How Green Was My Quiz

Answer: Weddings

Gretna Green (located close to the England/Scotland border) was traditionally one of the most popular locations for weddings in the United Kingdom. The reason for this was differences between English laws and Scottish laws about marriage, with Scottish laws being more lax after the 1754 Marriage Act came into effect in England. Later in the 18th century, infrastructure improvements made Gretna Green more easily accessible from England.

[Question contributed by bernie73.]

Answer: Green Onions

Formed in 1962, the group consisted of Booker T. Jones on the Hammond organ, Al Jackson on drums, Lewie Steinberg on bass guitar, and Steve Cropper as the lead guitarist.

Originally, "Green Onions" was issued as the B-side to another track, titled "Behave Yourself", but following much acclaim from listeners, it was quickly re-issued as the A-side. The song peaked at Number Three in the Billboard Hot 100 chart in September 1962, then 18 years later, in 1980, entered the UK singles charts, where it stayed for 12 weeks following its inclusion in the soundtrack of the film "Quadrophenia".

[Question contributed by moonraker2.]

Answer: Mortal Kombat

Reptile appeared in the first "Mortal Kombat" game, and could be unlocked by following certain conditions. The game dropped hints as to what these were. Players had to perform a Fatality on the Pit stage after achieving a double flawless victory, while a shadow passed the moon in the background, and they were not allowed to block (which caused problems for people playing Sonya Blade, as her Fatality involved blocking). Reptile appeared as a playable character in the sequel and later games, with the ability to turn invisible and spit acid. He also became increasingly lizard-like in appearance.

Jade, along with the grey ninja Smoke and the black ninja Noob Saibot, was one of the unlockable characters in "Mortal Kombat 2". Players had to win a fight using only low kicks in order to unlock her. She made her debut as a playable character in "Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3". Her trademark weapon was a spear, though she also used a boomerang. Both she and Reptile started out as palette swaps of the characters Mileena and Kitana, and Sub-Zero and Scorpion respectively, though they gained their own individual looks when the series stopped using digitised actors and switched to 3D.

[Question contributed by Kankurette.]

Answer: plum

Greengages are cultivars of the European plum, which originated from a kind of wild plum with green fruits found in Iran. They are smallish fruits with a distinctive round-oval shape and pale green flesh; the skin, while generally green, can have a yellowish, bluish or even reddish-purple tinge. Mostly grown in Western Europe, these plums are highly prized for their rich, sweet taste, and are used to make jams and confections as well as eaten on their own. In France, greengages are known as "Reine-Claude" (a name also used in other countries such as Italy, Germany and Portugal), in honour of Queen Claude of France, the consort of King Francis I.

[Question contributed by LadyNym.]

Answer: Dyed yak hair

Lou Ferrigno's make-up for the CBS television series "The Incredible Hulk" (1977-1982) took almost three hours to apply each time, and his shiny green contact lenses were very painful to wear, but he endured. He WAS the Hulk after all. The wild green wig he wore was made from yak's hair, which is somewhat amusing because Lou wasn't allowed to yak at all, only growl. (That growl, by the way, was voiced in the first two seasons by Ted Cassidy, who had played Lurch in "The Addams Family".) Lou Ferrigno wasn't the first choice, however. Richard Kiel (who played Jaws in the "James Bond" movies) was due to play the role, but he wasn't muscular enough. Arnold Schwarzenegger also auditioned for the part -- but he wasn't tall enough. Then Lou came along, and he was just right -- so they ate him all up.

[Question contributed by Creedy.]

Answer: He was traded midseason.

Green started his basketball career with Los Angeles, playing for the Lakers from 1985-1993. He then signed as a free agent with Phoenix where he played from 1993-1996. In was during the 1996-97 season that he was traded to Dallas. Dallas had played one less game than Phoenix at that point, allowing Green to play 83 games for the season. He stayed in Dallas through the 1999-00 season, then closed out his career with a year back in L.A. and one final season in Miami.

During his iron man streak, he also played 153 playoff games, and one all star game. In all he missed only three games during his entire career, all coming in the 1986-87 season.

[Question contributed by Shadowmyst2004.]

Answer: Green Green Grass of Home

Written by Claude 'Curly' Putnam Jr, this song was recorded by a number of country artists before Tom Jones had an international hit with his 1966 release. He recorded it after hearing Jerry Lee Lewis's version while in New York City for an appearance on Ed Sullivan's variety show, a staple of Sunday evening television at the time. In 2006, Jones made a guest appearance on a Jerry Lee Lewis TV special called "Last Man Standing", and they performed it together.

[Question contributed by looney_tunes]

Answer: The Green Mile

"The Green Mile" (1999) was nominated for four Oscars, including Best Picture, but did not win any of them. It was beaten for the big prize by "American Beauty" (1999).

"The Corn Is Green" (1945) was nominated in the two supporting acting categories only, winning neither. The actor was John Dall, the actress was Joan Lorring. "How Green Was My Valley" (1941) won five Oscars, including Best Picture. "Green Book" (2018) won three Academy Awards, including a somewhat surprising Best Picture Oscar.

[Question contributed by spanishliz.]

Answer: House of Commons benches are covered in green.

The early modern period of European history stretches from the year 1500 (the close of the late Middle Ages) until the beginning of the Age of Revolutions (1774-1849). During this period the colour green became associated with the banking industry, the wealthy rising merchant class, and pip-pip, old bean, the gentry. The nobility, on the other hand, became associated with the colour red. You'll notice the two colours, reflecting those societal classes, occurring in many famous paintings from this time period as well. The distinction remains in UK's Houses of Parliament when they meet. The benches for the members of the House of Commons are covered in green, while the House of Lords deposit their regal backsides on benches of red.

[Question contributed by Creedy.]

Answer: "How Green Was My Valley" - Charles Dickens

Richard Llewellyn wrote "How Green Was My Valley" (1939), about a family and a mining community in south Wales during the Victorian Era and narrated by one of the sons, Huw Morgan. Though English born, Llewellyn was Welsh by descent, and he gathered material for the story from mining families in Gilfach Goch (Red Nook), a village in the Borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf in south Wales. "How Green Was My Valley" won international acclaim, including the American Booksellers Association's National Book Award for favorite novel of 1940. The book was made into a 1941 Hollywood movie starring Roddy McDowall as Huw, and it was adapted for TV by the BBC in 1960 and 1975. Llewellyn followed "Valley" with a sequel, "Up into the Singing Mountain" (1960), about Huw's emigration to the Welsh colony in Patagonia, a region of mountains, deserts, grasslands, and fertile lowlands (pampas) in Argentina.

[Question contributed by gracious1.]