Insults Trivia Quiz

Answer: Nancy Astor and Winston Churchill

This conversation occurred over breakfast at Cliveden, the Astor's magnificent country house. As well as being the first woman to sit in the House of Commons, Lady Astor was a renowned society hostess who enjoyed posing at the top of the stairs, dripping with jewels to welcome her guests.

She made a point of inviting people with whom she disagreed, Churchill being one, and Sylvia Pankhurst, the suffragette being another. She was also known for saying, 'I married beneath me. All women do.'

Answer: The Importance of Being Ernest

'The Importance of Being Ernest' was Wilde's last play and opened at the St. James's Theatre on 14 February 1895 with George Alexander as John Worthing (to whom these lines were spoken) and Allan Aynesworth as Algernon Moncrieff. Although hurriedly reduced from four acts to three because of Alexander's insistence on a curtain-raiser, it won critical unanimity of applause and the twentieth century hailed it as one of the greatest English comedies.

Answer: Beatrice

In Act I, Scene I of 'Much Ado About Nothing' Beatrice and Benedick, both known for their wit, have a verbal spar, in which this line is spoken. It is a retort to Benedick saying, 'God keep your ladyship still in that mind! so some gentleman or other shall 'scape a predestinate scratched face.' 'That mind' meaning that Beatrice has said that she does not wish any man to love her. Beatrice and Benedick end up married, 'tricked' into falling in love by their friends.

Answer: George Bernard Shaw

Churchill returned the tickets, excusing himself and attached a note saying,'Please send me two tickets for the next night, if there is one.'
One of Shaw's plays, 'John Bull's Other Island', written and performed in 1904, centres around an absurd pompous Englishman, Thomas Broadbent. It is thought that he may be a genial caricature of Winston Churchill.

Answer: Mark Twain

Mark Twain was born in Florida, Missouri, on November 30, 1835. His real name is Samuel Langhorne Clemens. He is best known for his books, 'Adventures of Huckleberry Finn' and 'The Adventures of Tom Sawyer'. They are both stories of young boys in the South and have much to do with the American Dream.

In fact 'Adventures of Huckleberry Finn' is said to be the Great American Novel. American author William Faulkner later called Twain "the father of American literature."

Answer: Disraeli

The speaker was a one Mr. O'Connell, another politician who had heard misreported remarks made about himself by Disraeli. Disraeli's pride flared up and he created a public row with O'Connell and his son Morgan, whom he challenged to a duel. Although Disraeli is the only British Jewish PM to date, he was baptized into the Christian faith as an Anglican on 31 July 1817.

Answer: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Mr. Bennett says this to Lizzy towards the end of the book when she tells him that she does in fact wish to marry Mr. Darcy. 'Pride and Prejudice' was begun under the title 'First Impressions' as an epistolary novel (a book written entirely in exchanged letters). Jane Austen's only finished epistolary novel, however, was 'Lady Susan'.

Answer: William Faulkner

Hemingway's retort was, 'Poor Faulkner. Does he really think big emotions come from big words?'
Faulkner's and Hemingway's styles were just about polar opposites, Faulkner using long eloquent sentences, while Hemingway preferred much shorter sentences. Faulkner received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1949 for 'his powerful and artistically unique contribution to the modern American novel'.

Answer: Catullus

This poem, commonly known as Catullus 22 is about a man, Suffenus, who Catullus thinks can't write at all. The poem starts by saying that Suffenus is a witty, delightful fellow who has written thousands of lines of poetry. Already we see that Catullus will not like him as he does not like long, quickly written poetry, but short, well crafted poems.

In Catullus 95 he explains these sentiments comparing two different poets and their styles. Catullus 22 goes on to say that Suffenus, instead of writing on anything, must use only the finest quality paper and that this is ridiculous because the writing is so awful.

Then he says: 'Isn't it funny that this intelligent man looks so stupid when you read his writing, and yet he enjoys it so much and thinks he is so marvelous'. And the moral of the poem comes at the end, as with so many of Catullus's poems, saying that everyone has a flaw, but we are usually blind to our own.

Answer: Groucho Marx

Groucho Marx was one of six brothers, all born in NYC. The eldest was Leonard, or Chico, followed by Milton, or Gummo. Then came Adolph, or Harpo. Groucho, whose real name was Julius was next, born in 1890, and then Herbert, or Zeppo, was born a year later. The 6th brother, Manfred died in infancy.
Some of Groucho's one-liners were often imitated, and still are, even by some of today's biggest comedians. You can also find them in some of the old "Bugs Bunny" cartoons.