Sea, Sigh, So, Sum Trivia Quiz

Answer: P

Try saying "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers" five times quickly! This nursery rhyme cum tongue twister has three more lines, all of them utilising a plethora of Ps. First found in published form in the early 19th century, it is believed to have been known at least a quarter century earlier possibly referring to a French horticulturist named Pierre Poivre (Peter Pepper).

Answer: W

None of us would be here playing and writing quizzes online without the World Wide Web, brainchild of Englishman Sir Tim Berners-Lee. Without going into more detail than I'm capable of doing (without confusing myself), the web is where fun websites like FunTrivia live and we access these using browsers and other nifty bits and bobs that make everything work.

Answer: H

In the course of her education by Professor Henry Higgins in "My Fair Lady" (1964), one of Eliza's tasks is to pronounce her aitches correctly. She must say "in Hertford, Hereford and Hampshire hurricanes hardly ever happen", instead of her natural "in 'ertford, 'ereford, and 'ampshire 'urricanes 'ardly hever 'appen".

She is to pronounce these words towards a burning candle, whose flame flickers each time she pronounces an H. When eventually she's "got it", she and Higgins and Colonel Pickering rejoice and sing about this and the rain in Spain and other such wonderful phrases.

Answer: F

"Fee-fi-fo-fum, I smell the blood of an Englishman" is what the giant in "Jack and the Beanstalk" declares, going on to imply that the Englishman will soon be eaten by the giant, if the latter has his way. The alliterative phrase is similar to ones used in earlier written works, including Shakespeare's "King Lear".

It is possible that it is in fact a coherent Gaelic phrase expressing that a tasty and filling meal has been spotted.

Answer: S

"She sells sea-shells, by the seashore" is another one of those tongue twisting rhymes that employ alliteration to test our elocution skills. Like many such tales and rhymes there is a real person behind it, in this case a woman named Mary Anning (1799-1847) from Dorset in England, who sold not only sea-shells, but fossils that she found by the shore, contributing to the scientific knowledge of the time.

Answer: M

"Make Mine Milk" is a promotional slogan that has been used at different times in both the United States and United Kingdom (and possibly elsewhere) to encourage people to drink milk, both for the sake of their health and the well-being of the dairy industry.

The UK campaign in the early 21st century has featured celebrities like chef Gordon Ramsay, Rupert Grint (aka Ron Weasley) and others sporting "milk mustaches".

Answer: D

"Darkly Dreaming Dexter" by Jeff Lindsay introduced us to Miami blood-spatter analyst Dexter Morgan, whose sideline was murder. What made him less loathsome was his choice of 'victim' - other serial killers. The television series "Dexter" (2006-2013) starring Michael C. Hall made him even more popular.

Answer: L

The alliterative phrase here is "long lost love", which is well-illustrated by the UK television series "As Time Goes By" (1992-2005). Judi Dench and Geoffrey Palmer play a couple who had been in love in their youth, but were separated when he went off to serve in the army, and an important letter was lost. Each meet and marry someone else, are eventually widowed, then happily stumble into each others' lives again after nearly forty years.

Answer: R

"Around the rugged rock the ragged rascal ran" is yet another tongue twister that is suitable for polishing one's pronunciation (or in this case, the rolling of one's Rs). A version of it is used in the speech lessons scene of "Singin' in the Rain" (1952). It is sometimes written as "round and round the rugged rocks..." and other slight variations.

Answer: B

"Betty Botter bought some butter, but, she said, the butter's bitter..." and so on for several lines about buying better butter to make her batter better than the bitter butter made the batter. You get the idea, I think. A version of the rhyme was first published in "The Jingle Book" in 1899, and variations of different lengths exist.