Puns and Word Play 6 Trivia Quiz

Answer: His Bill of Rights

The Constitution of the United States is described as the supreme law of that country. Since it came into being in 1789 after the American War of Independence from Great Britain, it has been altered (amended) on 27 different occasions. These amendments were enacted in order to meet the changes and needs of the developing nation, and the first ten of those amendments are known today as the Bill of Rights. The Constitution of the mighty United States is an inspirational, fluid ongoing work of the will of its people.

And then we have Donald Duck, an anthropomorphic duck with a short fuse who always seems to be getting into bother, and who most definitely needs to be protected against himself by the law of his land - what else - his very own "Bill" of Rights. The pun for this question links a duck's bill with this document.

Answer: Mu

Mu is the 12th letter of the Greek Alphabet. It carries a value of 40 and its form originated in Ancient Egypt where the shape stood for water. The term "cows" refers to female domesticated cattle, and many other female animals as well. First domesticated some 12,500 years ago, cows are valued for their milk and cream products, their flesh, and assorted other parts of their body, which, after being slain, have been utilised by man. Even their dung is a useful product. Mu poo, you could say.

The pun for this question unites the "Mu" in the Greek alphabet, to the "Moo" sound associated with cows.

Answer: A boa constructor

And a feather boa would be the offspring of a hen and a boa constrictor - provided the hen was eaten. Boa constrictors are very large reptiles that can grow to enormous size. They are mostly found in the far south of South American and the Caribbean - and that's where they can stay in my humble opinion. They give me the absolute creeps. Unlike many other creatures, the female of this species is larger than the male. The boa waits silently until a suitable unaware prey passes by, before it strikes with deadly force, grabbing its meal with its teeth, before squeezing it to death. Oh, I truly can't write any more!

The pun for this question combines someone who works in the construction business - a constructor - with a boa constrictor that squeezes its prey to death - a constrictor.

Answer: Happy Birdday to You

"Happy Birthday to You" (also known as a simplified "Happy Birthday") is probably one of the most well known songs in the world - certainly in most western countries, that's for sure, and probably recognised in many others. To mark the yearly celebration of anyone's birthday, this song is usually, somewhat tunelessly, belted out as the guest of honour, from small child to 100 year old senior citizen, is cutting his or her birthday cake. Although disputed by some, this song is thought to have been written by Patty and Mildred Hill in the late 19th century, and published by Clayton F. Summy in 1893.

This question is a word play on the words Birthday and Birdday, as in "Happy Birthday/Birdday to You".

Answer: Emulate

An emu is the second largest bird in the world, with the African ostrich taking out top position. Emus are native to Australia - and if you see an irate one coming at you at top speed - run! They're huge birds up close - over six foot high. Their normal walk, though, is a rather stately, almost theatrical pace - a little like a feathered catwalk model. Emus are flightless birds but are not nearly as pretty as most of Australia's other avians. Instead, they are covered in drab brown feathers that blend in rather well in the many dry brown areas of this thirsty country.

The pun for this question breaks down the word "emulate" into two separate ones of "emu" and "late" which refers to the large bird being late for its appointment.

Answer: Humbug

"Humbug" as we understand the word today, refers to something said or done that is considered to be a pile of rubbish. When the word first came into use around 1750 in England, however, it referred to a deceitful or dishonest rogue. Another hundred years later, as evidenced in Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol", when Ebenezer Scrooge muttered "Humbug!" about the celebration of Christmas, the word had evolved in meaning to the modern understanding it now holds.

The pun for this question breaks "humbug" down into its two separate words of "hum" and "bug" to describe the musical abilities of the insect in question.

Answer: Abbey

An abbey is a magnificent combination of beautiful buildings and lands set aside for the residence, work and religious devotion of monks, nuns and other holy orders. In older times, members of these structures also took care of the poor, sick and elderly who could no longer tend to themselves - and also provided schooling and higher education for children. Europe is filled with many remaining buildings of this kind, but alas, more and more as the centuries pass, less and less becomes the religious calling for those to join the ranks of those who do this work of God. This doesn't necessarily mean that people are less religious, but that the ripples of time change the patterns of society.

The word play for this question changes "abbey" into the similar sounding "a bee", the little stinging insect that bit the curate.

Answer: Like a Sturgeon

A sturgeon is a member of the Acipenseridae family of fish. These creatures have been around for millions of years, and are noted for their long scale free bodies that are covered in rows of bony plates. They can grow to an enormous size, with the largest one on record measuring 24 feet in length and well over 3,000 lbs in weight. Wow! Imagine trying to reel that in. Unfortunately these fish are in danger of extinction because they have been grossly over harvested for their masses of roe which is processed into the posh, highly priced, completely unnecessary food called caviar. So very sorrowful.

The pun for this question changes the title of Madonna's hit song "Like a Virgin" into one pertaining to this family of fish, "Like a Sturgeon".

Answer: Ignorant

Ignoring anyone or pretending that person doesn't exist, or can't be heard, is known as sending that person to Coventry. For anyone with a sensitive nature, this punishment is quite cruel. Coventry itself is a city in the West Midlands, and one of possible reasons given for the rise of this expression, is that during the English Civil War, captured Royalist troops were sent there to be held prisoners by the Parliamentary forces. Because they weren't appreciated by the locals, they were often ignored.

The pun for this question changes the word "Ignorant" into "Ignore ant" which was the punishment handed out to our misbehaving insect by the judge.

Answer: Curfew

A curfew is an authoritarian order given that usually places a time of day when people are expected to be off the streets and back in their homes for a certain period. This order is usually given in times of public unrest when there is a real danger of riots taking place if crowds of people begin to gather in protest. Even the most minor of incidents can set them off at these times. Other examples of this word are parents placing curfews on their offspring to be home from dates by a certain time - or superiors placing a curfew on trainee workers to be back home by certain times in order to be able to work the following day. Not so long ago (in Australia at any rate) many nurses lived on the hospital grounds in buildings known as nurses' quarters. It was quite customary at that time for the Matrons of the hospital to set in place fixed times for the nurses to be back in their quarters at night. If they were late, this was considered to be out of bounds - and they were severely reprimanded.

The pun for this question breaks down into "cur", a somewhat unflattering term for a dog, and "few" meaning scarce - to reflect the fact that there were few dogs in the country.