Black and White and Red All Over Quiz

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. What word means a maker of beer or a major-league baseball player in Milwaukee?

Answer: Brewer

The current Brewer franchise was founded in Seattle in 1969 as the Pilots and then moved to Milwaukee the next season. From 1970 to 1987 the Brewers played in the American League, winning the AL pennant in 1982, only to fall to the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series.

In 1998 the franchise was switched to the National League. Paul Molitor and Robin Yount are identified in the Hall of Fame as Brewers, while Henry Aaron, Rollie Fingers, and Don Sutton are other Hall of Famers who spent time in the Brewer organization.

2. This word is a verb meaning to edit a text by removing objectionable material, which usually diminishes the text's quality. The term refers to an English doctor who published an expurgated version of Shakespeare's works in 1818.

Answer: Bowdlerize

Actually it was Thomas Bowdler's sister, Henrietta, who did the editing in an effort to make the work more appropriate for women and children. For example, "God!" was replaced by "Heavens!" and Lady Macbeth's "Out, damn spot!" was replaced with "Out, crimson spot!"

3. What is a person who goes through a bank to buy a car, or a role referenced in some good advice by Polonius in the first act of "Hamlet": "Neither a ______ nor a lender be..."?

Answer: Borrower

The "Hamlet" quote is spoken by Polonius to his son Laertes, who is departing for Paris from Denmark. The rest of the quotation goes thusly: "For loan oft loses both itself and friend, And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry."

4. What six-letter verb tells us what one should do regarding a dog on someone's property, or, with a tip of the hat to Bill Shakespeare, regarding the Ides of March? I'm sure Julius Caesar could advise us.

Answer: Beware

Although "Ides" looks like the plural of "Ide", it can actually be interpreted as singular, referring to March, May, July, or October 15, or the 13th of any other month on the ancient Roman calendar. It can also be plural, indicating the seven days prior to each of the examples already mentioned. Wow, complicated. At any rate, Caesar should have paid better attention, eh?

5. From back in Shakespeare's day, let's jump forward to a term from the 1990s. What is a type of conflict that is waged against information and information systems, that can disable websites and networks, steal or alter data, and destroy financial services in faraway countries without requiring the perpetrators to leave their own territory?

Answer: Cyberwar

Cyberwarfare attacks took place in 1998 when the U.S. disrupted Serbia's air defense system, in 2007 in Estonia when government and business websites were brought down across the country, and in 2009 when a network called "GhostNet" accessed government and business systems in over 100 countries.

6. What do we call a felt hat with a rounded crown (a "derby" in the US), a man who rolls a ball down an alley to knock down pins, or a "pitcher" in cricket?

Answer: Bowler

The origins of bowling go back a long ways. In 1930 primitive bowling balls and pins were found in an Egyptian tomb dating before the reign of Menes, or Narmer, who is credited with first uniting Upper and Lower Egypt. Other claims to bowling's origin point to balls that would be rolled at "kegels", or clubs, as part of a religious ritual in Germany around AD 300. "Kegelspiel" is the German term for bowling, and sportswriters today still refer to bowlers as "keglers."

7. What term can refer to an animal (like a deer) that feeds on leaves, twigs, and berries (as opposed to grazing on grass), or a person casually looking at items for sale in a shop, or a computer program that is used to find specific information on the internet?

Answer: Browser

Disadvantages to browsing as opposed to grazing include the possibility of less nutritious food available, and the possibility of the height of targeted food making it less available. Deer tend to be browsers while cattle and sheep are grazers.

8. What word refers to dishes, crockery, glasses, and eating utensils like forks, spoons and knives, that are used at mealtime? (Think of where a family might sit for a meal together.)

Answer: Tableware

"Random House" dates "tableware" to 1825 to 1835, while the "Online Etymology Dictionary" cites a date of 1852. The suffix "-ware" is used for all sorts of articles associated with tableware, such as flatware, dinnerware, silverware, chinaware, and earthenware vessels.

9. As one word, our next term is a braggart (aka a windbag) who constantly expounds his opinions, especially about himself, and whom people dislike. As two words, it is what one must do to extinguish a large number of birthday candles after making a wish.

Answer: Blowhard

According to "Random House", the term "blowhard" is an American slang expression originating around 1850 and 1855. Another source indicates that "blow-hard" is a sailor's expression originating about 1790.

Blowing out birthday candles goes back to the ancient Greeks. Evidence also exists that Germans were burning birthday candles in the 18th Century. Many ancient societies believe that smoke carried prayers and wishes to the gods or spirits.

10. Our last word originated in the New York Colony and meant a farm or plantation of Dutch settlers there. As a result, it became the name of a section of lower Manhattan in the Big Apple, known for cheap bars and petty criminals. It was also the name of a group of "Boys" in several films from 1946 to 1958, who had been known as the "Dead End Kids" in a 1937 movie and then as the "East Side Kids" between 1940 and 1946. What is this leafy word?

Answer: Bowery

Leo Gorcey, who played Terrence Aloysius "Slip" Mahoney, owned 40% of the "Bowery Boys" franchise. He had also starred in the "East Side Kids" movies. Also in the films were Leo's brother, David, who played Chuck, and Leo's father, Bernard, who played Louie Dumbrowski, owner of the malt shop where the gang hung out.

The Bowery Boys appeared in 48 films.

Source: Author shvdotr

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor looney_tunes before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

Can you think of words with the letters "B", "W", and "R" in them? All correct answers will contain at least one "b", "w", and "r" in that order. Nouns will always be singular -- no "s" at the end. Have fun!

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