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Quiz about Go Off and Dye Somewhere
Quiz about Go Off and Dye Somewhere

Go Off and Dye Somewhere Trivia Quiz


If clothes make the man, then dye makes the clothes. This quiz, the result of a challenge from the always inventive and clever kyleisalive, is about dyeing with dignity.

A multiple-choice quiz by Correspondguy. Estimated time: 5 mins.
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Time
5 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
321,636
Updated
Dec 03 21
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Average
Avg Score
7 / 10
Plays
1354
Awards
Top 10% Quiz
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Question 1 of 10
1. Let's start with what is probably the most famous and expensive dye of antiquity - Tyrian purple. Tyrian Purple was so expensive that in one culture, its use was confined to the imperial family (giving us the phrase "born to the purple"). From what source is Tyrian Purple derived? Hint


Question 2 of 10
2. Everyone likes bright colors, and one of the most popular is a bright red known as "crimson." This was especially true during the 18th century, when bright uniforms were a key element of military operations (you had to see your troops). Crimson plumes and epaulets were used in a lot of armies as the mark of elite troops. Traditionally, crimson dye is obtained by mushing up what? Hint


Question 3 of 10
3. My daughter's fond of rainbows, and the mnemonic "ROY G. BIV" reminds her what colors go in them. The "I" in "BIV" stands for Indigo, a purplish-blue. Curiously enough, indigo dye is not a purplish-blue; it's the blue of blue jeans. Blue, however, was a prized color, as not many things produce blue dye. The blue dye indigo was produced by a plant, and vast areas were given over to its cultivation. What country traditionally produced the most indigo? Hint


Question 4 of 10
4. Last year, my brother married a Bengali woman, and as part of her wedding attire, her hands were decorated in elaborate patterns called mehndi. The reddish-brown patterns were executed by applying a paste containing a dye that's been used since the Bronze Age. Aside from mehndi, the dye's been used for clothes, hair, leather, and fingernails. What's the dye? Hint


Question 5 of 10
5. The world's most expensive spice is also used for dying cloth, which seems a bit strange until you learn that a little bit of it goes a long way. The color you get is a yellowish-orange, often seen in the robes of Buddhist monks. What's the spice (or dye)? Hint


Question 6 of 10
6. In 1861, at the beginning of the American Civil War, the Confederate States adopted the color "cadet gray" for their uniforms. By 1863, however, the Union blockade of the South's ports meant that many Confederates ended up wearing home-dyed uniforms. The dye, made from walnuts or acorns, started out gray, but faded to a tan or light brown. The nickname for this color was eventually extended to Confederate troops. What was it? Hint


Question 7 of 10
7. Curiously, the invention of the first artificial dye also required the invention of a color to describe it. What color did not exist before 1856, when Sir William Henry Perkin invented it? Hint


Question 8 of 10
8. Gentian Violet, in addition to being a dye, is also an antiseptic. Of course, if it's used as an antiseptic, it stains the affected area purple, which can be embarrassing (see "When Sisterhood was in Flower", by Florence King). In 2003, a zoo animal in Mendoza, Argentina, Pelusa, suffered this humiliation. What kind of animal is Pelusa? Hint


Question 9 of 10
9. When doing your laundry, you notice that your favorite white shirt is starting to look yellow and dingy. In your next load of whites, you add a product to address this problem. When the load's finished, everything appears much whiter. What you've actually done is to add just a teensy bit of what color dye to your wash? Hint


Question 10 of 10
10. In "I am the Model of a Modern Major-General," Gilbert and Sullivan's Major-General Stanley brags that he "...can tell you every detail of Caratacus' uniform." This isn't much of an achievement, because Caratacus supposedly fought naked, covered only by what traditional British dye? (The dye can also be seen in "Braveheart" on William Wallace.) Hint



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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. Let's start with what is probably the most famous and expensive dye of antiquity - Tyrian purple. Tyrian Purple was so expensive that in one culture, its use was confined to the imperial family (giving us the phrase "born to the purple"). From what source is Tyrian Purple derived?

Answer: A sea snail

Interestingly, the method of dyeing clothes "Tyrian purple" was lost in antiquity and not rediscovered until 1998. I also find it interesting that there are two methods of obtaining the dye. You can either mush up the snails or annoy them enough that they squirt it at you.

The reason the dye was so expensive, by the way, is that it took a huge number of snails to make the stuff. One snail produces approximately one twelve-thousandth of a gram of dye, and one gram of dye doesn't dye a whole garment.
2. Everyone likes bright colors, and one of the most popular is a bright red known as "crimson." This was especially true during the 18th century, when bright uniforms were a key element of military operations (you had to see your troops). Crimson plumes and epaulets were used in a lot of armies as the mark of elite troops. Traditionally, crimson dye is obtained by mushing up what?

Answer: The scale insect, Kermes vermilio

Scale insects are plant parasites that attach themselves to plants and suck the sap. Strangely, I don't feel bad for the bugs, although I do for the snails in the previous question. I have no idea how many bugs you have to mash to get dye, but as an avid gardener who struggles with scale insects, I hope it's a whole lot of them.
3. My daughter's fond of rainbows, and the mnemonic "ROY G. BIV" reminds her what colors go in them. The "I" in "BIV" stands for Indigo, a purplish-blue. Curiously enough, indigo dye is not a purplish-blue; it's the blue of blue jeans. Blue, however, was a prized color, as not many things produce blue dye. The blue dye indigo was produced by a plant, and vast areas were given over to its cultivation. What country traditionally produced the most indigo?

