If Only They Could Speak English Quiz

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Famously, this King of England, born in what is today's Germany, was thought to not be able to speak English. Name this king, who was also the great grandfather of the king who reigned during the American Revolution.

Answer: George I

George I was the first of the House of Hanover to rule England - or rather, Great Britain, as it had become. While he was supposed to not be able to speak English, there is evidence that he was able to in his later years.

George III, his great grandson, was on the British throne during the American Revolution.

2. George Bernard Shaw claimed that "England and America are two countries divided by a common ___." Fill in the blank.

Answer: language

Shaw, an Irish playwright, was born in 1856 and lived until 1950. In addition to his literary genius, he was a vegetarian and member of the socialist Fabian Society, which held controversial views such as advocating, for humans, selective breeding and the active extermination of the less intellectually endowed.

3. Originally a huge English-language hit for the band Roxette, this song was re-recorded by the group some years later in Spanish, entitled "No s� si es amor". Shirley Clamp released a Swedish version, "N�r k�rleken f�ds". What is the name of the original English-language song?

Answer: It Must Have Been Love

"It Must Have Been Love" was written by Per Gessle and first released by Roxette in 1987. It was Roxette's third number one hit in the United States.

4. Thanks in part to the Second Vatican Council (Vatican II), the Roman Catholic Church allowed the use of vernacular (local) languages rather than mandating the use of what language?

Answer: Latin

Vatican II opened under Pope John XXIII in 1962 and closed under Pope Paul VI in 1965. Many of the changes that occurred in its wake were and remain somewhat controversial - the post-Vatican II mass is often quite different (more "open") from those of earlier times. Though not necessarily mandated by Vatican II, many churches turned their altars to face the congregation, rails at which parishioners knelt for Communion were often removed, most Latin was eliminated, and many churches started offering mass on Saturday evenings.

5. An alliterative and somewhat derogatory term is often used for the people who are trying to promote or enforce the (often exclusive) use of the French language in Quebec, Canada. What is this term?

Answer: Tongue Troopers

The so-called "Office qu�b�cois de la langue fran�aise" (OQLF) is in charge of this effort which involves forcing businesses to replace all (or most) exterior signage with French-only versions, the renaming of streets and similar actions. Businesses have been fined or even shut down for non-compliance.

6. The words "Eins, zwei, drei, hammer" are spoken at the start of the song "Waiting for the Worms", which is from what Pink Floyd album?

Answer: The Wall

"The Wall", released in 1979, is one of Pink Floyd's more successful albums, second only to 1973's "The Dark Side of the Moon". The album tells the story of a young man called Pink (modeled on singer/songwriter Roger Water's own life). Pink loses his father in WWII, has an overprotective mother and an abusive school experience, and eventually withdraws from society.

7. "It's Greek to me" is a phrase used in English to describe something essentially incomprehensible. A similar phrase exists in many other languages, but the target language is usually NOT Greek. What target language is used in many European languages (such as Russian, Finnish, Hungarian, Latvian and Serbian) to affect this phrase?

Answer: Chinese

Many European languages have a phrase that refers to the Chinese language in this way. Others languages that refer to Chinese are French (C'est du chinois), Polish (To dla mnie chi�szczyzna) and Dutch (Dat is Chinees). There is no "Timorese" language, per se.

8. In the Eddie Murphy movie "Daddy Day Care", the caretakers have a young boy in their charge who seems to speak only gibberish. What language does this turn out to be?

Answer: Klingon

Charlie (Eddie Murphy) and Phil (Jeff Garlin) get laid off from work and open a day care in Charlie's house. For quite some time, neither of them can communicate with one of the boys. When Charlie and Jeff's former co-worker, Marvin (Steve Zahn) stops by one day, he recognizes the language and begins talking to the child!

9. For those whose native language is NOT English, programs to teach English go by various terms. For what does ESL stand?

Answer: English as a Second Language

Other programs called ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) and EFL (English as a Foreign Language) perform essentially the same role. The exact terminology can be somewhat controversial in that it can be seen to presume. For example, ESL seems to suggest the student only speaks one other language.

Others respond that a "second language" is a general term meaning any language other than one's native tongue, so that the student may have more than one "second" language.

10. "Speak English or Die" is an album by which thrash metal band?

Answer: Stormtroopers of Death

Formed in New York in 1985, Stormtroopers of Death (sometimes called "SOD") were known for some rather controversial lyrics. They broke up right after their tour to support their first album, only to reform, record and break up several times over the next 20 plus years.

Source: Author mike32768

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor Pagiedamon before going online.
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If Only They Could Speak English Quiz

English may be important, but there are other languages. Have fun figuring out the following trivia!

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