Creating Order from Chaos Trivia Quiz

One

Won = One

The etymology of "won" is straightforward. The etymology of "one" is not.
"Won" is the past tense and past participle of "win" which can trace its origins back to around 1300 when it became a fusion of Old English words, "winnan" ("to labour, toil, struggle for, work at, strive, fight") and "gewinnan" ("to gain or succeed by struggling, conquer, obtain"). Both words come from Proto-Germanic "wennanan" - "to seek to gain".

One means "the first or lowest cardinal numerals; single, the same; or a symbol representing one or unity". It stems from Old English circa 1200 "one," from Proto-Germanic "ainaz" which in turn can be traced back to the Proto-Indo-European root "oi-no-" meaning "one, or unique". This does not explain why it is pronounced as "wun" and similarly "once" as "wuns" while other words derived from one, like "only", "alone", and "atone" are pronounced with a long "o". This is because, over centuries, stressed vowels sometimes become diphthongs, for example Latin "bona", the feminine singular meaning "good," became "buona" (Italian) and "buena" (Spanish). A similar diphthongisation of "one" and "once" began in the late Middle Ages in west England and in Wales around 1400. The vowel sound changed so the word's pronunciation went from "on" to ("o-on", with two syllables, to "won" (short "o") to "wo-on" and finally to "wun". (In southwest England, this diphthongisation also changed other words that started with the long o sound, such as "oats", pronounced there now as "wuts".) Only in "one" and "once" did this diphthongal pronunciation gain widespread usage.

Two

"Two Mules for Sister Sara" was a 1970 American-Mexican Western movie starring Shirley MacLaine and Clint Eastwood. It was set during the French intervention in Mexico (1861-1867) and filmed in the deserts of northern Mexico. It was the second of five collaborations between director Don Siegel and Eastwood after they started with "Coogan's Bluff" (1968).

The plot is built around Hogan (Eastwood) a mercenary, who rescues a Mexican nun (MacLaine) from French bandits and deviates from his plans, to take her to safety.

Elizabeth Taylor was the first choice for Sara but was unavailable. The movie was a moderate financial and critical success and helped Eastwood and MacLaine become A-List movie stars.

Three

"Three Blind Mice" is an English nursery rhyme and song. The earliest publication of the rhyme was recorded in "Deuteromelia Or The Seconde part of Musicks Melodie" by Thomas Ravenscroft in 1609, although it did not appear in children's literature until 1842 when it was included in a collection by James Orchard Halliwell.

Many nursery rhymes relate to some historical event, for example "Ring-a-ring A Rosie" refers to the Middle Ages bubonic plague outbreaks. It is speculated that the poem was written much earlier than 1609 and refers to Queen Mary I of England blinding and executing three Protestant bishops. The problem with this argument is that Ridley, Latimer and Cranmer (the Oxford Martyrs), were burned at the stake, not blinded. This has been explained as the rhyme being written by a Catholic and that the mice's "blindness" refers to their Protestantism. This is a bit of a stretch but it adds intrigue to the historical context of the rhyme.

Four

Fore = Four. Homophones

"Fore" as an interjection originated in Scotland though its origin is uncertain. It has been used at least since 1881. It is used to warn people ahead that a golf ball may be coming in flight. One theory was a "fore-caddie" was often employed in the earlier versions of the game where these people would search for the ball after it landed. The goal, apparently, was to yell "Fore-caddie" to warn of incoming balls in flight. This was eventually shortened to "Fore".

Another theory was that in a Celtic sport called road bowling, which had similarities to golf, a cry was shouted just before hitting the ball "Faugh A Ballagh!" (i.e. "Clear the way!") Over the years this contacted to "Faugh".

Five

V = 5 in Roman numerals.

Roman numerals originated in ancient Rome and were used until the late Middle Ages when the Arabic numerals replaced them as the latter had the advantage of place value. The seven letters that represented numbers were as follows:
I=1, V=5, X=10, L=50, C=100, D=500 and M=1,000.

