGonagall; J.K Rowling named Professor McGonagall after him

"Beautiful railway bridge of the silv'ry TayAlas! I am very sorry to sayThat ninety lives have been taken awayOn the last sabbath day of 1879Which shall be remembered for a very long time."

Which creature has the scientific name Xiphias gladius?

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Ans: Swordfish (Xiphias – Greek for sword Gladius – Latin for sword)

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Ans: Marlinspike (seaman’s tool) and Marlinspike hall modelled after Chateau de Cheverny. Miami Marlins – Marlins are named after the Marlinspike

Which word derives from the fact that in Ancient Rome, people running for political office would usually wear togas chalked and bleached to be bright white at speeches, debates, conventions, and other public functions?

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Candidate from Candida meaning ‘white’

Which vegetable gets its name from the fact that milk like white latex gets exuded by cut stems?

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Ans: Lettuce

Which term referring to a free-standing structure sited a short distance from a main residence, whose architecture makes it an object of pleasure, derived from its tent like structure resembling butterfly wings?

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Ans: Pavilion from Papillon

The word is result of a mistranslation of the Old Testament by William Tyndale in 1530. He mistakenly confused the Hebrew word "azazal," the name of a Caanonite demon, with "ez-ozel," meaning, "the goat that departs"

What?

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Ans: Scapegoat

What you see in picture is the origin for what word meaning a ‘point of entry or beginning’

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Threshhold

The Bermuda rig refers to a configuration of mast and rigging for a type of sailboat. It is also known as the X Rig, whose apparatus resembled the Bermuda Rig. This configuration was used by X to support the the apparatus he devised.

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Ans: Marconi rig – used the same configuration to organise his radio antennae

The constellation you see in picture is named ‘Circinus’ after what object it resembles?

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Ans: Drawing Compass

Naranath Branthan is a character in Malayalam folklore. He was considered to be a divine person and he pretended to be mad. His chief activity evokes the activity of which other person from Greek mythology?

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Ans: Sisyphus – Rolling a stone up a hill repeatedly

The Pitons are two volcanic plugs in a World Heritage Site in this country. The bigger one is 771 m, and the smaller 743 m. Both are linked by the Piton Mitan ridge. These Pitons are recognized symbols of the country and feature on the flag. Also the local beer is named after them. Identify the country.

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Ans: St Lucia

Unawatuna is a coastal village in Galle district of Sri Lanka and is a major tourist attraction famous for its beautiful beach and corals. The name literally means ‘ fell- down’. Why is it called so?

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Ans: It is believed that a part of the Sanjeevani hill fell here

What is the reason attributed to the Russian Olympic team turning up 12 days late for the 1908 Olympics?

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Ans: They were still using the Julian calendar

Which country gets its name from the name of a region in a nearby country, you see in the picture?

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Ans: Cape Verde from Cap Vert in Senegal

Why was the character in the picture from the movie Inception named so?

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Ans: Yusuf – islamised name for Joseph, the biblical character. Joseph had the ability to interpret dreams

Henry Richardson Labouisse Jr. was an American diplomat and statesman, who worked actively for the United Nations. In 1965, he accepted on behalf of UNICEF, the Nobel prize for peace. Who was his more famous mother in law ? X

While he was in office in the U.N, Y was the secretary general, who is till date the only person to be awarded a posthumous Nobel peace prize. YX and Y?

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Ans: X – Marie Curie Y – Dag Hammarskjöld

What does this monument in Ibiza Spain commemorate? Why is it shaped so?

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Ans: Discovery of America by Columbus; Egg of Columbus

The Boston X are wealthy Yankee families characterized by a highly discreet and inconspicuous lifestyle. Based in and around Boston, they form an integral part of the historic core of the East Coast establishment. The term has been applied to the old, upper crust New England families of British Protestant origin that were extremely influential in the development and leadership of arts, culture, science, politics, trade, and academia. It was applied partly in jest to characterize the often erudite and pretentious nature of the New England gentry to outsiders.

X?

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Ans: Boston Brahmins

Whose last words were these

1. “Put that bloody cigarette out”2. “LSD 100 micrograms”3. “Do not disturb my circles”4. “Leave the shower curtain on the inside of the tub”5. “Tomorrow, I shall no longer be here”6. “Go on, get out! Last words are for fools who haven't said enough!”

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Whose last words were these

1. “Put that bloody cigarette out” - Saki2. “LSD 100 micrograms” – Aldous Huxley3. “Do not disturb my circles” - Archimedes4. “Leave the shower curtain on the inside of the tub” – Conrad Hilton5. “Tomorrow, I shall no longer be here” - Nostradamus6. “Go on, get out! Last words are for fools who haven't said enough!” – Karl Marx

X was a famous 19th century American actor who toured throughout America and the major capitals of Europe, performing Shakespearean plays. In 1869 he founded a theatre in New York that was quite modern for its time. Some theatrical historians consider him the greatest American actor, and the greatest Hamlet, of the 19th century. He also saved Abraham Lincoln’s son’s (Robert Lincoln) life during a train mishaps. However he is better remembered because of his infamous sibling. X?

