What or Where: Now That's a Good Question Quiz

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. You have an appointment in a place where there is a sphygmomanometer. Where are you?

Answer: Doctor's office

A sphygmomanometer is that device which the doctor wraps around your arm to measure your blood-pressure, so that is where you are for your appointment. Hope you get a good reading.

The Greek word "sphygmos" for a pulse was combined with words relating to the measurement of pressure to coin this word in 1891.

2. You are visiting a New England whaling museum. What kind of artifact would you expect to see there?

Answer: Scrimshaw

Scrimshaw is a handicraft originally created by whalers. They would take whalebone, mainly, although they would also use shells, and carve or embellish these by-products of their sea-going trade. The results were often very ornate and skillfully executed. Often scrimshaw would depict animals and faces, and sometimes whole scenes of whaling life.

I learned, while looking at a history of scrimshaw, that it is considered one of the great original American art-forms.

3. You have fallen on some icy steps and need an X-ray at your local hospital. The doctor is showing you the X-ray pictures she has taken of your swollen lower leg. Which of these would you expect to see there?

Answer: Fibula

The fibula is one of the bones found between the knee and the ankle, so it would definitely appear on any X-ray taken of your lower leg. The other main long bone in the lower leg is the tibia.

The other three answers, while part of the human anatomy, are not bones, and not found in the leg.

4. You are sitting on the beach with your sweetheart on a clear night looking up at the sky. Suddenly one of you points and says "Oh look, it's gibbous". What are you looking at?

Answer: Moon

A gibbous moon describes its shape when the illuminated part is greater than half, but not quite full. Lovers will always be fascinated by the moon - right? The moon is described as waxing gibbous when its illuminated area is increasing in size each night; after the full moon, it is called a waning gibbous moon while more than half of it is lit up.

5. You are looking at the menu in one of your favourite restaurants and notice that the special of the day is mulligatawny. What restaurant did you choose?

Answer: Indian restaurant

Mulligatawny is a soup which originated in India and is usually made with rice, curry spices and some type of meat. When the British ruled India, it became one of their favourite dishes. Mulligatawny is the Anglicized version of a Tamil word meaning "pepper water". Your Indian restaurant is probably located in the United Kingdom, rather than on the Indian subcontinent!

6. You are taking some visitors for an outing in your city. They are really admiring the heliotropes. Where is your destination?

Answer: Botanical gardens

Heliotropes are small hairy-leaved garden plants, with white or purple fragrant flowers, which, because they grow in clusters, are excellent for landscaped garden beds of the type you would find in a botanical garden.

7. You are in church when the minister announces the upcoming marriage of two members of the parish. What is this called?

Answer: Reading banns

"Reading of the banns of marriage" in churches is a requirement that for three successive Sundays the minister announce the upcoming marriages of parishioners so that time can be given for any objections from the congregation. The word "banns" has evolved from the use of the word "ban" when it would be possible for the congregation to have the marriage banned in advance should there be any impediment to the union.

8. You are listening to music by J.S. Bach in which a short melody or phrase is introduced by one instrument and then taken up by the others to interweave the parts into an impressive whole. What are you enjoying?

Answer: A fugue

J.S. Bach is a master composer of fugues, which use counter-point and repetition to weave complex and stunningly busy pieces of music. One of Bach's greatest fugues is the "Great Fugue in G Minor". Google the You Tube sound file (only 3 minutes long) in which this fugue is played by Tom Koopman on a church organ.

The organ plays all of the parts that might normally be played by other instruments, including Koopman's feet! You will enjoy it tremendously, particularly if you have never heard it before.

It is a definitive fugue: a genius creation of soaring counterpoint. Rock your world!

9. You are watching a movie period-piece about the French Court of Louis XV in Versailles. The jaded aristocracy are dancing around the ballroom in all their gaudy, wealthy finery. What would you see?

Answer: Pompadours

Pompadours are those massive towering powdered grey hair styles women of the French Courts wore, sometimes decorated with small ships, bowls of fruit, or other outlandish objects, the more bizarre the better. Many often reached at least one foot (32 cms) in height. The pompadour gets its name from Madame de Pompadour, a "favourite" of King Louis XV, who probably designed that hair-do to keep his eyes firmly fixed upon her.

The three incorrect answers are all related to the executions of the aristocracy during the Reign of Terror of the French Revolution. Naughty me!

10. Lord Nelson's ship, the H.M.S. Victory, in which he fought and won the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, has now been turned into a museum ship in Portsmouth, England. You are visiting the quarterdeck. Which of these items would you see in this location?

Answer: Sextant

The sextant is a metal instrument used as a sighting mechanism for measuring the angular distances between objects in order to determine latitude and longitude in navigation.

Sonar and radar had not been invented in 1805, and a sexton is someone who takes care of church property.

Source: Author smeone

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor looney_tunes before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

Many things are meant to be in the right place at the right time, so much so that just hearing the word allows you to know exactly where you might be. Take the quiz and see if I am right.

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>