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Quiz about Anatomy of a Song The Gnu Song

Anatomy of a Song: "The Gnu Song" Quiz

In homage to FussBudget's great 'Anatomy of a Song' series, I have put together a quiz on one of my favourite songs - the great Flanders & Swann 'The Gnu Song'. Enjoy!

A multiple-choice quiz by Quiz_Beagle. Estimated time: 4 mins.

Author
Quiz_Beagle

Time
4 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
277,860

Updated
Jul 23 22

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Average

Avg Score
7 / 10

Plays
377

Awards
Top 20% Quiz

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 10

1. 'A year ago, last Thursday
I was strolling in the zoo
when I met a man who though he knew the lot.'
What animal's habits was this annoying man 'laying down the law about'?
Hint

Monkees

Baboons

Chimpanzees

Gnus

NEXT>

Question 2 of 10

2. The annoying man was also telling people 'how many spines a _________ has got'. What animal was he talking about? Hint

Hedgehog

Porcupine

Spiny anteater

Triceratops

NEXT>

Question 3 of 10

3. With such a know-all around, the singer asks him about 'that creature there', and the man responds with what? Hint

A h'Elephant

A Heffalump

A h'Eland

A h'Elk

NEXT>

Question 4 of 10

4. Who told the singer what the animal really was? Hint

The animal in question

The zookeeper

A more knowledgeable passer-by

The annoying man's little boy

NEXT>

Question 5 of 10

5. How does the gnu describe himself? Hint

The prettiest animal in the zoo

The guh-nicest a-guh-nimal in the zoo

The guh-nicest work of guh-nature in the zoo

The guh-naughtiest Connochaetes in the zoo

NEXT>

Question 6 of 10

6. What two creatures did the gnu announce to the singer that he is guh-neither? Hint

Man or moose

Elk or camel

Man or mouse

Mouse or man

NEXT>

Question 7 of 10

7. Where did the singer run into his second gnu? Hint

Furnished lodgings down at Rustington-on-Sea

A little place he knows down by the quay

Furnished lodgings down at Walmington-on-Sea

His Old Kentucky Home

NEXT>

Question 8 of 10

8. What night did the singer wake from a dream to see a familiar face? Hint

Eleventh

First

Second

Third

NEXT>

Question 9 of 10

9. What two animals does 'a guh-nother guh-nu' says he'll sue if he's called? Hint

Eland or elephant

Bison or okapi

Gazelle or buffalo

Hamster or capybara

NEXT>

Question 10 of 10

10. What animal does the gnu describe as dreadful? Hint

Impala

Klipspringer

Eland

Hartebeest

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. 'A year ago, last Thursday I was strolling in the zoo when I met a man who though he knew the lot.' What animal's habits was this annoying man 'laying down the law about'?

Answer: Baboons

'He was laying down the law about the habits of baboons'. I wonder if he mentioned that baboons live in groups of up to 50 animals, that the groups are known as troops and that they sleep in trees or cliffs? Or that the Arabian hamadryas female baboons pair for life with a single male (unlike the males!)

2. The annoying man was also telling people 'how many spines a _________ has got'. What animal was he talking about?

Answer: Porcupine

Porcupine spines (or quills) can be over 12 inches (30 cm) long, and they have backward facing barbs that make them very difficult to pull out. Porcupines can have over 30,000 of them as well!

3. With such a know-all around, the singer asks him about 'that creature there', and the man responds with what?

Answer: A h'Elk

Some people (strangely enough, quite often the ones who drop their aitches from words like hotel and hospital) put unnecessary aitches on the front of words (like elk, eland and elephant). A Heffalump was what Pooh and Piglet found (or rather didn't!)

4. Who told the singer what the animal really was?

Answer: The animal in question

'I might have gone on thinking that was true
If the animal in question hadn't put that chap to shame'
and of course, identified himself as a Gnu. If you haven't heard this song, a lot of the comedy comes from the way the animal pronounces words - with every silent 'g' sounded 'I'm a Guh-nu', and adds 'Guh' on to all the other words that start with 'n'.
He also sounds out the silent 'k' and 'w' on 'know' and 'who' - as in 'You really ought to kuh-now wuh-ho's wuh-ho'.

5. How does the gnu describe himself?

Answer: The guh-nicest work of guh-nature in the zoo

He has decided he is the guh-nicest. Gnu is actually another name for the wildebeest (an antelope of the genus Connochaetes).

6. What two creatures did the gnu announce to the singer that he is guh-neither?

Answer: Man or moose

'I'm guh-not a Camel or a Kangaroo
So let me introduce
I'm guh-neither man or moose
Oh guh-no guh-no guh-no I'm a Gnu'.
In the Terry Pratchett book "Truckers", the Nomes consider hijacking a lorry (truck) by pointing a loaded gnu at the driver.

7. Where did the singer run into his second gnu?

Answer: Furnished lodgings down at Rustington-on-Sea

'I had taken furnished lodgings down at Rustington-on-Sea'. Walmington-on-Sea is the home of 'Dad's Army', 'a little place I know down by the quay' comes from a Chris de Burgh song, and 'My Old Kentucky Home' is a Stephen Foster song.

8. What night did the singer wake from a dream to see a familiar face?

Answer: Second

'And the second night I stayed there I was woken from a dream
That I'll tell you all about some other time
Among the hunting trophies on the wall above my bed
Stuffed and mounted, was a face I thought I knew'.
There are two species of gnu in Africa, white-tailed gnu and the brindled gnu - I wonder which one he was?

9. What two animals does 'a guh-nother guh-nu' says he'll sue if he's called?

Answer: Bison or okapi

'I'm a Guh-nu
Spelt G-N-U
Call me Bison or Okapi and I'll sue'.
The singer has been musing about what the animal on the wall is
'When I though I heard a voice...

"I'm a Guh-nu
I'm a Guh-nu
A guh-nother gnu'

The white-tailed gnu is also known as the black wildebeest, and the brindled gnu as the brindled gnu as the blue wildebeest.

10. What animal does the gnu describe as dreadful?

Answer: Hartebeest

'Guh-nor am I the least like that dreadful Hartebeest,
Oh, guh-no, guh-no, guh-no,
Guh-no guh-no guh-no, I'm a Guh-nu
Guh-no guh-no guh-no, I'm a Guh-nu"'.
All the wrong answers are also African antelopes.
I hope you've enjoyed this quiz about 'The Gnu Song', which can be found (along with other great songs!) on 'At the Drop of A Hat' by Flanders & Swann.

Source: Author Quiz_Beagle

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor ertrum before going online.
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