Unutterably Silly Quiz

[issybird]

Originally Posted by poohbear_nc

I have never EVER heard this nickname used here ....

Yeah, that's how I felt about Mother of Rivers. I also, frankly, don't get the Rip Van Winkle association. Ol' Rip was from the Catskills.

That's what I liked about the nicknames. So many seemed so, inappropriate?

[Bilbo1967]

Originally Posted by poohbear_nc

I have never EVER heard this nickname used here ....

Don't feel too bad, I never heard of any of them

[poohbear_nc]

Originally Posted by issybird

Yeah, that's how I felt about Mother of Rivers. I also, frankly, don't get the Rip Van Winkle association. Ol' Rip was from the Catskills.

That's what I liked about the nicknames. So many seemed so, inappropriate?

I HAD to look this up. From the NC History Project:

"During the early 1800s, North Carolina acquired a nickname: “the Rip Van Winkle State.” It was named so because more than few considered the state’s economy to be asleep while neighboring states were bustling with production and trade. In modern politics, the term is used when policy makers oppose or promote certain plans: they want to improve the state’s economy, not take it backward, the argument goes, into its former Rip Van Winkle state."

and

"There have been conflicting interpretations regarding this nickname. Historian William Powell claims that not much “was going on anywhere” in North Carolina during the early to mid-1800s and that people were satisfied with their backward state of affairs. He also writes that it never occurred to them that the “government might take steps to improve their lot in life.”"

Ahhhh, North Carolina, government asleep at the wheel.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by poohbear_nc

I HAD to look this up. From the NC History Project:
<snip>
Ahhhh, North Carolina, government asleep at the wheel.

I love this! thank you!

Originally Posted by issybird

. . .

Iodine Products State - South Carolina (I'm packing my bags)

http://www.scencyclopedia.org/iodine.htm

In the late 1920s, the South Carolina Natural Resources Commission began a public relations campaign to advertise the high iodine levels found in fruits and vegetables grown in the state. Even South Carolina milk was promoted as containing extraordinarily high levels of iodine. Promotional tracts sought to expand the national market for South Carolina produce by warning midwestern and west coast residents of the consequences of iodine deficiency in the young, including enlarged thyroids, mental and physical birth defects, and even sterility. The campaign placed the motto “Iodine” on South Carolina automobile license plates in 1930, then expanded the phrase in subsequent years to “The Iodine State” and “The Iodine Products State.” Columbia radio station WIS took its call letters to promote the “Wonderful Iodine State.” Even lowcountry moonshiners around Hell Hole Swamp jumped on the iodine bandwagon, advertising their brand of liquid corn with the slogan: “Not a Goiter in a Gallon.”

I spent three years living and working in SC and had never heard the motto or this story. I just had to look up why. The no goiter state.

Originally Posted by issybird

[*]Land of Infinite Variety - South Dakota (I'll take their word for it)

I have been through SD three times, twice by auto and once on a bicycle. I recall prairie and hills, and that's about it for variety.

Originally Posted by issybird

Home of Beautiful Women - Kansas (train to Topeka, boys?)

Yes, I know that Kansas City is in Missouri.

[Shayne Parkinson]

Good Lord, the power of the wild guess is demonstrated! "Mitten State" was the only one I was reasonably sure of, as I'd heard something similar from a Michiganite.

Following a multi-part US question with a relatively straightforward New Zealand one:

Some years ago, New Zealand's bank notes were redesigned, and eminent New Zealanders replaced the Queen on all but the $20 note. The People Who Decide Such Things (TPWDST) called for public input on who should grace the notes. The overwhelming favourite was Sir Edmund Hillary. But TPWDST were very reluctant to put Sir Ed on a bank note. Only overwhelming public pressure saw them yield, and Sir Ed duly appears on the $5 note.

Why were TPWDST not keen on the idea?

[Bilbo1967]

Originally Posted by Shayne Parkinson

Good Lord, the power of the wild guess is demonstrated! "Mitten State" was the only one I was reasonably sure of, as I'd heard something similar from a Michiganite.

Following a multi-part US question with a relatively straightforward New Zealand one:

Some years ago, New Zealand's bank notes were redesigned, and eminent New Zealanders replaced the Queen on all but the $20 note. The People Who Decide Such Things (TPWDST) called for public input on who should grace the notes. The overwhelming favourite was Sir Edmund Hillary. But TPWDST were very reluctant to put Sir Ed on a bank note. Only overwhelming public pressure saw them yield, and Sir Ed duly appears on the $5 note.

