These Foolish Things Trivia Quiz

Answer: Ship

This work was a poem, written in German, and described 110 foolish actions, each undertaken by a different fool. The theme is of a ship carrying the group to the Island of Fools, Narragonia. The first edition was illustrated by a series of woodcuts, which are believed to be early work carried out by Albrecht Dürer.

Answer: Scotland

Lulach was stepson to Macbeth, being the son of Macbeth's wife and her first husband. He succeeded Macbeth to the throne on 15 August 1057 and was crowned at Scone Abbey, Perthshire. The stone of Scone, the traditional coronation stone for kings of Scotland, was taken by Edward I in 1296 and not returned to Scotland until 1996, where it is now kept at Edinburgh Castle. Lulach did not last long as king, as he was killed by Malcolm Canmore, who had also killed Macbeth, in March 1058. Malcolm then claimed the throne as Malcolm III. Shakespeare took poetic licence with the historical facts when writing the play about Macbeth.

Answer: Alexander Pope

The saying dates back to Pope's 'Essay on Criticism' which was published in 1709. Fool at the time meant someone who had acted foolishly, not someone lacking in intelligence, and the 'Essay' was referring to literary critics. The phrase has passed into common usage as means that inexperienced people may attempt to do something which it is wiser to leave alone. Shakespeare created many well known sayings, but this was not one of them.

Answer: Alaska

The USA bought the area now called Alaska in 1867 from the Russian empire, which was then led by Tsar Alexander II. William H Seward was the Secretary of State and led the negotiations on behalf of the USA. Because of its remoteness and the inhospitable nature of the region, the purchase was not universally popular.

As well as 'folly', the transaction was also called 'Seward's icebox' and Andrew Johnson's 'polar bear garden'. Alaska became a state in 1959.

Answer: Heart

'My Foolish Heart' was based on a short story written by J D Salinger, and is probably best remembered for the title song. It was produced by Sam Goldwyn and received two Oscar nominations, one for Hayward and one for the song. Salinger hated the film so much that he refused to allow any of his other work to be filmed.

Answer: John Cougar Mellencamp

At the time, Mellencamp was recording under the name of John Cougar, although this album was the last released under that name before he started using Mellencamp as well. From 1991 onwards he dropped the Cougar from his name and used his real name of John Mellencamp. 'American Fool' included the hits 'Hurts So Good' and 'Jack and Diane', the latter being the only song to make any impact on the UK charts.

As he was the only American singer given as an option, this should have been a big clue.

Answer: Halfwit

Other synonyms are idiot, imbecile, dunce, clown, wally and many others, some of which are no longer politically correct.

Answer: Norman Wisdom

Wisdom was born in London in 1915, and had a successful film career where he usually played an incompetent of some description, aided by slapstick comedy. For these parts, he often dressed in clothes too small for him with a flat cap and crumpled tie. Wisdom's great skill was in managing to bring out the pathos of his characters - displaying the 'tears of a clown'.

He appeared as 'Chick Williams' in the film 'The Night They Raided Minsky's' in 1968, but had to curtail his American career due to personal problems in the UK.

Answer: Mr. T

The show involved Mr. T (real name Laurence Tureaud) advising people how to solve their problems by teamwork. It ran on TV Land and does not seem to have crossed the Atlantic to the UK. The title came from the catchphrase of Mr. T's character in Rocky III, James 'Clubber' Lang, who stated 'I don't hate Balboa, but I pity the fool'. George Peppard, who died in 1994, Benedict, Schultz and Mr. T all appeared in the television series 'The A-Team'.

A 2010 film of 'The A-Team' featured guest appearances by Benedict and Schultz, although Mr. T declined an invitation to appear.

Answer: German

Dummkopf literally means 'stupid head' and the expression appeared in many comics featuring the second World War, along with 'achtung' and 'schnell'. Although not in common use in the UK, it is one of the words that occasionally appears in newspaper reports and does not need a translation when used.