"Re"play It Again, Sam Trivia Quiz

Answer: Reveal

Veal is the meat of a calf, as opposed to beef (which comes from the grown animal). More tender and also more expensive, it is the centerpiece of a variety of dishes that rely on delicate sauces. "Reveal" means to uncover or unveil; calves are seldom involved in the process.

Answer: Record

A cord is a length of string, useful in innumerable situations. More recently it has also come to mean an electrical cable, used to plug in appliances; who hasn't been in a situation where they needed a longer extension cord? But a recording is not a renewing of electrical connections, but rather a copy of something was said or done or performed in the past.

It will help with this quiz if you record your answers carefully!

Answer: Reaching

An aching body part is one that's sore and painful, perhaps from overuse or an injury. From headaches to toothaches to heartaches, the word is a useful one for expressing discomfort. Reaching for something (or someone) doesn't typically result in aching, however - unless you strain yourself in the stretch!

Answer: Remote

A mote is a tiny speck or grain of dust, mortal enemy of vacuum cleaners everywhere. The word is perhaps most famously used in Chapter 7 of the Gospel of Matthew, where Jesus warns that a person overly concerned with the mote in his neighbor's eye might miss the beam in his own.

The word "remote" refers to distance, physical or emotional - such as the distance between the couch and the television, which the remote control spares us from having to travel.

Answer: Resting

The sting, a sharp protrusion on the tail, is the primary weapon of a number of invertebrates, from scorpions to honeybees. It can also refer to the sensation from some other type of injury - the pain from a reopened wound, for example, or a particularly cruel emotional setback. None of these phenomena are particularly restful, but perhaps one does feel more relaxed once the pain finally leaves.

Answer: Relevant

The Levant, a name derived from the French "soleil levant" or "rising sun", refers to the lands around the eastern Mediterranean - such as Lebanon, Syria, Israel, and parts of Turkey and Egypt. Once used by merchants, travelers and governments (Syria and Lebanon were ruled by the French as the "Levant states" in the early twentieth century), the term is now mainly used by archaeologists.

It's thus relevant (or germane) to the study of the ancient and medieval history, culture and even cuisine of a wide and vibrant region.

Answer: Reeked

To eke out a living is to just barely get by, with hard work for minimal reward. The situation surely stinks for anyone living in it, so perhaps the standard meaning of "reeked" isn't too far off after all.

Answer: Revolt

A Volt, named for 18th- and 19th-century Italian physicist Alessandro Volta, is the metric unit for electrical potential - which gives rise to electric fields. This is what is used to measure the output of a battery, the potential difference between its two terminals that drives an electric current.

It's a useful concept, but hardly disgusting or revolting - and it's never yet fomented revolution, despite its name.

Answer: Ream

"I think, therefore I am," concluded French philosopher René Descartes, thus forever associating this conjugation of "to be" with existential questions of thought and reality. Much has been written on the subject - so it's safe to say that reams of paper (a ream is a unit of 500 sheets) have given their all to explore the issue.

Answer: Regal

"Gal" is slang for a girl or young woman (or, curiously, a piece of machinery - there's life in the old gal yet!) A person being addressed this way may not seem very regal or royal, but it seems she will be if you call her "gal" twice!

Thanks again for playing this quiz! I hope you've enjoyed it.