The Seven Dwarfs: Bashful Trivia Quiz

Answer: The Passions

The new wave one-hit wonders The Passions were formed in 1978 in Shepherd's Bush, London and existed for just five years, splitting in 1983. Releasing a total of eight singles, they are best remembered for the 1981 hit single 'I'm in Love with a German Film Star' which reached its highest position at number 25 in the UK Singles Chart, was their only single release to make an impression in the charts and featured the song '(Don't Talk to Me) I'm Shy' on its 'B' side. For those much younger players who may be unfamiliar with vinyl records, this old medium had, in its 7" format, and in most cases, a single song recorded on each side!

Question courtesy of Sister Seagull, not to be confused with those other Eighties new wave songsmiths, A Flock Of Seagulls.

Answer: Great White

Although it was written by Ian Hunter, "Once Bitten, Twice Shy" was made popular in 1989 by hair metal band, Great White. The track was a hit, charting Top Ten in both the United States and the United Kingdom. This track, along with "The Angel Song" were the two biggest hits from Great White's 1989 album, "Twice Shy."

Contributed by TemptressToo, who isn't the least bit bashful.

Answer: Paruresis

According to the International Paruresis Association's website, it is estimated that seven percent of the population of the US (21 million people) have "Bashful Bladder Syndrome." Paruresis is the inability to urinate in the presence, or potential presence, of other people. It's often treated with "gradual exposure therapy" of the sort used to treat many other phobias and anxiety disorders.

Question tinkled out by Kana205.

Answer: He refused to take a mistress

Boleslaw's nickname is sometimes given as "the Chaste" or "the Shy", although "the Bashful" has a nice alliterative ring to it. In 1239 he married the daughter of the King of Hungary, but she was extremely religious and declined to fulfil her marital obligations - a bit of a problem at a time when producing an heir was a key reason for any dynastic marriage. To make matters worse, Boleslaw was himself of a religious bent, and refused even to take a mistress, giving rise to his nickname. Despite this, he ruled for 36 years, before being succeeded by his nephew, Leszek the Black.

Sadly, Leszek seems to have inherited his uncle's shy nature, because he too failed to produce an heir - although in his case his wife, Gryfina, seems to have been keener, because she publicly blamed Leszek for not consummating their marriage.

Question shyly posed by stedman.

Answer: Hatschi

Hatschi ("Atishoo!") is Sneezy in German. Timide is French (Spanish uses Timido). Pimpel is the German name for Bashful's character and Mammolo (the name of a bright red grape) is Italian.

Comparative name charts abound online, which leads me to believe that many other people try to remember the name of reindeer and diminutive people. Here are a few more for Bashful: Stidljivko is Croatian and Bloosje is Dutch.

Question submitted by Bruyere, who also certainly isn't known for being bashful.

Answer: They didn't name any of the dwarfs

That is right, the Brothers Grimm did not name any of the dwarfs.
The first names were given, probably, in the Broadway play "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" in 1912; the names were Blick, Flick, Plick, Glick, Snick, Whick and Quee. Purzelbaum appeared in the 1961 movie "Scneewichen" and Ferdinand in "Mr Magoo's Little Snow White" in 1965. Bashful came from the Disney version of the story.

The Brothers Grimm, Jacob (1785-1863) and Wilhelm Grimm (1786-1859), published the tale in Germany 1812, but it was known across Europe for a long time before that.

Question submitted by the darksplash, who owns up only after a bit of arm-twisting by team leader solan_goose.

Answer: Mouse

'To a Mouse, on Turning Her Up in Her Nest with the Plough' to give this lovely poem its full title, was written by the great Scottish national poet Robert Burns in 1785 and the legend surrounding it says that Burns wrote it after finding a nest whilst out walking in the winter. Kindly allow me to translate;

'Small, crafty, cowering, timorous little beast
O, what a panic is in your little breast!
You need not start away so hastily
With argumentative chatter!'

Robert Burns was born on the 25th of January 1759 and died at the age of 37, on the 21st of July 1796, but during his short life became looked upon by the Scots in a manner similar to that in which the English consider William Shakespeare being known in his homeland simply as 'The Bard'. Although much of his writing was in English, so as not to restrict his audience to just the Scots, he also wrote in the Scots language as well as in a Scots dialect. Some of 'Rabbie's' best known works include 'A Red, Red Rose' and, one of my favourites, 'To a Louse' which was written by Burns after witnessing a louse crawling in a woman's hat whilst he was sat behind her in Kirk... That's a 'church' to us Sassenachs!

The second fine contribution to this quiz by Sister Seagull, who never lets any bushels near *his* light.

Answer: They blush often.

Erythema, derived from the Greek for "red", refers to any unusual reddening of the skin. Sometimes, erythema arises from a medical condition, such as malnutrition or infection, but blushing - in which blood flow increases to the skin of the face - is a normal reaction to embarrassment or romance. Just because it's normal doesn't mean it's always pleasant, though; many people prefer not to telegraph their emotions, especially in romantic or embarrassing situations! Erythrophobia, a deep fear of blushing, is both understandable and unlikely to help.

Some people suffer from severe, frequent, unprovoked blushing, which can be treated medically.

CellarDoor is embarrassed to say that it took her a while to come up with this question.

Answer: Carlsbad Caverns National Park

Carlsbad Caverns National Park is in the southeast of New Mexico. Although home to over 118 caves, two-thirds of this park is set aside as wilderness to guard against over-development and Carlsbad Caverns is the only complex kitted out for casual tourists to visit. There are a number of animals that live within the park, but none of them are the delightful Bashful Elephant, which is one of the most visited formations in the caverns! It looks exactly like a small elephant trying to hide from the nearly half a million people who visit the caves every year. Bless.

DeSoto Caverns is in Alabama, Blanchard Springs Cavern is in Arkansas, and Lost Rivers Caverns is in Pennsylvania.

Kana205's second question in this quiz owes nothing to false modesty.

Answer: Athens

The name comes from the playwright Aristophanes - in a few of his plays he calls it that, because of its association with the king Ion ("ion" is "violet" in Greek.) There's probably some connection with the colour of the evening sky over nearby mountains, as well - these names stick because they are apt in more than one way. And stick it did: Pindar, Plutarch, Macaulay, Wilde - they all have used the term to refer to Athena's city.

agony has never been to Athens, but she does have little Johnny Jumpups violets gradually taking over her back lawn.