A Few Things About Everything (Part 7) Quiz

Answer: Agnetha Fältskog

Agnetha! I remember how the audience used to focus on her. Anni-Frid was the brown-haired one, but she always came second behind Agnetha, even though she was also very good-looking and a good singer. "ABBA" is made of the initials of the four members of the group: Agnetha, Björn, Benny and Anna-Frid.

Anna Karvaelus and Adriana Volkesktrum are just names I made up.

Answer: Ebola

Full name: "Ebola hemorrhagic fever". That disease can also be caused by: Ebola virus, Sudan virus, and Taï Forest virus. The fatality rate is estimated at 70%. There are a few treatments available today, but some are still experimental, and none have been efficient enough to cure the Ebola-affected patients.

"Trypanosomiasis", or "sleeping sickness", is transmitted by the bite of the tsetse fly.

"Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)" is caused by a virus called Lentivirus and affects the auto-immune system.

"Malaria" is a mosquito-borne infectious disease which is successfully treated with Quinine and Chloroquine, among several antimalarial agents.

Answer: A spy ring working for the Russians, operating in Great Britain

The "Cambridge Five" spy ring included Kim Philby, Anthony Blunt, Guy Burgess, Donald Maclean and John Cairncross. The ring and its proponents were discovered in 1963. Four of them were British intelligence officers except Blunt who was an art historian. All five spied for Soviet Russia.

The other three are just fictional.

Answer: Shalako

"Shalako" was a western film.

"You Only Live Twice" was filmed in 1967. "Murder on the Orient Express" was filmed in 1974.

Sean Connery starred in all three, that is: "Shalako", "You Only Live Twice" and "Murder on the Orient Express". Brigitte Bardot only starred in "Shalako".

"Rider on the Rain" is a French mystery thriller starring Charles Bronson.

Answer: Steganography

From the Greek "steganos" = hidden and "grapho" = I write. Steganography also enables you to conceal a file or an image in a message, image or file.

"Stenography" means "shorthand writing". "Cryptography" typically turns a clear message into code but does not embed a message into another.

The term "Encryptionography" does not exist.

Answer: A Berber nomad

"Targui" is the singular form. The plural is "Tuareg". In English, the plural is often written with an "s" (Tuaregs) although the "s" is not necessary.
The Tuareg are Berber nomads who live in the Sahara, mainly in Niger, Mali, Algeria, Libya and northern Burkina Faso.

"Tuareg" (or "Touareg") is also the name given to a car made by Volkswagen. The Latin word for "slave" is "servus" (hence our modern word: "servant"). As for the "fennec" it is a kind of fox that inhabits the Sahara.

Answer: Reindeer steak

The Norwegian name is very close to its English equivalent: "reinsdyr" for "reindeer" and "steik" for "steak. It is roasted and served with a sauce and veggies.

Cured and smoked mutton ribs are called "Pinnekjøtt", fermented trout is "Rakfisk," and I can't remember what the name for the hare is but I had it on another day and it was great.

Answer: Marilyn Monroe

Looks like Marilyn knew what she was talking about... or did she?

Answer: Bankers

That term is derogatory for "Swiss bankers". Most Swiss banks are located in Zurich.

Answer: Anne Boleyn

Anne Boleyn was the second wife of Henry VIII (he had a total of six wives!). After a number of miscarriages Anne gave birth to Elizabeth. Henry VIII had Ann Boleyn executed on alleged charges of adultery and incest! I love that king!

For records:
Jane Seymour was his third wife.
Anne of Cleves was his fourth wife.
Catherine Howard was his fifth wife.
Not mentioned here are his first wife: Catherine of Aragon, and his sixth wife: Catherine Parr.

Answer: Loess

Loess is formed by the accumulation of silt. Silt is a material half-way between sand and clay.

Limestone and Feldspars are sedimentary. Sedimentary rocks are types of rock that are formed by the deposition of material at the Earth's surface.

Quartz is a crystal. Crystals are formed by magmatic processes. Most igneous rocks are formed from molten magma.

Answer: Nothing, he is dead and buried

That expression is equivalent to the English: "Push up daisies".
Literally translated: "he is sucking dandelions by the tail" where "pissenlit" is the French name for "dandelion" and "queue" means "tail" and stands for "root" in this instance.

A variant is: "sucer les pissenlits par la racine" where "racine" means "root" (translated literally in English: "suck the dandelions by the roots").
"Dandelion" comes from the French "Dents de Lion" (Lion's teeth) because of the plant's pointed leaves.

"Pissenlit" also comes from the French "Pisse en lit" which means "Pee in bed", because the plant is considered to be a powerful diuretic.

Answer: Arithmetics

Arithmetics: the basis of mathematics: addition, subtraction. multiplication, division, percentages, fractions, square roots, exponentiation, and logarithms.
(a*b)/c is a simple multiplication whose result is divided. For instance, using whole numbers: 6 multiplied by 4 = 24 and 24 divided by 3 = 8.

Answer: A butterfly

Not all butterflies pollinate plants, only some species, but I could be one of them.

"Ladybirds" are beetles and belong to the "Coccinellidae" family. They can fly short distances and if one land on your hand, it's good luck. Flies don't pollinate.

Mosquitoes belong to the Culicidae family. They don't pollinate either. Some species are harmless but others are little vampires, especially the females who will feed on blood and even transmit diseases like malaria and yellow fever.

Answer: Abigail Smith

Abigail Adams (born Smith) was the mother of John Quincy Adams, who became the sixth President. John Adams frequently sought the advice of his wife on various matters mainly regarding politics and government.

Martha Wayles Skelton was Thomas Jefferson' wife (3rd President). Rachel Donelson was the wife of Andrew Jackson (7th President). Anna Eleanor married Franklin D. Roosevelt, who was the 32nd President from 1933 till 1945.