Celebrating 200! Trivia Quiz

Answer: Cart man

Though shopping carts are more common in larger supermarkets than convenience stores, there are some of the latter that offer this service to their guests, as well as baskets for smaller purchases. The shopping cart was invented by businessman Sylvan Goldman in the 1940s. The owner of the Oklahoma supermarket "Humpty Dumpty", Goldman noticed that women coming into the store with children had trouble managing their children and their shopping items (even if these were inside a basket) at the same time. The tool was developed further throughout the years, such as with the introduction of motorized shopping carts for people with certain disabilities. A golf cart can also be a handy way of getting around a golf course; these are frequently driven by caddies.

In "The Simpsons", one of the longest-running animated series in history, Apu Nahasapeemapetilon is the owner and operator of the "Kwik-E-Mart" convenience store. The store satirizes real-life companies like 7-Eleven, and jokes are often made about the high prices and questionable quality items (notably, the hot dogs sold at the cash register).

Answer: Kenny

World Wrestling Entertainment (or WWE) is one of the most successful professional wrestling promotions in the world. It changed its name in 2002 after a trademark lawsuit from the World Wildlife Fund over the WWF acronym, and at the same time, created the two separate brands of "Raw" and "Smackdown".

The WWE has various developmental territories for rookie wrestlers to be recruited and trained before being promoted to the main rosters. In 2005, when Deep South Wrestling in Georgia was still a developmental promotion for WWE, Kenny Omega tried out there and spent a brief amount of time at DSW, though he left shortly and never debuted officially in WWE. There have been several unsuccessful attempts to sign him, and instead, he has worked for other promotions like NJPW and AEW.

Kenny Dykstra, whose real name is Kenneth Doane, began his WWE career in developmental territories at the start of the 2000s decade. He debuted in WWE television as part of the Spirit Squad faction, primarily recognized for helping Vince McMahon in his feuds. He went by the name "Kenny" until the team was disbanded, wrestling as Kenny Dykstra until he was released in 2008.

Answer: Token

Unfortunately, racism has been present at various moments in the history of the United States. Though slavery was abolished by President Abraham Lincoln in 1865, Black and African-American people kept facing racism and bigotry in the country, especially in the Southern states that opposed Lincoln's actions.

The Civil Rights Movement led by Martin Luther King Jr. and the subsequent Civil Rights Act of 1964 were important in the fight for equal rights. To adapt to these legal changes, some employers chose to implement new requirements (such as a high school diploma, which Black Americans were unlikely to hold) for jobs with better pay.

Some other businesses, in order to appear inclusive, hired a small group (or even a single person) of non-white races to give the appearance of inclusiveness.

In modern times, this practice of tokenism is still observed with other groups of people, including Latinos, members of the LGBT community, and in some instances, women (many studies have indicated that a majority of boards of directors have few or no women in them).

Answer: Philip

"Notable Phils" asked about the lives of famous people with that name, which in Greek means "fond of horses". Some of these people included musician Phil Collins, golfer Phil Mickelson, novelist Philip Roth, soccer player Philipp Lahm, and actor Philip Seymour Hoffman. Interestingly, one notable Philip I didn't include in that quiz (and on second thought, maybe I should have!) is Prince Philip, the husband of England's Queen Elizabeth II, who holds the title of Duke of Edinburgh.

Another famous (yet fictional) Phillip is the son of Angela Martin and Dwight Schrute in the American version of "The Office". In season 8 of the show, Angela gives birth to her first son, Phillip Halsted Schrute. Though initially she claims it is the offspring of her partner, a state senator, it later becomes clear that Dwight was actually the father.

Answer: Kyle Kosier

Kyle Kosier was born in Arizona in 1978. He graduated from Arizona State University, where he played football on a scholarship. Through his nine-year professional career in the NFL, he played at three different teams: the San Francisco 49ers (who drafted him in 2002), the Detroit Lions (where he stayed only for one year), and the Dallas Cowboys (where he played from 2006 to 2011). Kosier suffered several injuries in his last years with the Cowboys, and he was released from his contract in early 2012.

Answer: Ike

Dwight D. Eisenhower was born in Texas in a family of seven children. According to biographies of Eisenhower, all of the boys were called a variation of the nickname "Ike", but the future president was the only one to keep it for the rest of his life. Eisenhower's military career started in 1911 when he joined the West Point U.S. Military Academy. He later worked on several domestic assignments and didn't participate in World War I (despite his wishes to do so). Years later, he would be selected to lead the Allied Forces in World War II, including the famous invasion of French North Africa dubbed Operation Torch, as well as Operation Overlord, which was a major step in the liberation of Europe.