Each letter was used up to three times in a row (III=3) except V, L and D, which were only used once. A value of of four was shown by putting an "I" before the "V", ie IV=4, whereas VI = 6. Nine follows a similar format, eg "IX".

In contemporaneous times, globally, Roman numerals are still used on some clock faces and to signify production dates.

The Romans had no symbol for zero. We can thank the Sumerians for that in the fourth century BC.

Six

The first prime numbers are 2, 3, and 5 (although by some definitions 1 has been included in the list). The first square numbers are 1 and 4 making 6 the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number.

Six is the second composite number after 4 (2x2) as it is equal to the product of two positive divisors (2 and 3).

Six is also the smallest perfect number (28 and 496 are the next in this series) as its three divisors (1, 2 and 3) sum to 6. Perfect numbers are numbers that are equal to their aliquot sum, or the sum of their proper divisors.

Seven

"Seven", stylised as "Se7en", was a 1995 crime thriller movie starring Pitt, Paltrow, Freeman and Spacey. The story tells of William Somerset (Freeman) and David Mills (Pitt), detectives in an unknown city trying to find a serial killer called John Doe who was killing victims according to which deadly sin they had transgressed. The movie was considered a commercial and critical success and was the seventh highest grossing movie of 1995. This was, in part, due to the massive twist at the end of the movie.

The movie was also notable because Pitt and Paltrow pursued a romantic relationship while filming the movie and were later engaged but never married.

Eight

The 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals prescribed two types of stop signs with little variation permitted. The most popular version is a red octagon with a white stop legend (the word "stop" can be replaced by the equivalent word in the local language). A permitted variation of this is that the text and border of the octagon can be yellow rather than the more popular white.

Nearly every country has used the octagon format. However, the other permitted type, an inverted red triangle is used in some countries, for example Japan. A few countries use an inverted white triangle with red borders and lettering.

The distinctive octagon shape can be traced back to a Detroit traffic cop Harold "Harry" Jackson. In 1914 he took a rectangular piece of plywood, cut off the corners to give it a distinct shape, and painted "stop" in the centre. He shared this success with fellow traffic cops. By 1915 fixed stop signs were commonplace in Michigan.

"Nein" in German is pronounced the same as "nine" in English. However, it means "no" in English.

Negation in German is covered by three words, "nein", "nicht" and "kein". Each has a specific way in which it is used.
"Nein" is used as an answer to a closed question.
"Möchtest du ein Stück Kuchen?" - "Nein, danke."
"Would you like a piece of cake?" - "No, thanks."

"Nicht" is used to negate different parts of speech within a sentence, specifically prepositions, adverbs, adjectives and verbs.
"Das essen ist nicht frisch."
"The food is not fresh."

The position of "nicht" stresses the part of the sentence you are negating. In this example, the position of "nicht" negates the piece of information "fisch" ("fresh"). It emphasises that the food in question is not fresh.

"Kein" is used to negate nouns in German. It is the negative of the indefinite article - the opposite of "a". For example:
"Ich habe einen hund." - "I have a dog."
"Ich habe keinen hund." - "I have no dog."

German is an official language in Austria, Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, and Switzerland, with German the most widely spoken mother language in the first four of these countries.

Ten

Pearl Jam, a noted Grunge band, formed in 1991 after Mother Love Bone had disbanded in 1990. Bassist Jeff Ament and guitarist Stone Gossard began rehearsing with another guitarist Mike McCready to record a five song demo. Drummer Dave Krusen and vocalist Eddie Vedder were invited to audition for the Seattle band. Most of the the songs on "Ten" were reworked Mother Love Bone instrumentals with Vedder providing lyrics.

"Ten", in 2023, was ranked number 160 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. The album was included (but not ranked) in the book "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die". In December 2020, the album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame as part of the 2021 class.

Eleven

An 11-sided figure is called a hendecagram, which is a star polygon with 11 vertices. A star polygon is a geometric figure that is formed by connecting the points of a regular polygon in a specific pattern to form a star-like shape.

The Statue of Liberty's base is shaped like a regular hendecagram. While such a shape is unusual in architecture, it was specifically chosen for the statue to sit upon. The pedestal was not part of the gift from France. It was designed and built on-site - indeed the the statue had already arrived from France but could not be assembled until the ten-story pedestal was built.

