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Quiz about Quotes from the Literary Gods

Quotes from the Literary Gods Trivia Quiz

Some of my favorite people of old generated the following quotes, which I now present for your enjoyment...indulge!

A multiple-choice quiz by thejazzkickazz. Estimated time: 5 mins.

Author
thejazzkickazz

Time
5 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
15,624

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
5

Difficulty
Difficult

Avg Score
2 / 5

Plays
585

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 5

1. Which person coined the phrase 'to call a spade a spade'? Hint

Aquinas

Dante

Erasmus

Alcuin

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Question 2 of 5

2. Who coined the oft used Latin phrase 'deus ex machina'? Hint

Averroes

Maimonides

Menander

Alcibiades

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Question 3 of 5

3. Where did Dickens obtain the phrase 'Blood cannot be obtained from a stone, neither can anything on account be obtained..'? Hint

Juvenal

Plautus

Sophocles

Homer

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Question 4 of 5

4. Who said 'fugit irreparabile tempus' or 'time flies'? Hint

Suetonius

Peter

Polycarp

Virgil

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Question 5 of 5

5. Who said 'If your ears burn, someone is talking ill of you'? Hint

Hero

Ovid

Pliny

Callicrates

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Which person coined the phrase 'to call a spade a spade'?

Answer: Erasmus

It means to call things as they are without unnecessary embellishments. Erasmus, the Dutch scholar, certainly dispensed with the pleasantries in his work 'In Praise of Folly'!

2. Who coined the oft used Latin phrase 'deus ex machina'?

Answer: Menander

It translates as 'god from the machine', and commonly means artifical resolution from miraculous intervention.

3. Where did Dickens obtain the phrase 'Blood cannot be obtained from a stone, neither can anything on account be obtained..'?

Answer: Plautus

In the play 'The Persians', Plautus says, 'You are asking water from a pumice stone.' Dickens, like Shakespeare, occasional indulged in a borrowing or two from the ancients...

4. Who said 'fugit irreparabile tempus' or 'time flies'?

Answer: Virgil

Time indeed does fly, you are now over half-way through this quiz! Virgil's quote is one of the most beloved expressions of all time, lasting solidly for two thousand years...from the time of Augustus.

5. Who said 'If your ears burn, someone is talking ill of you'?

Answer: Pliny

Shakespeare, in Troilus and Criseyde writes, 'When thou art gone to doon thy ears glow.' Another occasion of Shakespeare's immense borrowing from times past...we shan't forget our Greco-Roman elders. Thank you for attempting this quiz, please give my other quote quizzes a try if this one greatly appealed to you.

Source: Author thejazzkickazz

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor gtho4 before going online.
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