The Many Meanings of "Run" Trivia Quiz

Answer: They have been delayed and will arrive at the restaurant later than expected.

Perhaps they were "running errands" or taking care of other business, but they've gotten a late start - or else they've been delayed along the way - so now they're behind schedule and they can tell that they're going to be late for our rendezvous at the restaurant.

They're pretty busy people, though, and I was kind of expecting this; I'll just bring a book to the restaurant, so I can read while I'm waiting.

Answer: Brunhilde's stocking became partly unraveled.

The end of a stocking's life is heralded by the dreaded "run": once a small section gets torn or stretched, the stocking begins to unravel in that area - and the unraveling spreads up and down. If you don't catch it soon enough (nail polish is a great way to stop a run in its tracks), you end up with a long, skinny vertical section where the threads are just barely hanging on, or have given up entirely. How embarrassing for poor Brunhilde! She'll probably want to buy new stockings soon.

Answer: They aren't anything special.

"Run-of-the-mill" means ordinary or average; the idiom is believed to refer to the output of a standard production run of a mill, or factory. A run-of-the-mill object isn't handmade or lovingly quality-controlled; it's just the standard, mass-produced product. I think Brunhilde's going to vote against the buffalo wings and for the fried onion!

Answer: Plumbing: they'll have to get their water from outside the tent.

The phrase "running water" refers to water that moves, be it in a streambed, a riverbed, or pipes. "Hot and cold running water," however, can only refer to the water that courses through modern plumbing, which can emerge from the tap either heated or at room temperature. This is not a common amenity while camping in the great outdoors!

Answer: She is free to do whatever she wants.

To have the run of a place is to be completely free within that place: you can go where you like and do what you like. For example, a pet has the run of the house if there are no closed gates or doors, and no rooms it has been trained not to enter. In our school days, Janine forged so many hall passes and caused so much trouble with them that she wasn't allowed in the hallways during class even WITH a pass! If we'd known to vote on it, we would certainly have named her Least Likely to Have the Run of the School.

Answer: We're going to practice entrances, exits and other cues on Thursday.

A "dry run" is a practice, a rehearsal before the big day, but it isn't usually a complete practice: it's just going through the motions, so to speak. It's "dry" because some critical element has been removed - in this case, the actual performances. We'll just be practicing the transitions, and trusting the performers to handle their own acts.

A full practice would be a dress rehearsal. The phrase "dry run" could also refer to other situations - like industrial tests, or airline simulations - where only certain parts of the procedure are being practiced.

Answer: Cricket

Players of lacrosse and football (or soccer, as it's known in the U.S.) refer to scoring events as "goals," reflecting the fact that the ball must be put through a goal in order to score. For a similar reason, basketball players score points by making a basket! It's cricket players (along with baseball and softball players) who score runs, because in those sports, it is a player's progress around the field - in other words, his or her running - that determines the score.

Answer: They had a confrontation.

To have a run-in with someone or something is to have an unfriendly or difficult encounter with them. It turns out that Arun and his boss had a disagreement about the best way to hold eating utensils at a business luncheon; luckily, they were able to come to a civil resolution!

Answer: He was impaled with a sword.

A person who has been run through has been stabbed with a blade so that there is both an entry wound and an exit wound. It's a popular way to dispatch enemies in movies like this one. However, in this particular case, the filmmakers had already blown their special effects budget on a particularly cheesy fight scene involving the hero and three octopuses (octopi? octopodes?), and they didn't have enough money left to make the dramatic death scene look believable.

The sword "blade" was clearly just tucked under the actor's arm, and the extras had hilarious expressions as they wondered who on earth thought that this would work.

Answer: She is campaigning to be elected to a public office.

American political candidates "run" for office, while British ones "stand" for office, but major elections in both nations tend to be energetic affairs with spirits running high on all sides. Brunhilde is hoping to become a member of the council of our small town, so her run for office might actually be more of a sedate stroll - but perhaps the election will surprise us!

Thank you for sitting in with me on this dinner with my friends. It made a big difference to be able to run everything by you!