In Other Words Trivia Quiz

Answer: red

Red light is that part of the electromagnetic spectrum that has a wavelength of
about 650 nanometers, and "photic energy" is light, so this person must be so angry that they are "seeing red."

A popular myth surrounding red is that matadors use a red cape because it drives the bulls to an insanity of aggression. This, however, is not true, as bulls are colorblind and cannot even see the hue of the cape. The red cape is used because it signifies danger to us humans, and is, therefore, used for dramatic and entertainment purposes. It has been shown, however, that in humans, red CAN invoke violent and aggressive feelings and behavior in people who are already predisposed to violence or aggression. This is why institutions such as prisons and mental institutions NEVER adopt a red color scheme.

Answer: glass

This pedantic sentence simply means that "People living in glass houses should not throw stones."

Glass occupies a unique niche in our understanding of materials in that there is no clear scientific consensus on whether it is a solid, or a liquid with an extremely high viscosity. For a long time, antique glass (particularly that on old European churches) seemed to provide proof that glass was a liquid. The glass at the bottom of the panes was always thicker than that at the top of the panes on the old glass, but this was not seen in newer glass. This led people to believe that over time, the glass was flowing toward the lowest point, just as a liquid would. This was debunked, however, when panes of glass began being discovered with the heavier side toward the top, rather than the bottom. After investigation, it was shown that the glass on the old churches was made in a process that made uniform thickness very difficult to obtain. Since the heavier side was safest to put at the bottom, that's what they did, and the thicker part at the top was probably a result of improper installation by the workmen. Today, there is a movement to declare glass another, distinct state of matter known as the "vitreous state." This, too, though is still being debated.

Hominan=member of the zoological family Hominidae, this branch of which only modern humans have survived.
Vitreous=glassy, glasslike
Petrescent=rocky, rocklike, rock

Answer: drink

"Equus caballus" is merely the scientific name for the horse, and, of course, hydrogen oxide is nothing but water. So, this cliche would be, "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink."

Although there are exceptions, usually whichever way a horse's ears are pointing, that is the way the horse is looking. Since a horse has the facility of monocular vision (seeing in a different direction with each eye) as well as binocular vision (seeing in one direction with both eyes, which it can do only when looking down its nose) if a horse's ears are pointing in two different directions, it is LOOKING in two different directions. However, if a horse's ears are all the way back, this usually indicates anger and not its direction of vision.

Answer: milk

The lachrymal ducts secrete tears, bovine means "of cows," and, of course, lacteal fluid is milk. What we are saying here is that Mama cow has just caught you "crying over spilt milk."

Despite the ubiquity of cow's milk in our culture, evidence is mounting that it is not good for human beings, especially infants. Cow's milk is specifically designed as a short-term nutrient for baby cows. To this end, it has much, much more protein than does human milk. A calf has to double its body weight in about 45 days, while a human infant requires about six months to do this. This much protein in the lacteal fluid of another species cannot be good for ours. Our babies need fatty acids that promote higher brain functions and intricate muscle movement, and these are not present in cow's milk. It should also be quite telling that the vast majority of the world's population does not drink cow's milk, even when they do raise cows for meat.

Answer: flies

"You can catch more flies with honey than you can with vinegar," is all that's being said here.

There are some of us who are inherently good at swatting flies, but most of us are not---and researchers have found out why. With the use of super-fast video film, flies have been observed to anticipate the trajectory of the blow, shift their legs so that they are prepared to jump in the opposite direction, ready their wings, and then evade the swat, all within two hundred milliseconds. This is remarkable given the dimensions of a fly's brain, which is the size of a poppy seed. But all of that visual acuity and swat-evading processing power is also the source of another very annoying thing about flies---how when you shoo them away, they make a circle and come right back, over and over again. Entymologists theorize that the small brain, so heavily engaged in escape and evasion, has had to sacrifice memory for the processing power it uses to avoid swats. So, by the time the fly has gotten out of the way of your swatting hand, it has forgotten all about why it flew off in the first place, and dutifully comes back to what initially attracted it to your vicinity.

Musca domestica=taxonomical name of the housefly
Apian=of bees
Saccharine=sweet
Acetic acid=vinegar

Answer: Chicken

Never "count your chickens before they hatch." "Gallus domesticus" is the taxonomic name for the chicken, and ova means "eggs."

After sequencing a 68 million-year-old piece of DNA from the mighty Tyrannosaurus Rex, it was found that the chicken is one of the two closest living relatives to the fearsome dinosaur (the ostrich being the other). Although this would seem counterintuitive (as crocodiles, alligators and other reptiles appear outwardly to be more closely related), scientists have long suspected as much, because comparative anatomy revealed many similarities in the skeletons of the creatures. Also, the scaly legs and sharply taloned feet of the chicken are vestigial giveaways.

Answer: Silver

An "amalgamation of airborne water vapor" is, I'm sure you could easily guess, simply a cloud. Since argentum is the Latin name for silver, then what we are saying is "Every cloud has a silver lining."

The South American country of Argentina is named after the (poetic) Spanish word for silver ("argento"), which itself is derived from the Latin word. Early Spanish explorers noticed quite quickly that when they made friendly contact with the natives in this land, they were often presented with gifts of silver. This led them to believe, and rightly so, that this place was rich in silver, and they named it Argentina, or, "the land of silver."

Answer: The blink of an eye

Of course, an ocular organ is an eye, and nictitation is blinking, so we're talking about the "blink of an eye."

The human eye is so important that the muscle that has been developed to control the opening and closing of the eyelid is the fastest in the human body. On average, we blink about 15,000 times a day, and women will blink twice as often as men.

Answer: Bite the hand that feeds you

Mastication=biting and/or chewing; manuductory organ=hand; nutritional sustenance would equal food.

Speaking of hands, the modern word "sinister" was actually the Latin word for "left-handed." The Romans thought that left-handed people were unlucky and it was such an ill omen to be left-handed, that the word came to be synonymous with "evil," and survives to our day as such. To the contrary, the Latin word "dexter" meant "right-handed," and today to be dexterous means to be sure-handed, adept, deft, and skillful in physical movement, especially of the hands.

Answer: True

This is, indeed, another one about the hand, since the thumb is a part of the hand. The actual name for the thumb is "pollex" from a Latin word meaning strong, so "regulation of the pollex" would be "rule of thumb."

Well, thanks for taking this quiz. I hope it wasn't TOO easy! Until next time, Bye-bye!