The hendecagram is also a symbol of the Statue of Liberty's message of unity and inclusiveness. The pedestal's 11 points represent the 11 million immigrants who had entered the United States through Ellis Island up to the time the statue was unveiled. The number 11 is also considered a "master number" in numerology, as it is considered integrally connected to creativity, intuition, and spiritual growth.

Twelve

A dozen is a group of twelve and may be one of the earliest groupings of integers. The concept of twelve as a group arose from there being approximately a dozen cycles of the Moon (months) in a cycle of the Sun (year). Twelve is also a convenient number because it has a maximal number of divisors (1,2,3,4,6,12). This property is only true of 1,2, 6, 12, 60, 360, and 2520.

Originating in Mesopotamia, the use of twelve as a base number, (ie the duodecimal system). There was a further grouping of twelve dozen (12^2 = 144) which is known as a gross; and twelve gross (12^3 = 1,728, which in duodecimal is 1,000), is called a great gross. There is also a term called great hundred, which is also known as a small gross, (ie 120 or ten dozen). Dozen may also be used to express a moderately inexact large quantity as in "several dozen" (e.g. dozens of fans sought the singer's autograph).

The English word "dozen" comes from the Old French "douzaine", meaning "a group of twelve", however, "gross" came from Late Latin "Grossus" via Old French, "Grosse" meaning thick, bulky or massive. There was no quantity element to its original meaning.

Thirteen

Triskaidekaphobia is fear or avoidance of the number 13. from the Greek "treiskaídeka" meaning thirteen, and Ancient Greek "phobos" meaning "fear". If a sufferer also fears Friday 13th, the correct term is paraskevidekatriaphobia. Isador Henry Coriat, an American psychiatrist, coined the term in "Abnormal Psychology".

The first mention of 13 being unlucky was first documented in the Middle Ages in Europe though some believe the origin is older. There are several theories about the original context: in Germany at least as far back as 1774, there was a belief that if 13 people sat at a table, one would die within a year. This can be traced back to Jesus sharing the Last Supper with his twelve disciples, with Judas, the betrayer, the thirteenth to be seated.

Tarot cards can be traced back to at least 1450. One of the trump cards represents Death and is numbered 13 in some versions. In another mythological connection, twelve Norse Gods were having a dinner party in Valhalla. Loki, arrived uninvited, and had arranged for Hoor to shoot Balder with a mistletoe-tipped arrow to keep the numbers at 12.

None of these stories have been substantiated. However, most cruise ships do not have a 13th floor, jumping from 12 to 14. Hotels, skyscrapers and elevator manufacturers commonly omit 13 on their floors or from their room numbers based on triskaidekaphobia.

Fourteen

"Fortnight" was Taylor Swift's lead single off her highly successful 2024 "The Tortured Poets Department" album. The song featured vocals with rapper Post Malone who co-wrote the song. On the day of release, "Fortnight" set the single-day streaming record for any song on Spotify. It went straight to number one on the Billboard Hot 100.

The lyrics divulge a woman, the narrator, in an unhappy marriage who discovers one of her new next-door neighbours is an ex-lover (with whom she had a brief affair that presumably lasted a fortnight). The lover is also married, and the two vow to escape to Florida. (Ms Swift did not confirm that the "Fortnight" referred to the time period of the affair.)

Fortnight is a period of 14 days. While it is in common usage in the UK and with the Antipodeans, its use in North America is much less well-known.

Fifteen

There are many differences between rugby union and rugby league but the main one is the number of players. In rugby league there are thirteen players - six forwards and seven backs. In rugby union there are fifteen players with the two extra players being forwards called flankers. They pack on the edges of the scrum but do not push as hard as the other forwards but are expected to break from the scrum early to stop any opponent from making a blind side play.

Patrick Mahomes became the starting quarterback for the Kansas City Chiefs in 2018 wearing number 15. In the period between 2018-2024, he led his team to six consecutive AFC Championship Games and four Super Bowls, winning three.