Hippos Trivia Quiz

Answer: Spanish

The English word 'hippopotamus' is derived from two Greek words, hippos (ίππος) meaning horse, and potamos (ποταμος) meaning river. The modern Greek word is almost the same - 'ippopotamos' (ιπποπόταμος). Spanish and Potuguese both have the same word - 'hipopótamo'. Italian is very similar - 'ippopotamo'. The French word is 'hippopotame'. Romanian and Polish both use 'hipopotam'. Bulgarian is also very similar - 'khipopotam (хипопотам).

The Dutch word for hippopotamus is 'nijlpaard', which means Nile horse. The German word, 'Nilpferd', has the same meaning, although 'Flußpferd', meaning river horse, is used as well. The Danish and Norwegians both use 'flodhest', which also means river horse; the Swedish version is 'flodhäst'. The Icelandic 'flóðhestur', the Latvian 'nīlzirgs', and the Estonian 'jõehobu' are also translations of river horse.

The Russian word is 'begemot' (бегемо́т), which means behemoth. The same word is used in both Ukrainian and Bulgarian. The Lithuanian word is very similar - 'begemotas'.

Both Czech and Slovak use the word 'hroch', which is said to have been coined by Jan Svatopluk Presl (1791-1849) who was a Czech natural scientist. The word is possibly based on roch which was a war elephant figure in chess.

Answer: Stephen Fry

"The Hippopotamus" was written by Stephen Fry. The main character is Ted Wallace, who was once a poet, and then a theatre critic. At the the request of his god-daughter, Jane, he goes to stay at a country house in Norfolk to investigate some mysterious occurrences.

The letters he sends to Jane form the basis for the novel. A film adaptation was released in 2017. It starred Roger Allan as Ted Wallace.

Answer: Hungry

"Hungry Hungry Hippos" was first produced by Milton Bradley in 1978. It consists of four plastic hippos who each try to 'eat' as many plastic marbles as possible. The winner is the person who makes their hippo eat more marbles than any other hippo. Although the colours and names have been changed over the years, the original hippos were Harry (yellow), Henry (orange), Homer (green) and Lizzie (pink).

Answer: Brain

Human beings have two hippocampi, one on each side of the brain. They take their name from the shape, which resembles that of a seahorse. The hippocampus is involved in memory retrieval and storage. It is possible for the memory to continue functioning if there is damage to one hippocampus, but damage to both will result in amnesia.

In cases of dementia, the hippocampus is one of the first parts of the brain to be affected.

Answer: Taweret

Taweret was regarded as the goddess of childbirth and fertility. The Egyptians were aware of how fiercely female hippopotamuses would protect their young, and so it was an obvious choice for a strong animal to protect the newborn. Anubis was the god of funerary rites and a guide to the underworld; he has the head of a jackal. Bastet was a goddess with the head of a cat; one of her roles was as the bringer of good health. Horus was depicted as a falcon-headed god, and he was regarded as the ruler of the sun and the sky, amongst other things.

Answer: George

The show was produced by Thames Television and ran from 1972 to 1992. Geoffrey Hayes began presenting it in 1974. Bungle was a clumsy, inquisitive, furry brown bear, played by an actor in a costume. The other two characters were puppets. Zippy was boastful and greedy and often talked too much, but he could be silenced by having his mouth zipped shut. George was a shy, retiring, introverted and sensitive pink hippo, who was usually the best behaved of the three non-human characters.

Answer: Boxing

King Hippo is a boxer from Hippo Island somewhere in the South Pacific Ocean. He is somewhat obese, and is described as having a face like a hippopotamus, hence his name. He has deeply tanned skin, and wears boxing trunks and a crown. He was first seen in 1987, but made a comeback in 2009 in a Wii videogame, also called "Punch-Out!!".

Answer: Algeria

Hippo Regius existed on the site of Annaba in north-eastern Algeria, about 100km from the Tunisian border. Hippo was the Latin form of a Punic word meaning harbour. The Phoenicians settled in the town in the twelfth century BC. The Romans gave it the suffix Regius to distinguish it from Hippo Diarrhytus further to the east, on the site of present-day Bizerte on the north coast of Tunisia. Hippo Regius means Royal Hippo, and referred to the Numidian kings who lived there. Hippo Diarrhytus means Hippo divided by the water, because of the canal entrance through the town to the lake behind it.

Augustine (354-430) was born a Berber, although his family were Romanized and spoke Latin. He became a Latin scholar and teacher, before converting to Christianity in 386. He was appointed as the bishop of Hippo in 395, and died there during the siege by the Vandals.

Answer: London

The baby hippopotamus was captured on an island in the White Nile and sent to England by the Viceroy of Egypt in exchange for some greyhounds and deerhounds. On his arrival at Southampton in 1850, Obaysch was sent to live at London Zoo, where he became a star attraction, even having a visit from Queen Victoria. Four years later a female hippo, Adhela, joined Obaysch at the zoo.

In 1872 the pair successfully produced a baby, named Guy Fawkes because it was born on 5 November, although it was discovered to be a female hippo some time later. Obaysch lived until 1878, Adhela died four years later, and Guy Fawkes survived until 1908.

Answer: Flanders and Swann

Michael Flanders wrote the words and Donald Swann the music for 'The Hippopotamus Song'. It was one of the animal songs performed by the duo in 'At the Drop of a Hat', a musical revue described by them as an 'after-dinner farrago'. The show opened at the end of 1956 in a small theatre outside the West End of London.

It was a success, and transferred, a few months later, to a West End theatre, where it ran for two years. Other shows followed, but 'The Hippopotamus Song' remained a favourite and was often used to end a show.