Under Pressure Trivia Quiz

Answer: prestidigitation

A quotation from the 1940s movie "The Mummy's Hand": 'It seems the natives here don't appreciate the art of prestidigitation'. 'Preste' in French means 'nimble', and 'digitation' is, of course, a reference to fingers.

Answer: Presuppurative

To suppurate is to ooze pus, so presuppuration would be the step before such oozing. Victor Hugo, in "Les Miserables", says "The size of certain gashes was a serious danger, the suppuration of large wounds always being liable to reabsorption..."

I don't remember that part in the musical.

Answer: Prêt-à-porter

Prêt-à-porter refers to mass-produced clothing that's made in a factory, to standard sizes, and sold right off the rack. The opposite of prêt-à-porter is 'bespoke', which means the designer is making your dress just for you, to your measurements.

Answer: presume

The phrase is one of the great understatements in history--Henry Stanley, who had been sent to find David Livingstone, finally did near Lake Tanganyika in Ujiji. Even though they were the only two white men within miles, Stanley was very polite in his statement "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?"

Answer: Pretoria

The legislative capital of South Africa is Cape Town, and the judicial capital is Bloemfontein, but Pretoria (original name: Pretoria Philadelphia) and its Central Business District are the seats of the country's government and economy. Approximately one million people live there.

Answer: pretzel

There's a fascinating history behind the simple pretzel, including a lot of Christian symbology--the three holes in the pretzel represent the Holy Trinity, the ingredients (in medieval times, just flour and water) were permissible to eat during Lent, the loops symbolized eternal love, and the knot itself was a symbol of matrimonial union. Plus, they're great with mustard.

Answer: Presto

'Presto' is often used in the expression 'presto chango' (or 'quick change') in the realm of stage magic to indicate a handkerchief, say, turning into a dove (or a lady into a tiger). When you're talking about music and you want a term for MOST rapid, go with 'prestissimo'.

Answer: Prester John

Prester John ('prester' being a corruption of 'presbyter') was supposed to rule over a kingdom full of wonders and riches--the Fountain of Youth was supposed to be in his demesne, and his country was supposed to be next door to the Garden of Eden. John was also supposed to be a descendant of one of the three Magi who honored Christ at His birth.

Answer: prevaricate

The most interesting quotation I can find with the word used is Anton Chekhov's "Lying is the same as alcoholism. Liars prevaricate even on their deathbeds". Also interesting is that St. Augustine wrote a couple of books about lying, and had a taxonomy of lies that started with the worst kind of prevarications ("Lies in religious teaching") and ended with the mildest ("Lies that harm no one and save someone's purity"). I remember those last from my high school girlfriends...

Answer: Preterist

Preterism maintains that all of the prophecies in the Book of Daniel happened in the first century AD, that the Antichrist prophecies were fulfilled by the Roman Titus's sacking of Jerusalem and destruction of the Temple, and so on. A 'Full' Preterist says that Christ has already made his Second Coming.