Eisenhower ran as a Republican in the 1952 presidential election and, with the now-famous slogan "I Like Ike", defeated Democrat Adlai Stevenson by a large margin. The result repeated itself in the 1956 election, even after Eisenhower had a heart attack while in office. Democrat John F. Kennedy succeeded Eisenhower, and after Lyndon B. Johnson's presidency, Richard Nixon (who served as Eisenhower's vice-president) became the 37th President of the United States.

Eisenhower died in Washington D.C. in 1969; a solemn ceremony was held at the U.S. Capitol. He was buried, as per his wishes, wearing his World War II uniform.

Answer: Venezuela

Venezuela is a country in South America, bordered by Brazil, Colombia, and Guyana. Originally a Spanish colony and later part of the Gran Colombia under the leadership of Simon Bolivar, it became a republic of its own in 1831. Nevertheless, its flag remained strikingly similar to Colombia's, as did Ecuador's, using the same blue, red, and yellow color scheme. Despite a short stint in democratic government by activist Romulo Betancourt, the country was ruled by military leaders for much of the 20th century.

Venezuela is an oil-rich country, and as a result, it benefited from the effects of the Yom Kippur War in the Middle East in 1973. Despite this brief economic prosperity era, left-wing populist Hugo Chavez rose to power in 1999 as the leader of the Bolivarian Revolution. During the presidency of Chavez, which lasted until his death in 2013, Venezuela's currency devaluated several times and the country began seeing high levels of poverty.

Answer: Butter

Butter is made from the separated fat of milk. Though typically from cow's milk, butter can be made with other types of milk as well. Butter was a major staple in the Middle Ages and turned into an even more demanded good when its production became industrialized. Inventions like Gustaf de Laval's centrifugal cream separator played a crucial role in the success of butter as a commercial product.

Butter is used in many different countries for many different purposes. The French, for example, are known for using copious amounts of butter when baking pastries like croissants. In India, a variation of clarified butter called ghee is prominently used.

Answer: Chef

"Chef" means "leader or boss" in French, but it is most frequently used to refer to the head of a kitchen or a person preparing food (instead, the French use the words "patron" or "patronne" when talking about their boss). In a normal kitchen, the chef de cuisine or head chef is in charge of the food and operations and is many times simply regarded as "chef". Within the kitchen, there are other titles containing the word, such as sous-chef (the chef's assistant and second-in-command), chef de partie (a cook in charge of a particular station), and other specialty titles like sauté chef and pastry chef.

In a restaurant, a "chef" is not exclusively in the kitchen, but also in the front of the house. In the hospitality industry, it is regular practice to have a head waiter (or chef-de-rang) in a particular section of the dining room. They oversee lower-level servers, often called commis, and bussers.

Answer: South Park

All of the answer choices allude to a character of the acclaimed Comedy Central TV show, "South Park". I thought it would be a fitting theme for my 200th quiz since many of the ones I've written are about the show. "South Park" premiered in 1997 and was created by Matt Stone and Trey Parker. It is an animated sitcom that follows the daily lives of four boys in a small town called South Park, in the state of Colorado. The series has been criticized, especially when it first aired, for its reliance on fart jokes and other content perceived as immoral. The show has won multiple recognitions, including several Emmy Awards.

Q1: "Cart man" refers to Eric Cartman, one of the main characters and a fan-favorite despite his self-centered, narcissistic, aggressive, and occasionally racist personality.
Q2: Kenny McCormick is another of the main characters of the show; he is significantly poorer than most of the other children and sometimes gets mocked for it (mostly by Cartman).
Q3: Token Black is one of the show's only black characters; indeed, he was the only child in South Park to be black until season 16. As the name suggests, Token is used to mock the idea of tokenism as something that doesn't really solve any real problems.
Q4: Phillip is one half of the Canadian TV show within "South Park", "Terrance and Phillip". The pair is featured in many episodes, some of them focused on them as the protagonists.
Q5: Kyle is the first name of one of the show's main characters, Kyle Broflovski, who, like the question's correct answer choice, is Jewish. Kyle often serves as the voice of reason and reflection, particularly at the end of episodes.
Q6: Ike is Kyle's baby brother. He is originally from Canada and was adopted by the Broflovski family.
Q7: Mr. Jose Venezuela is the janitor at South Park Elementary School, depicted as a stereotypical immigrant from Latin America.
Q8: "Butter" is a reference to Butters Stotch, one of the boys from the show beloved for his innocence. He is frequently seen aiding Cartman with his evil plans, though often unknowingly, and became a more important character in the show's later seasons.
Q9: Chef was a recurring character during the first ten seasons of the show. The school cafeteria's chef was voiced by Isaac Hayes, who left "South Park" after taking issue with its portrayal of Scientology.