Answer: India

Not only did India have vast indigo farms, apparently there was indigo slavery and an indigo revolt in the 1850s. Also, it seems that there's a lively debate as to whether indigo's a real color or whether Isaac Newton just added it so there would be seven colors in the spectrum to match the seven (visible) planets and the seven seas. And, giant octopuses can climb into fishing boats, open their holds and steal crabs out, which has nothing to do with either indigo dye or the color indigo, but really, what's up with that?
4. Last year, my brother married a Bengali woman, and as part of her wedding attire, her hands were decorated in elaborate patterns called mehndi. The reddish-brown patterns were executed by applying a paste containing a dye that's been used since the Bronze Age. Aside from mehndi, the dye's been used for clothes, hair, leather, and fingernails. What's the dye?

Answer: Henna

Henna is associated, in my mind, with spunky redheads and cute girls with designs on their hands. But, given its vast history and cultivation, I suppose those are cliches and the real facts are far more complex and prosaic. As legitimate interesting information, I'll cite that the Food and Drug Administration says that Henna is only supposed to be imported into the United States for use as hair dye, and using it to draw on people is not an approved use.
5. The world's most expensive spice is also used for dying cloth, which seems a bit strange until you learn that a little bit of it goes a long way. The color you get is a yellowish-orange, often seen in the robes of Buddhist monks. What's the spice (or dye)?

Answer: Saffron

Saffron, as a spice, is not to my taste. The color, on the other hand, can be quite appealing. Of course, it fades, but heck, sic transit gloria mundi. Saffron is a dried part of the crocus flower. As I'm fond of growing crocus, I considered it as a cash crop, only to discover I'd need 50,000 flowers and a football field to produce a pound.
6. In 1861, at the beginning of the American Civil War, the Confederate States adopted the color "cadet gray" for their uniforms. By 1863, however, the Union blockade of the South's ports meant that many Confederates ended up wearing home-dyed uniforms. The dye, made from walnuts or acorns, started out gray, but faded to a tan or light brown. The nickname for this color was eventually extended to Confederate troops. What was it?

Answer: "Butternut"

The South probably chose gray because gray looks good and the dye is relatively easy to obtain (the South lacking a significant industrial base). It's also the color of West Point cadet uniforms (adopted in 1816) and a lot of the South's high-ranking officers (and its President, Jefferson Davis) were graduates of the United States Military Academy.
7. Curiously, the invention of the first artificial dye also required the invention of a color to describe it. What color did not exist before 1856, when Sir William Henry Perkin invented it?

Answer: Mauve

Sir William was 18 at the time and a college student, having entered the Royal College of Chemistry at 15. He was actually trying to create artificial quinine, but created a black gunk instead. When he tried to clean his equipment, the black gunk dissolved in alcohol, resulting in the purple dye. Mauve (or the dye, mauvine) is thus another in the series of things that were discovered by accident.
8. Gentian Violet, in addition to being a dye, is also an antiseptic. Of course, if it's used as an antiseptic, it stains the affected area purple, which can be embarrassing (see "When Sisterhood was in Flower", by Florence King). In 2003, a zoo animal in Mendoza, Argentina, Pelusa, suffered this humiliation. What kind of animal is Pelusa?

Answer: A polar bear

According to "Media Watch," which has a picture, Pelusa was suffering from dermatitis, and the zoo veterinarians decided a full-body application of Gentian Violet was in order, resulting in one big 'ol purple bear. Of course, the Internet being what it is, the photos were sometimes dismissed as a hoax.
9. When doing your laundry, you notice that your favorite white shirt is starting to look yellow and dingy. In your next load of whites, you add a product to address this problem. When the load's finished, everything appears much whiter. What you've actually done is to add just a teensy bit of what color dye to your wash?

Answer: Blue

White is an interesting color, because it's really not a color. White is what you get when all the color receptors in our eyes are reflected equally. So when a white fabric starts looking yellow or gray, what's happening is we're seeing less blue. A dash of blue dye fixes that. Curiously, the tendency of older women to dye their hair a shade of blue-white is due to the phenomenon in reverse.

Their hair is reflecting the same kind of light, but older eyes have less sensitivity to blue, so they add more blue than the rest of us would think they need.
10. In "I am the Model of a Modern Major-General," Gilbert and Sullivan's Major-General Stanley brags that he "...can tell you every detail of Caratacus' uniform." This isn't much of an achievement, because Caratacus supposedly fought naked, covered only by what traditional British dye? (The dye can also be seen in "Braveheart" on William Wallace.)

Answer: Woad

The connection to clothes is, of course, in the context of "The Emperor's New Clothes." I'm really not sure about the nudity uniform - it would seem that you'd want some protection for some soft and sensitive bits, but "The Annotated Gilbert and Sullivan" disagrees with me.
Source: Author Correspondguy

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor CellarDoor before going online.
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