Things That Are In the Middle Trivia Quiz

Answer: Crackle!

The first character, Snap!, was created by artist Vernon Grant in 1933. The other two characters -- Crackle! and Pop! -- were added in 1939. They appeared on the cereal box, in print advertising, in comics and eventually on television. Their names were chosen because they are onomatopoetic to the sounds made by Rice Krispies when milk is poured into the bowl. The word "crackle" derives from the Middle English verb "crackelen" which derived from the Old English "cracian" meaning to make a crackling noise. Compare the Proto-Germanic "krakojan."

Answer: a place far away from civilisation

The idiom "in the middle of nowhere" is used by urban people to describe any place which is far from the city, rustic, remote, and bucolic. Such a place is not only far from tall buildings but is also one where people and houses are few and far between. Such a place may not be literally remote but seems to be, when seen from the perspective of a city dweller.

The (somewhat snobby) expression has been common since the late 19th century.

Answer: musicology

Middle C is the first note of the C-major scale. It is associated with the term "do" (pronounced doh) when the scale is sung with words. Scientifically, middle C is 261.625565 hertz. Middle C is struck by depressing the fourth C key from the left on a standard piano keyboard with 88 keys (which is why its scientific denotation is C4).

Answer: Earth

Middle Earth is a continent imagined by J.R.R. Tolkien, the setting for "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings." Balrogs (also known as Valaraukar) were Maiar in the service of Melkor. They were tall humanoid creatures surrounded by flame. Ents (also known as Onodrim) were tree-like creatures who protected forests of trees.

They were sentient; the Elves taught them to speak. The River Running (also known as Celduin) was a river of 600 Númenórean miles which flowed from the Front Gate of the Lonely Mountains, through the Long Lake and down through Rhovanion to the Sea of Rhûn.

Answer: Stealer's Wheel

Gerry Rafferty and Joe Egan wrote "Stuck in the Middle with You" and recorded it with their band Stealer's Wheel in 1973. The album did well, the single did better in Britain and overseas, and ascended the US Billboard Hot 100 chart to number six. Director Quentin Tarantino used it on the soundtrack of "Reservoir Dogs" (1992).

It was also used on the soundtrack of an episode of "The Wonder Years" also in 1992.

Answer: Early, High, and Late

Not all scholars will agree but the consensus is that the Middle Ages in Europe extend from the 5th century into the late 15th century. These dates reflect the fall of the Western Roman Empire on one end and the beginnings of the Age of Discovery, the Reformation, and the Renaissance on the other.

While there is not complete agreement on the divisions of the Middle Ages, there is general assent to dividing them into Early, High and Late.

Answer: transfer of waves from air to cochlear fluid

Sound waves are collected by the outer ear and resonate on the eardrum. In the middle ear, these acoustic waves in the air are converted into fluid waves within the cochlea. The middle ear is "housed" in the tympanic cavity, surrounded by the temporal bone.

While the middle ear also has other functions, its primary role is in converting sound waves in the air into sound waves in the fluids of the ear where they can be sensed and encoded by the auditory nerve.

Answer: 154-160 pounds/69.85-72.57 kilograms

Since 1840, the middleweight division of boxers has allowed a weight of 154 to 160 pounds (69.85-72.57 kilograms). The class was created because it was thought to be unfair to pit middleweights against much larger heavyweight opponents. The other weight classes given are "tweeners": light middleweight (147-154 pounds/66.67-69.85 kilograms), super middleweight (160-168 pounds/72.57-76.20 kilograms); cruiserweight (175-200 pounds/79.37-90.71 kilograms).

Answer: Frankie Muniz

The six-season television series revolves around an adolescent with an IQ of 165 which is very much out of place in his family. Humour follows. Frankie Muniz played Malcolm to great success. He has since appeared in motion pictures, television and as a voice actor in animations.

He was a contestant in "Dancing with the Stars." He was also a somewhat successful open-wheel race car driver.

Answer: China

The word "China" is not a term used by the Chinese to identify their own country. The Chinese word "zhongguo," which is how Chinese refer to their nation, means literally "middle kingdom." There are several senses in which this may be understood. For many centuries, the Chinese perceived themselves to be surrounded by uncultured barbarians and believed that they were the center of culture.

There are also Chinese writings which explain that China is an intermediary state between heaven and its gods and the rest of the world.

Answer: a city in the English midlands

Evans' novel was subtitled "A Study in Provincial Life." She set her characters in a fictional town which she called Middlemarch. The story is set in 1829-1832. Unsurprisingly, she touches issues of marriage and the role of women in society, as well as upon politics and religion. Perhaps the most entertaining bits involve the townspeople's resistance to change.

Answer: the middle of the road

Finding itself somewhere between Roman Catholicism on the one hand and Protestantism on the other, Anglican theologians often describe their path as the "via media" -- a Latin term meaning the middle way. The term is not original in this context but was rather previously used to describe an ethic advocating moderation in all things. Aristotle (384-322 BCE) was a proponent.

In a political context, the via media describes centrism -- a philosophy which stakes out a position between the extremes of left and right.

Answer: Sikhism

The Middle East comprises the Levant, Arabian Peninsula, Anatolia (including modern Turkey and Cyprus), Egypt, Iran and Iraq. In his novel "Skinny Legs and All" (1990), author Tom Robbins states that the Middle East is the vagina through which the major religions were born and through which a new order of humanity must be born, as well. Sikhism arose in the Punjab area of South Asia, in what is now India and Pakistan.

The Baháʼí Faith was founded in Iran in 1863. Zoroastrianism was founded in central Iran 3500 years ago.

The Druze Faith arose in the Levant (Lebanon, Syria and Israel, in particular).

Answer: to divide anything into two equal parts

This modern expression arises in two distinct contexts. When two people are faced with the necessity of paying a bill for something from which they both benefited, the suggestion may be made that they "split it (the bill) down the middle" meaning that each pays an equal share.

When a committee or other group tasked with making a decision finds that they are equally divided as to the proper outcome, they may be described as "split down the middle" in the sense of being tied.

Answer: average, normal

Playwright Samuel Beckett (1906-1989) wrote his first novel, "Dream of Fair to Middling Women," in 1932 but no house would publish it. It was published three years after his death. English novelist Arthur Calder-Marshall (1908-1992) wrote "The Fair to Middling," a children's story, in 1959. From the early 1800s, the phrase "fair to middling" has been used to identify something which is average, normal, or typical.

It is an Americanism. It was first used to describe commodities -- cotton, cattle, rice, sugar -- but later came to be used to describe all manner of things and conditions. ["Fair to midland" is either a mondegreen or a slander on Midland, Texas.]