Pun Fun Trivia Quiz

Answer: Portent

A clairvoyant is believed to have the power of divination, to be able to foretell the future, or to have specific feelings, good or bad, about various events or objects or people. The word itself derives from the French "clair" and "voyant", which together mean clear vision. Science, of course, pooh-poohs the idea of clairvoyance - but who knows? It's fun to play around with, or to poke fun of, but could be dangerous if taken too seriously. I have the power of clairvoyance, did you know that? Whenever I put anything in the oven to be cooked, I know it's going to be a disaster.

The pun here combines the word "portent" (the ability to see into the future) with a poorly erected tent in a camping ground, ie, a portent.

Answer: Maritime

Marriage, take it or leave it, love it or hate it, is a union of love (hopefully, anyhow) between two people, usually officiated over by a church minister of some kind, or a registered non-church associated officiant, or a highly unromantic government official. Today, in Australia, various government departments, when calling for proof of identity, usually won't accept a marriage certificate, signed by a church minister and duly witnessed by two adult and qualified attendees at the ceremony - and insist on official proof of the governmental kind instead. All this tends to rather take romance out of the marriage equation. Moonlight and roses replaced by a rubber stamp.

The pun for this question combines the word "maritime" (the study of people, ships, nations at sea) - and the words "Marry Time".

Answer: Porcine

The word "porcine" refers to anything relating or pertaining to pigs or hogs. This is another word derived from the French language, as in "porcin", but also from the Latin "porcinus" or "porcus", all of which hover around the same meaning. Come to think of it, "porcinus" could also refer to a stuffed nose.

This pun combines that word "porcine" with the grumpy truck driver's response when asked how he had missed the turn off to the piggery - "Poor sign!"

Answer: Screwdriver

A screwdriver is a handheld tool, which, when slotted into the head of a screw, allows that screw to be tightened or loosened. "Screw" is a slang term used by prisoners to describe any prison officer, and surprisingly so, many officers describe themselves as such. One of the possible reasons given for this term is that screws were once used in the manacles fixed into walls to hold prisoners fast. A chauffeur is a driver of various luxury or government vehicles used to transport public figures or officials from place to place.

The pun for this question unites the slang term "screw" to describe a prison officer, and the chauffeur/driver of a luxury or official vehicle used to transport the prison warden here and there.

Answer: Plaintiff

The plaintiff, in a civil case before the courts, is the party seeking legal redress for alleged wrong done to him or her by the defendant who is just as vigorously fighting the charge. And no prizes for guessing which members in any court case makes the most money of all - those sturdy lawyers working for either side of the case.

The pun here combines the word "plaintiff" in any civil case before the court, with the words "plain tiff" which is just a silly little argument about nothing.

Answer: Custard's Last Stand

General George Armstrong Custer (1839-1876) was a US army officer who took part during the Civil War and Indian Wars in that country. Though graduating from West Point at the bottom of his class, Custer was considered a competent soldier who took part in various campaigns leading up to his demise. He was killed in the Battle of Little Big Horn against a united force of American Indians, when he split his army into three battalions - and was outflanked, out manoeuvred and outgunned by the far superior numbers of his opponents. Overly romanticised by a hero hungry press, this has gone down in history as "Custer's Last Stand".

This pun combines the dessert treat of "custard" in its various forms, as it faces certain death in the science fiction author's peculiar tale of a fighting pudding, with "Custer's last stand" in which he, too, had his existence cut short.

Answer: Deduce

Sherlock Holmes, the annoying know-it-all private detective created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is a fictional hero (for want of a better word) famed for his acute powers of observation, scientific knowledge, logic and deduction. He "deduced" everything in sight, in fact, and it's not at all surprising he never got married. The fathead would have driven any woman mad.

The pun here unites the word "deduce", as in reasoning, with the deuce - "de deuce" - usually considered the lowest card in a suit of cards, depending which game one plays.

Answer: It peeled

The sun is both a curse and a blessing. Mostly a blessing, as its power is essential for life, but sometimes here in Australia, it can be a curse. Too much of it can cause skin damage, either temporary or more permanently so. With a mild dose of sunburn, however, what usually happens is that, as the skin dries out, it begins to peel off in a few days in unsightly strips or flakes.

That is what happened to our heroic spud in this pun. It was sunburned - and its skin began to "peel" off, just like its fate when its skin is peeled off prior to being cooked and consumed by man at dinner.

Answer: Bonaparte

Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821) was a French military and political giant (of a short man) who rose to power in that country during the French Revolution, took his country to great heights, and initially won various brilliant military campaigns during the wars that followed on from the Revolution. But the bigger they are, the harder they fall, and Napoleon ended his days as a prisoner of the British on the lonely island of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic.

This question's pun combines Napoleon's surname, "Bonaparte", with the words "bone apart" used by the flippant doctor to describe the fractured arm of his unfortunate patient.

Answer: Belief

On the Third Day, after God created the seas and dry land, he created the trees and the plants (Genesis 1:11-13), lovely blooms each filled with fruit and designed with its own particular delicate, trembling "leaf". A belief or beliefs is trust, faith and conviction in the reality and truth of any given concept, whether it be religion, life style, politics, history, science - anything.

This question, then, just for fun - and even God had a sense of humour (he created camels, didn't he?) - combines the word "belief" with a possible command that God may have given plants to "Be leaf".