Jack or Not Trivia Quiz

Answer: Jack

Jack is a common English name and comes up frequently in nursery rhymes and fairy tales.

"Jack and Jill" is a popular nursery rhyme that is believed to have been written in the 18th century. The names Jack and Jill were used generically to describe a pair. Another proverb using these names is "Every Jack must have his Jill" which means every man must have a partner.

"Jack and Jill
Went up the hill
To fetch a pail of water
Jack fell down and broke his crown
And Jill came tumbling after."

Answer: Not

"Georgie Porgie, pudding and pie,
Kissed the girls and made them cry,
When the girls came out to play,
Georgie Porgie ran away."

Some versions change the third line to 'when the boys came out to play'.

There are theories that say this rhyme was created to poke fun at historical figures like the English King George I or George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham. These are just guesses and have not been proven either way.

Answer: Not

"Humpty Dumpty sat on wall.
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the king's horses and all the king's men
Couldn't put Humpty together again."

The interesting thing about this rhyme is that there is no description whatsoever in the actual poem of how Humpty Dumpty looks. However, the character is almost universally depicted as an egg in all illustrations.

Answer: Jack

"Jack be nimble,
Jack be quick,
Jack jump
Over the candlestick."

Some sources say this rhyme is about the English pirate Black Jack with the descriptions of nimble and quick alluding to his ability to escape getting caught by the authorities. Another version states that the rhyme describes an old practice of jumping over a lit candle at weddings. If a person managed to leap over it without extinguishing it, it meant they would have good luck for a year.

Answer: Not

"Peter, Peter pumpkin eater,
Had a wife but couldn't keep her;
He put her in a pumpkin shell
And there he kept her very well."

While the rhyme seems innocent enough, some sources state it has a much darker hidden meaning. One of the explanations for this rhyme is that Peter's wife was unfaithful to him, so he killed her and hid her body inside a pumpkin.

Answer: Jack

"Little Jack Horner
Sat in the corner,
Eating his Christmas pie;
He put in his thumb,
And pulled out a plum,
And said, "What a good boy am I!""

"Little Jack Horner" was supposedly written about a real historical figure called Thomas Horner with the name Thomas swapped for the more generic Jack. Thomas Horner was a steward to the abbot of Glastonbury and ended up conducting a major real estate scam. The abbot sent the deed to twelve manor houses to the King hidden in a pie. Thomas was tasked with delivering the pie to the King. Instead he stuck his finger in and pulled out the deeds and kept the houses for himself.

Answer: Jack

"Jack Sprat could eat no fat.
His wife could eat no lean.
But, together both,
They licked the platter clean."

One of the theories behind this rhyme is that Jack Sprat referred to King Charles I. According to this possibility, the King wanted to wage a war against Spain but the Parliament did not support it, leaving him with 'no fat' (no funds) for the war. As a result, he dissolved the Parliament. Instead his wife, Queen Henrietta Maria, levied a war tax on the citizens.

Answer: Not

"Old MacDonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O!
And on his farm he had a cow, E-I-E-I-O!
With a moo-moo here and a moo-moo there,
Here a moo, there a moo,
Everywhere a moo-moo,
Old MacDonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O!"

You can keep expanding on this rhyme by using a different animal and their sound each time - horse (neigh), duck (quack) etc.

Answer: Jack

Unlike the other rhymes in this quiz, this one is much longer. It is a cumulative tale type of rhyme where each subsequent line builds on the earlier one.

"This is the house that Jack built.
This is the cheese that lay in the house that Jack built.
This is the rat that ate the cheese
That lay in the house that Jack built.
This is the cat that chased the rat
That ate the cheese that lay in the house that Jack built.
This is the dog that worried the cat
That chased the rat that ate the cheese
That lay in the house that Jack built."

And so it goes on. Another similar rhyme which gets progressively more bizarre is "There Was an Old Lady who Swallowed a Fly".

Answer: Not

"Little Tommy Tucker
Sings for his supper.
What shall we give him?
White bread and butter.
How shall he cut it
Without a knife?
How will he be married
Without a wife?"

"Little Tommy Tucker" is a term that was used in the 18th century, when this rhyme is believed to have been written, to describe orphans. 'To sing for one's supper' meant to entertain a crowd at a pub or tavern in return for free food. It was commonly used for wandering minstrels who played and sang to earn their meals.