Black Is Back Trivia Quiz

Answer: No

Black can only absorb light, but without the ability to reflect it back. It's basically colourless. How sad. We describe this visual impression of no light being reflected back to our our eyes as "black" because it's easier to say that than, for example, "A cat with a coat without the ability to reflect light has just crossed my path".

Therefore, for the purposes of the remaining nine questions in this quiz, when I refer to black, take it to mean our common understanding of the word - a colour.

Answer: Black Watch

The Black Watch, also known as the Royal Highlanders, is an infantry battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland. Its name is said to have come from the colour of its dark tartan. Though the uniform has been altered from time to time over the years, the original name has remained. In a ceremony led by Queen Elizabeth in 2011, the unit's traditional colours were retired.

Answer: Panda cars

The cars were named pandas because they were originally painted with large black and white panels. Today, even though British police cars can be seen in any number of different colours, the name "panda cars" still lingers on in many areas. Black is associated in many cultures across the world with roles of authority or seriousness, as the following examples indicate: The Spanish riot control units, many senior religious figures in Christianity or the Jewish faith, academic cloaks for those at graduation ceremonies, black tie functions, the dress of conservative Islamic cultures, and so on.

Answer: My true love's hair

This beautiful, haunting song first became popular in the Appalachian Mountains region of the United States in 1915, but it is believed to have originated from Scotland somewhat earlier. The song has been adapted several times since to mean the colour of the hair of either a man or a woman.

Other words have been added to, or removed from the song periodically as well over the last hundred years. The tune was also altered by American composer John Jacob Niles, who didn't like the original version at all. So, in fact, there's hardly anything left of the original song at all. Periodically, well known singers have revived the song, in one form or another, since its original debut, with perhaps the most well known being Nina Simone's version in the middle of the 20th century.

Answer: Dichotomized

The term means that there are two clear and opposing sides to the issue at hand, with no middle ground or modifying points in between. In fact, many philosophers argue that "unless a distinction can be made rigorous and precise, it isn't really a distinction" at all. Oh blah, blah, blah.

Answer: A star that has burnt out

A black dwarf is created when a white dwarf has become so cool that it no longer emits any light or heat. This however is a hypothetical proposition. A white dwarf is a small dense star whose light is caused by the emission of stored thermal energy. It takes billions of years to create a white dwarf, longer than the age of our universe, so no black dwarf star is evident in our universe - yet. Beam me up, Scotty.

Answer: Rugby Union

The reputation of the All Blacks is stellar in the field of international rugby and they hold the record of being the only rugby team to have beaten, at one time or another, every other rugby team in the world. There are twenty top ranked rugby teams internationally, and only five of these have managed to ever win a game against the All Blacks. Famous for the traditional haka they perform before each match for the benefit of the opposing team, they quite frankly present a terrifying sight when they do so. Playing cricket against the Kiwis is definitely safer.

Answer: Scrying

Most commonly done with a crystal ball, scrying can be done with any reflective surface such as crystal, glass, mirrors, water, fire or smoke. It has been practised in many cultures since the year dot, and those who practise this art believe that their visions come from God, or the spirits, or the devil, or other supernatural means. I'm not sure God would approve of being lumped in with those groupings myself.

The practice is not smiled upon by mainstream science, but oh well, as Shakespeare would say, "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy".

Answer: Catharism

Cathars were a sect described as having dualistic (a God of good and a God of evil) and gnostic (the salvation of the soul through the realisation of esoteric or intuitive knowledge) elements. They appeared in the Languedoc area of France and other parts of Europe in the 11th century, and were at their height during the following two centuries - and they clashed head on with the Catholic church because of their beliefs. Among these, they denied the resurrection of Jesus, stating that resurrection for anyone was really reincarnation; that the earth hadn't been created by God but by the devil; and that our human life here was actually hell.

It makes fascinating reading if you ever have the time. They also believed that procreation was undesirable, but that sexual activity was permissible, leading to many accusations of sodomy being brought against them.

At first the church tried to steer them back to mainstream religious belief, but when all attempts at that failed, the Albigensian Crusade began against them. That crusade, and the inquisition which sprang from it, brought about the complete eradication of the Cathar religion.

Answer: Cowboy movies

It's quite interesting really to see the continual association in the world of entertainment of black for villains and white for heroes. This has also been evident going back to old live performances as well - such as melodramas, where the villain was always dressed in black as he tossed the virtuous heroine, clad in white, into the cold, cold snow. Evil witches too in the field of entertainment were always dressed in black, and good fairies trotted around in divine creations of white - as in the 1939 film "The Wizard of Oz" for example. And of course there's black magic and white magic as well.

It doesn't stop there however. In the word of computers for example, a blackhat is "an attacker of evil intentions"; the 1929 Wall Street crash is referred to as Black Tuesday, as was Black Monday, the stock market crash in 1987, and several other like occasions.

In 1970, Black September in Jordan was a time when thousands were killed, and there was a Black July in Sri Lanka in 1983, and a Black Spring in Algeria in 2001, all along similar lines. Nor must we overlook the Black Hole of Calcutta and the Black Death. Poor old black, the list is endless.

It's had a very bad press. It's either seen as villainous or authoritarian, and perhaps even both sometimes. And all because it doesn't reflect the light.