Misleading Words Trivia Quiz

Answer: A tree which produces catkins

A pussywillow is a small tree which is native to Europe, the north west of Asia and the northern parts of the USA. It produces lovely fluffy little flowers known as catkins. When the leaves emerge after the catkins have finished blossoming, they're a lovely rich green colour, greatly favoured in Chinese decorations in particular.

In many northern European countries, because palm trees do not grow well in such climates, flowering pussywillow branches are used as substitutes during the Christian celebration of Palm Sunday.

Answer: A moth

The dwarf pug is a species of moth found in Europe, and more particularly so in the colder areas of that continent. It feeds on spruce, larch and fir trees. It's quite a tiny little creature, measuring no more than half an inch from wing to wing, and comes in a delicate scalloped pattern of grey and white.

Answer: An old type furnace for smelting iron

These fascinating old pieces of equipment were initially made out of clay, stone, or even earth, and packed so densely that their walls were heat resistant. They looked a little like overturned flowerpots. A pipe fed in through one of walls at the bottom, which, when attached to bellows, allowed air to enter the furnace. On another side was another small opening to allow for the burning of charcoal. The ore to be smelted was broken up into small pieces and dropped down with equal amounts of more charcoal through an opening at the top of the furnace onto the already burning charcoal below. Amazingly so, the heat within then alters the content of the iron oxides in the small pieces of ore into metallic iron, BUT without melting the ore. Instead they drop down to the bottom of the bloomery into a mass. This is later reheated to remove the impurities and then beaten into the required shape.

This is even more amazing. By altering the heat and air flow within the furnace, the iron ore can be changed into steel as well! These old bloomeries have been found from eras in history dating back to more than 3,000 BC. Oh my goodness, the mind of man and his thousands of inventions is a never ending source of fascination for me. How on earth did they ever think of that in the first place?

Answer: A fruit

The eggplant fruit is a member of the nightshade family and a relative of the potato and tomato plants. It is native to the continent of India and has been grown there for thousands of years. It's rather a pretty looking plant, all things considered. Its flesh, when cooked, has a vaguely pleasant sort of flavour, but its seed, which can also be eaten if you have numbed taste buds, has a sharply bitter taste.

This is because the seed itself is related to tobacco. And the origin of its common name, the eggplant? Where it was grown in Europe, the fruit was a white or yellow shade, and its shape is such that, with those colours, it reminded those who cultivated it of the eggs of geese and hens. Poor birds, if so.

The eggplant is rather a large plant. Squawk!

Answer: Terminology used in court procedings

In court proceedings, a rebuttal is some form of evidence or proof that disproves, or rebuts, statements or claims made by the other party in the case being tried. This rebuttal must only revolve around the claim, evidence, or statements that are being rebutted.

There are a lot more stipulations regarding same. Then, however, the rebuttal may be rebutted in turn (oooh, I'm getting a headache from all this butting) and that is known as a surrebutter. A rebuttal to the rebuttal in other words. Perhaps a rebuttal to the rebuttal of a rebuttal is known as cholesterol problems.

Answer: A measurement

A barleycorn is an old Anglo-Saxon measurement of approximately 1/3 of an inch. The standard measurement qualification was that three barleycorns equalled an inch, or 1/12 of a foot. All measurements in turn were related to the yardstick. Interestingly, the old measurement for a foot before the Anglo-Saxons invaded and settled in England, was the Roman measurement of 11.65 inches.

After the Anglo-Saxons arrived, the measurement for a foot was based on the northern German one of 13.2 inches. Does that mean the Germans had bigger, flatter feet? By the end of the 13th century, the size of the modern foot was introduced. That was 12 inches or 10/11 of the size of the Anglo-Saxon foot.

Answer: Plants with dainty bell like flowers

The foxglove is a pretty plant native to many continents of the world, except for the Americas. It has a delicate and visually pleasing appearance, and offers some remarkable breakthroughs in the health field, but can be deadly if consumed or used in the wrong manner. Medicines extracted from this plant are used in the treatment of various heart conditions, and in the treatment of epilepsy disorders. These are gradually being replaced by safer substitutes, however, as there appears to be a link between its use and an increased death rate in women. Overdosing on the medications produced from the foxglove plant can lead to anorexia, vomiting, diarrhoea, hallucinations, delirium, a slowing down of the heart beat, and a halo effect around objects in the line of vision. Goodness! This has led the foxglove in the past to be referred to as dead man's bells. A well earned nickname from all accounts.

This is fascinating: The tragic artist, Vincent Van Gogh (1854-1890) is said to have used products of this plant for various reasons - and the halo effect to vision that the plant can cause can be seen, particularly so, in his work, "Starry, Starry Night". Another danger of this plant is that it can be confused with another similar looking plant, comfrey, from which a tea can be brewed. Very big in the early days, that one. Making tea from the foxglove leaf, however, can have dangerous consequences. The foxglove is also poisonous for cattle, horses, cats, dogs and chooks. So all is all, though this plant has the ability to save lives, when its use is correctly monitored, it's best to give it as wide a berth as possible. It's as deadly as eating from the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil in the Garden of Eden.

Answer: A journalistic term

A dead donkey is a term used in journalism for small articles of no particular significance or interest that are inserted into newspaper columns to fill up space. These are also known as fillers. They are easily removed if a more significant story comes along before the papers go to press.

When researching this term to be sure of the fact, I googled same. You guessed it. Photographs of dead donkeys came up. One even had its poor little legs still sticking up in the air as if in mid-stride. I will in future avoid questions to do with dead donkeys.

Answer: A duck

And the prettiest little ducks you ever did see, particularly the male. The female, as with all bird species, is more subdued in colouring, but is still a charming sight. The male comes in lovely splotches of black and white with a very long tapering tail he holds up in the air as he swims along, hence this little bird's other name - the long-tailed duck.

These birds are native to the North Atlantic region of the world. Because of the negative connotions associated with the word squaw by a western world determined to be politically correct, the little duck's common name is now seldom used any longer. Yet, the question must be raised whether the discontinued use of an indigenous word that was long part of the Algonquian languages removes the ascribed negative beliefs held by a westernised conquering world at the same time?

Answer: Horse manure

What an odd, but very apt term. Apples fall by the wayside wherever they are planted - and horses aren't in the least bit particular where they let drop their little bundles either. Horse manure is excellent for fertiliser on your gardens should you care to try it out. The plants adore it. It's packed full of all kinds of good nutrients and essential minerals. Most animal manure is, except some, such as pig and fowl manure, have a rather stronger pong than others. Also, speaking from bitter experience, avoid treading in kangaroo manure whenever possible. It reeks. The one horse product to be avoided on the garden is possibly that of a race horse. These animals are fed a lot of corn, and unless you're into hobby farming, you'll end up with a fine crop of corn sprouting throughout your petunias. The use of the term road apple for horse manure is a fairly recent one. It emerged around the mid 20th century.

Did you know that if a horse replaced every car that is on the roads today in affluent countries, you wouldn't be able to move because of the manure thus produced? You could then say that affluent countries were effluent countries.