FunTrivia Humanities Mix: Vol 22 Quiz

Answer: bear

The word Arctic comes from the Greek meaning "near the bear", referring to either Ursa Major (The Great Bear) or Ursa Minor (The Little Bear), two constellations found in the northern sky.

Ursula comes from Ursa, the Latin for bear. The word for bear-like is ursine, from the same root. Famous Ursulas include the Swiss actress Ursula Andress and the US author Ursula K. Le Guin.

The origins of the name Arthur are disputed. One explanation is that it comes from Welsh or early British words for bear. Another suggests it comes from the star Arcturus, which is sometimes called the "guardian of the bear" because of its proximity to Ursa Major. Famous Arthurs include the legendary British king, and the American tennis player, Arthur Ashe.

Question by player Upstart3

Answer: Show Boat

Adapted from an Edna Ferber book, this musical would open on Broadway and run for 572 performances. Unlike other light and frothy musicals of the time, this one dealt dramatically with the serious issues of integration and miscegenation. This musical continues to divide public opinion about whether it's a poor representation of stereotypical racism or whether it presents a case against racism.

Question by player mlcmlc

Answer: To pig out

To pig out does mean to eat too much, though to be fair, pigs eat a lot, but so do birds! Even though the expression eating like a bird is used by humans to express that someone eats too little, birds actually spend a lot of their time eating to maintain their bodies, which use up a lot of energy for flight.

The other two expressions don't directly relate to eating. To chicken out is to lack courage and decide not to do something due to fearfulness, and to live a dog's life means to have a hard existence, though some people have started to use it with the opposite meaning in modern times, probably because they love and take good care of their pets.

Question by player shuehorn

Answer: Dead ringer

The story that made the rounds on the Internet was that during the Middle Ages, people were sometimes buried before they were dead (the science of determining when someone was truly dead was apparently not well developed). So in case a person woke up and found themselves six feet underground, he or she could jingle a bell, and a watchman who was working the "graveyard shift" (another erroneous story) would hear the bell and dig the person up.

The actual source for "dead ringer" referred to when a horse was substituted to rig a race.

The substituted horse was called a ringer and a very close duplicate became known as a dead ringer (in the same way that "dead" is used for something that is precise: dead center, etc.) (Sources: Snopes and Phrases.org)

Question by player PDAZ

Answer: Sitting on the side of your head

Your tragus, lobule and helix are all parts of your outer ear and would thus be found hanging out on the side of your head. Your tragus is the small pointed piece of cartilage that is directly above the ear lobe. The helix is the hard part of your outer ear that is found directly on the top. Last but not least, your lobula is your earlobe.

Question by player dcpddc478

Answer: Same pronunciation, different meaning

Examples of homophones would be 'bear' and 'bare', 'sight' and 'site', and 'flea' and 'flee'. You say the words the same but they mean different things and are (usually) spelt differently. two words that are spelled the same but have different meanings when pronounced differently (such as lead the verb and lead the element) are called homographs.

Question by player caz231231

Answer: A Spoonerism

Spoonerisms are named after William Archibald Spooner, who was born on 22nd July 1844. He was the Dean of New College, Oxford, between 1876 and 1889, who had the habit of mixing his words up. One such Spoonerism attributed to him was, "You have hissed all my mystery lectures", as opposed to "You have missed all my history lectures".

Question by player demurechicky

Answer: First Native American prima ballerina

Elizabeth Marie Tall Chief (Ki He Kah Stah Tsa) was born on the Osage reservation near Fairfax, Oklahoma in 1925. She and her sister Marjorie, an equally talented dancer, studied with Bronislava Nijinska, and in 1942 she began dancing with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo.

The directors suggested she change her name to something that sounded more 'Russian', hence Maria Tallchief. There she met and married George Balanchine, and became his first big star at the New York City Ballet. Other firsts included the first American 'Firebird' and first American to dance at the Bolshoi. With her sister, star of the Paris Opera Ballet, she founded the Chicago City Ballet in 1981. Maria died in 2013.

Question by player Sidd2

Answer: Lin-Manuel Miranda

Lin-Manuel Miranda, the creator of "In the Heights" and "Hamilton", has received many prestigious awards, including a MacArthur Genius Grant, which is awarded to U.S. citizens or residents who have shown "extraordinary originality and dedication in their creative pursuits and a marked capacity for self-direction".

He has also gained recognition for his performance in the lead role of Alexander Hamilton.

Question by player bg853

Answer: Artemis

Even though the death of the sacred deer was accidental, Agamemnon was told that the Greeks would not be able to leave for Troy unless he sacrificed his daughter, Iphigeneia. Some sources also say that Artemis was also sad about all the deaths that would take place in Troy, and that Agamemnon had the nerve to claim he was a better hunter than she was. Agamemnon did sacrifice his daughter, which allowed the Greeks to make their way to Troy to fight the Trojan War.

Question by player ponycargirl