Names Are Not Always What They Seem Quiz

Answer: A sea fish with a flat body and white flesh

The John Dory, sometimes called 'St Peter's fish', is found in all the warmer oceans. It may have been named after the hero of a sixteenth century sea shanty. It has meaty, delicately flavoured flesh and is often used for fish and chips. A chain of fish restaurants in South Africa also uses the name.

Answer: Both of these

Elvira Madigan was the professional name of the circus artiste Hedvig Jensen. She eloped with a married Swedish cavalry officer in 1889, but the affair ended tragically in a suicide pact. The story was made into a film in 1967 and Mozart's concerto was used in the sound track. The name Elvira Madigan has been used informally for Mozart's beautiful piano concerto ever since.

Answer: Any sailor

The name comes from the days of sailing ships. When all ships used sails, the crew used tar for many purposes. They made waterproof cloth (tarpaulin) by soaking linen in tar, and they used it to preserve the ropes and cables of the ships. Some even used it as a hair dressing! 'Jack Tar' was the equivalent of the modern 'John Doe' for a sailor.

Answer: Both of these

Jethro Tull was an early scientific farmer who invented the horse drawn seed drill and hoe which revolutionised large-scale farming in the 17th century. His name was then used by the long-lived British progressive pop group, formed in 1967, that has sold more than 60 million albums.

Answer: The first person from Europe on record to visit Timbuktu

Mungo Park (1771-1806) was a Scotsman who was an early explorer of the interior of West Africa. He explored the course of the Niger River during two expeditions and was killed on the river in 1806. Park is a fairly common Scottish name; another Mungo Park was a 19th century golfer.

Answer: Both a Liverpool street and a Beatles song

Penny Lane is the name of the street in Liverpool where the youthful John Lennon and Paul McCartney would catch a bus into the city centre for a night out. It has become famous as the title for the nostalgic Beatles song from 1967 included in "Rolling Stone" magazine's list of the '500 Greatest Songs of All Time'.

Answer: Physicist who patented many radio inventions

Oliver Lodge (1851-1940) was an English physicist and inventor who was an early pioneer of radio; for example, he patented radio frequency tuning. The U.S. Senator and Ambassador to the United Nations was Henry Cabot Lodge, no relation to Oliver Lodge. The Prime Minister of Australia's residence is just called 'The Lodge'. There is no such hotel in the Lake District.

Answer: Roman road across England

The Fosse Way is a remarkably straight 2000-year-old Roman road that ran 230 miles from Exeter in South-west England to Lincoln in the East. It marked the western edge of the settled part of Roman Britain, and therefore of the Roman Empire. Many parts of it are still used as modern roads. The other alternatives are all invented.

Answer: Fictional secretary to Perry Mason

Della Street is the secretary of the defense attorney Perry Mason in a series of books, stories, films and TV programmes by Earle Stanley Gardner. In the long-running series on TV, she was played by Barbara Hale. The other alternatives are all invented.

Answer: American actor, director, writer and producer

The actor Ben Affleck (born 1972) has had a very successful career, including winning two Academy Awards. Although Affleck is a Scottish surname, and although 'Ben' is used to name many mountains in Scotland, there is no mountain called Ben Affleck in Scotland. Ben Affleck's name sounds like it should be a Scottish mountain, but it is not.