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Ans: Edwin Booth – John Wilkes Booth’s brother

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Ans: Ferrari 150, Lotto shoes, Opera Risorgimento!all to commemorate the 150th year of Italian unification

In picture is a statue of an Irish person called Annie Moore. Where can you find it? What is her claim to fame?

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Ans: Ellis island; First immigrant to pass through Ellis Island

Hatra is an ancient city in the Ninawa Governorate and al-Jazira region of Iraq. The city is a world heritage site since 1985. Where was the city famously seen in the early 1970’s?

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Ans: The site of the dig in ‘The Exorcist’

Historic photograph taken on June 6, 1944, by Robert F. Sargent, a Chief Photographer's Mate in the United States Coast Guard. Image was evoked in the 1998 Hollywood film Saving Private Ryan.Part of the name of the photograph derives from a refrain in Tennyson’s ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’. Name?

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Taxi to hell - and back – Into the Jaws of death

X (Best Actress) and Y (Best Supporting Actress) were nominated for playing the same character in different movies for the Academy awards held in 2000. X also has the distinction of being the only person to be nominated twice for the same character, when she was nominated again nine years after the first movie.

X and Y?

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Ans: X – Cate Blanchett Y – Judi Dench; Both for playing Queen Elizabeth (Henry VIII’s daughter)

What is the official bird of the Madison, Wisconsin?

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Ans: The pink plastic flamingo. Designer Don Featherstone won an Ig Nobel for it in 1996

Mountains round

What is Spanish for “Snowy mountain range”?

Which city is named after the hill in the picture, which in turn is named after King Francois I of France?

Which American state literally means “The green mountains”?

Which American state literally “mountainous country” and was used by Spanish explorers to describe the entire mountainous region of the west of the state?

Which surname of French origin derives as a corruption of the Latin for “X’s hill”. X,a biblical patriarch, was the eldest son of Japheth and father of Ashkenaz, Riphath and Togarmah?

This mountain in Spain translates to “Jagged Mountain” in Catalan. The mountain in a namesake for a Caribbean island

This ‘conflicted’ region in Russia means “The land of the mountains’ in Turkish

If Ghana was Gold Coast, what was Liberia earlier (will accept two answers)?

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Ans: Pepper coast/ Grain coast

Sunandha Kumariratana, a daughter of King Mongkut and Princess Consort Piam, was one of the four queens of King Chulalongkorn (Rama V).She was on her way to the summer palace, when the royal boat capsized in the river and she drowned to death. What were the bizarre circumstances surrounding her death?

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Ans: Despite the presence of many onlookers, they were forbidden on pain of death to touch the queen – not even to save her life

In Italian culture, this number is treated as unlucky probably because the Roman digits for this number can be rearranged to a term in Latin meaning "I have lived" but can be a euphemism for "I am dead”. Cesana Pariol, the bobsleigh, luge and skeleton track used for the 2006 Winter Olympics, had the turn of this number originally named "Senza Nome" ("without name" in Italian). Renault had to change its name of car in picture because it had the number in its name.

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Ans: The number 17 (XVII rearranged to VIXI). Renault R17 changed its name to R177

The phrase ‘X America’ refers to the belief that a more detailed analysis of the voting results of recent United States national elections reveals that the U.S. electorate is not as polarized between Republicans and Democratics as is often depicted in news analysis. The term refers to the color coding used to indicate when a state or congressional district has been won by a Republican or Democratic candidate.

X?

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Ans: Purple America

Columba is an open source email client for Unix-like operating systems and Windows, written in Java. The name is appropriate as it evokes imagery to some methods of relaying mail. What is so apt ?

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Ans: Columba means ‘Dove’ in Latin thereby invoking an imagery to pigeon-post

Which constellation was known as Toxeutes to the ancient Greeks?

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Ans: Sagittarius – the archer (Sagitta meaning arrow).

Toxeutes from Toxon – meaning bow

Connect to what you see below

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Ans: Genus of aquatic plants called Sagittaria because of the arrow shaped leaves

What was deceptive about the naming of the unit as Seal Team Six?

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Ans: At the time of naming there were only two SEAL teams – unit was named to confuse Soviet Intelligence

Which Melbourne born athlete who came into limelight in the year 1954 was also the 26th Governor of Victoria from 2001-2006

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Ans: John Landy

What are capitonyms?

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Words that change meaning with capitalization (march, March; moon,Moon; august,August) etc

X is an architectural ornament originally forming the cap or crown of a buttress or small turret, but afterwards used on parapets at the corners of towers and in many other situations. It looks like a small spire and was mainly used in Gothic architecture. X?

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Ans: Pinnacle

X is a French word that carries the connotation of a flamboyant manner and reckless courage. The literal translation is a plume, such as is worn on a hat or a helmet, but the reference is to King Henry IV of France. As a brave military leader, he was famed for wearing a striking white plume in his helmet and for his war cry: "Follow my white plume!" X has come to mean the same in English. X?

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Ans: Panache

What is the name given to this art form?

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Ans: Rubik Cubism/ Rubik’s Cubism

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Ans: Kalach bread; AK 47 on flag of Mozambique – Kalashnikov means ‘maker of Kalach bread’

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Ans: SS Gairsoppa named after the Jog falls