Mad As A Hatter! Trivia Quiz

Answer: Toque blanche

In the 2017 movie "Ratatouille", Remy the rat dreams of becoming a great chef but he's a rat and the last thing anyone wants in a kitchen! He hides under a chef's hat while proving his culinary prowess. A chef's hat is a tall, white, starched and pleated hat.

It's known as a "toque blanche" which means white hat in English. It's the traditional headgear for professional cooks and this modern, well-known version of the toque is thought to have been popularized by a chef named Marie-Antoine Carême who stiffened his hat with cardboard.

Answer: Saying something without really understanding it

There are many idioms involving the word 'hat.' This one means to speak nonsense, particularly about a subject that you know nothing about (but profess to know about). The origin of the phrase is interesting. It's thought to be related to the term bluffing from the United States in the late nineteenth century.

There is also some thought (although not confirmed) that it's related to Parliament in Great Britain and the requirement to wear hats there. Other meanings of the phrase are related to rambling while intoxicated or lying in order to mislead someone.

Answer: Robin Hood

A bycocket is a type of hat that both men and women wore in Europe between the thirteenth and sixteenth centuries. It is characterized by a wide, turned up brim in the back and a point (like a bird's beak) in the front. In France, it's called chapeau à bec which translates to 'hat with beak.' Originally it was worn by nobility and royalty and was decorated with feathers or jewels.

It became popular among the bourgeoisie. Robin Hood is most notably known as wearing this type of hat. Robin Hood's hat was a shade of green, to match the rest of his outfit.

Another character who wears a similar type of hat is Peter Pan.

Answer: Kramer

In this season seven episode of "Seinfeld" called "The Wig Master", George introduces Kramer to the person in charge of wigs for the play "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat." Kramer ends up borrowing the dreamcoat from the costume designer for the play. Meanwhile, he is parking his car at a discount parking lot where prostitutes frequent.

The lot loses his keys and he is forced to drive a pink Cadillac. He is also given a walking stick by Elaine. All of these unrelated events add up to a very funny moment where Kramer is prancing down the street in his fancy coat with his walking stick. An older lady loses her large hat which blows down the street toward Kramer, who picks it up and puts it on.

It perfectly complements his outlandish outfit.

He goes to his Cadillac and finds a prostitute in there so he asks her to leave. She lashes out at him and as they're arguing, it looks like a pimp harassing a prostitute. Police sirens can be heard approaching and he is arrested.

Answer: Ushanka

The ushanka hat is a fur hat with ear flaps that can be tied up above the head. The hat is typically worn in Baltic regions and offers great protection against cold winters. It is generally made from sheepskin, rabbit or muskrat fur. The hat is associated with the Soviet Union and Russian armies and was, in fact, standard issue for Warsaw Pact armies as part of their uniform.

It is also used in Canada, China and other countries with cold winters.

Answer: Red and white

The very distinctive cat in "The Cat in the Hat" wears a red-and-white striped hat, and a red bowtie around his neck. He gets into all kinds of adventures with Sally and her brother to help occupy them on a boring, rainy day. The book was published in 1957 and was written and illustrated by Dr. Seuss.

He wrote it as a response to a debate about child literacy in the United States and has been quoted as saying that it's the "book I'm proudest of because it had something to do with the death of the Dick and Jane primers." The book was well received as soon as it was published and was seen as a great alternative to the typical books used to help young children learn to read.

It's been turned into a TV special and a live-action movie.

Answer: White hat hacker

There are several types of computer hackers and their hat color is symbolic of the type of hacking they do. The white hat hacker is considered an ethical hacker and is someone who looks for security risks in a computer or network. The name comes from Western films (where typically the good guy wears a white cowboy hat and the bad guy wears a black cowboy hat).

A white hat hacker can be an incredibly useful employee to have as they should be able to anticipate and avoid security vulnerabilities. There are also black hat hackers who hack for malicious intent and there are also grey hat hackers. Grey hat hackers look for security risks but do so sometimes without permission.

Answer: Philip Treacy

When Philip Treacy was just in his early twenties, he got a big break when he was asked to work at the Chanel showrooms in Paris by designer Karl Lagerfeld. The first hat he designed was called the 'Twisted Birdcage' and was worn by supermodel Linda Evangelista on the cover of "Vogue" magazine. Treacy would work for Chanel for about a decade. Treacy has designed hats for so many people in the public eye.

He's designed hats for the "Harry Potter" film franchise. Actress Sarah Jessica Parker has worn his hats to movie premieres and the MET Gala. Royalty has worn his hats and so has model Naomi Campbell and singer Grace Jones. Treacy has won the British Accessory Designer of the Year several times and his designs have been displayed in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. One of his designs is even on display at Madame Tussauds wax museum in London.

The Lady Gaga wax figure there is wearing a telephone hat with removable handset he designed for the singer.

Answer: The Full Monty

In the 1997 British comedy "The Full Monty", a group of men are desperate to earn money and decide to create their own striptease act. The film is set in Sheffield, England, and shows the struggles of unemployed men (most of them former steel workers). Robert Carlyle, Tom Wilkinson and Paul Barber star in the movie. For a comedy, it touches on some pretty heavy subjects, including unemployment, fathers' rights and body image.

At the end of the movie, the brave group go on stage and do their routine to the song "You Can Leave Your Hat On". For those who may not have seen the movie, I won't tell you if they leave their hats on or not.

The movie was nominated for a number of Academy Awards and won for Best Score.

Answer: Mercury

There are some interesting ideas about the origin of the phrase. One is related to mercury poisoning associated with individuals who worked in the hattery industry in England in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Mercury was used in the production of felt, which was common in the creation of hats during that time. It is associated with Korsakoff's Syndrome or mercury poisoning, which was characterized by memory loss and speech problems.

The term is associated with the man who shot John Wilkes Booth. Booth, who shot Abraham Lincoln, was trapped in a barn. A man by the name of Boston Corbett had him trapped and decided to shoot him versus arrest him. Corbett, who worked in the hat industry, was considered "mad as a hatter" for that decision. A few years later, Corbett ended up in an insane asylum, from which he escaped and was never seen or heard from again.