What in the World are You Talking About? Quiz

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. The woman sitting next to you on an Air Canada flight says she is going home to "Winterpeg" for Christmas. Because you know where she is going, you both laugh about the biting winds at Portage and Main. To which Canadian city is she most likely to be referring?

Answer: Winnipeg

Winnipeg is the largest city and capital of the Canadian Province of Manitoba. It is in the central portion of the country in a region known as The Prairies.

Winnipeg is also known for its chillingly cold winters with temperatures sometimes falling as low as minus 40 degrees Celsius over long stretches of time, with snow regularly lasting as long as six months each year.

There is a famous downtown intersection between two streets, Main and Portage, where the wind blows so bitterly that locals call it the coldest corner of the world. No wonder Canadians jokingly call Winnipeg "Winterpeg".

2. You are a guest at a cocktail party in the British Embassy in Washington, D.C. You are conversing with other guests when the server walks by with a tray of a particular drink that he says is very traditional in the U.K. What drink is he most likely to be offering?

Answer: Gin and tonic

The gin and tonic, or G & T as it is known colloquially in Britain, is one of their most favourite cocktails, both as a drink before dinner, or in the pub, or as a refreshing drink at a party, particularly a summer party.

The tonic, which is actually a sparkling water made from quinine, became the fashionable way for gin-drinking members of the British colonial ruling class of India to take their malaria medicine. Quinine is supposed to help with malaria, so making making your "tonic" more palatable was considered a good thing. If you liked a gin before dinner, you were doubling up on healing effects!

Nowadays, of course, we don't drink G&Ts to cure malaria; we just drink them because the two are a great taste combination, especially with a spritz of fresh lemon or lime.

3. You are in Tokyo chatting with a Japanese family who are going home to Kyoto for a holiday weekend. They want to travel in the fastest most convenient way, so they are taking the shinkansen. How are they most likely to be travelling?

Answer: Bullet train

The Japanese word "shinkansen" is not a translation of the English expression "bullet train", so named not only for speed, but for the bullet-shaped nose of the engine itself. "Shinkansen" means "new trunk line", which seems to be a bit of an understatement for such a streamlined and speedy rail service. The bullet train can reach speeds of up to 320/km per hour (200 m.p.h.) between Tokyo and Kyoto, with as many as 13 trains per hour carrying up to 1,300 passengers being scheduled.

When I travelled on the bullet train on this route, it was possible to place a glass of beer on my table and not have it spill over at all!

4. You are on the Staten Island Ferry on your way over to Manhattan. You strike up a conversation with a local teacher who says that she works at a school "way uptown" and will take the subway there after she steps off the ferry. Where is she most likely to be going?

Answer: Harlem

Harlem is one of the most northerly neighbourhoods in the Borough of Manhattan before you leave it to go to the Bronx. In New York City parlance, "downtown" means the southern-most part of the island of Manhattan, while "uptown" means the northerly part. Remember that song about New York being a wonderful town - the Bronx is up, and the Battery's down!

Brooklyn and Queens are their own Boroughs, situated across the river to the East of Manhattan. SoHo (South of Houston) is a small Manhattan neighbourhood which is almost at the southerly tip of the island.

5. You are admiring a lovely garden in a French village in Provence. The owner is worried, however, that Le Mistral might destroy much of her good work. To what is she most likely to be referring?

Answer: A strong wind

The Mistral is the name given to a wind which blasts down France's Rhone River valley and into Provence. This wind, which can often reach up to 90 m.p.h. is bitterly cold, and can appear, quite literally, out of the blue on clear fresh days. The wind sometimes blows for about two to three days, so would cause some severe damage to any delicate garden.

6. You are on the bus next to a young couple in Buenos Aires, Argentina. They are very excited because they are on their way out to a favourite dance-hall where they are going to spend the evening dancing with many expert dancers. What type of dance are the two of them most likely to be doing?

Answer: Tango

I hope you picked up on the clue in the question - it takes two to tango!

Tango is extremely popular among both young and old dancers in Argentina who dance, obviously enough, a version called the "Argentine Tango". Spontaneous dancing will sometimes break out on the streets if citizens hear tango music.

Tango comes from the Latin word, tangere, to touch. Those of you who have seen a demonstration of Argentine tango, will be aware that it is a sensual, seductive, subdued dance which bears no resemblance to the wild flailing we see on such shows as "So You Think You Can Dance".

7. You bump into a group of Australian students in a bar in Sydney. You all have a lot in common, so they invite you back to their place for "snags" on the barbie. You know they mean a barbecue, but what type of food are they most likely to be cooking?

Answer: Sausages

"Snags" are delicious, usually pork-based sausages that, because they are fat and juicy, lend themselves very well to the BBQ style of grilling.

The British may sometimes use the word "snag" for a sausage, along with the word "bangers". For the Australians, a "snag" therefore, is more likely to be a sausage of the British-type, rather than, say, a smoked German sausage.

Students in most nations like sausages because they are plentiful and cheap. Just their style of food.

8. Your Thai host takes you out to dinner in Bangkok. There is one particular dish that you think looks very appetizing. He tells you that it is "tom yum". What is this dish most likely to be?

Answer: Soup

"Tom yum" is the name of a spicy, clear broth soup very popular in Thai cuisine. It can be varied by adding noodles, or fish, or shrimp or chicken. Yum yum Tom Yum!

9. You are in Morocco and you decide to take a local tour. You step on to the bus and the guide says that your first stop will be the "souk". Where are you most likely to be going?

Answer: The Market

"Souk" is the term for an open-air market or commercial trading centre in Middle Eastern or North African cities. The difference between a souk and Western-style markets, is that the prices are not set and are subject to bargaining between vendor and customer.

It was the French who brought this Berber word into common usage from the times when they colonized Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia. It has become introduced into the English language in such a way that a guide might not think to translate it. However, if you felt that translation was required, now you will know what the "souk" is.

10. You are on a train in Northern India climbing very high up to the Himalayan foothills town of Shimla, also called Simla. Your Indian friend tells you that this used to be the place where, during the hot weather, the Raj would move to be in a cooler climate. Which people is he likely to be talking about?

Answer: British colonial rulers

The word "Raj" is the Hindi word for "rule". This is the common way in which the Indians used to refer to their rulers collectively during the time when Britain controlled India from about 1858 until 1947 when the country was won their independence. In fact, that era is referred to as the "British Raj period".

There are four novels by Paul Scott about this time in history, each individually titled, but together called "The Raj Quartet". If you would like to learn more about the dilemmas of this long colonial relationship, they are all a good read.

Source: Author smeone

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

Certain cultural signs are often a clue to where on earth we might be. This quiz will suggest encounters you might have with people around the world. Your job is to decide what these encounters are most likely to mean.

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>