Why were TPWDST not keen on the idea?

Leaving aside the treasonable act of removing HRH (ungrateful colonials), is it because he was still alive at the time? If not rules, I think there are guidelines about using living people other than monarchs on currency (and stamps, I think).

[Shayne Parkinson]

Yes, exactly, Bilbo. And yes, I believe it's a convention rather than a rule, but generally it's not considered acceptable to have a living person other than a head of state on currency. Fortunately an exception was made for the much-loved Sir Ed.

He was an obliging man, and was often asked to sign $5 notes that had his likeness. Many of those are still around, though not generally in circulation.

For those interested, on the notes we have:
$5 - Sir Edmund Hillary
$10 - Kate Sheppard (suffragist)
$20 - Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand
$50 - Sir Apirana Ngata (Maori leader)
$100- Lord Rutherford of Nelson

[Daithi]

Originally Posted by Shayne Parkinson

Yes, exactly, Bilbo. And yes, I believe it's a convention rather than a rule, but generally it's not considered acceptable to have a living person other than a head of state on currency. Fortunately an exception was made for the much-loved Sir Ed.

He was an obliging man, and was often asked to sign $5 notes that had his likeness. Many of those are still around, though not generally in circulation.

For those interested, on the notes we have:
$5 - Sir Edmund Hillary
$10 - Kate Sheppard (suffragist)
$20 - Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand
$50 - Sir Apirana Ngata (Maori leader)
$100- Lord Rutherford of Nelson

Not a question, we'll wait for Bilbo, but here is a bit of trivia.

In the U.S. our paper currency is often referred to as "Dead Presidents" because dead presidents appear on them. However, two of those "presidents" actually weren't presidents.

I think you could probably stop 100 Americans on the street and ask them to name the two individuals who are on our currency that were not presidents and maybe 25% could correctly answer Benjamin Franklin ($100) and Alexander Hamilton ($10).

[Bilbo1967]

Woo-hoo! One of my guesses came off

A 'quotes' round now then:

1) Who are the 'him' and 'her' in the famous exchange below?

Her: "Sir, if you were my husband, I would give you poison.”
Him: “If I were your husband I would take it.”

2. Who said the below, about what?

'God does not play dice"

3. Who allegedly wrote the below in a letter to a newspaper in the late 19th Century?

"Don't mind me giving the trade name. Wasnt good enough to post this before
I got the red ink off my hands curse it. No luck yet. They say I am a doctor now ha ha";

4. Who said the below, about whom?

"He is so ugly that he should donate his face to the US Bureau of Wild Life."

5. Who said the below to a driving instructor, and what country was he in?

"How do you keep the natives off the booze long enough to pass the test?"

6. Which company said the below, about which band?

"We don't like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out."

7. Who said the below, and where was he?

"I am just going outside and may be some time"

8. Who made the candid admission below?

"I spent a lot of money on birds, booze and fast cars. The rest I just squandered."

9. Which commentator famously said the below, about which sporting event, in which year?

"Some people are on the pitch! They think it's all over!"

10. Who, almost certainly apocryphally, said, "Good luck Mr. Gorsky"?

[issybird]

1. Nancy Astor, Winston Churchill

7. Oates, with the Scott expedition in Antarctica

[Bilbo1967]

Originally Posted by issybird

1. Nancy Astor, Winston Churchill

7. Oates, with the Scott expedition in Antarctica

All correct.

Four points to you.

The Nancy Astor/Winston Chuchill one always makes me smile. The Captain Oates one always makes me appreciate the bravery of people that did that kind of thing.

1) Who are the 'him' and 'her' in the famous exchange below?

Her: "Sir, if you were my husband, I would give you poison.”
Him: “If I were your husband I would take it.”

Her: Margaret Dumont
Him: Groucho Marx

Wrong I already see now.

2. Who said the below, about what?

'God does not play dice"

Albert Einstein about the universe (referring to quantum mechanics)

3. Who allegedly wrote the below in a letter to a newspaper in the late 19th Century?

"Don't mind me giving the trade name. Wasnt good enough to post this before
I got the red ink off my hands curse it. No luck yet. They say I am a doctor now ha ha";

4. Who said the below, about whom?

"He is so ugly that he should donate his face to the US Bureau of Wild Life."

Muhammad Ali about Joe Frazier


5. Who said the below to a driving instructor, and what country was he in?

"How do you keep the natives off the booze long enough to pass the test?"

6. Which company said the below, about which band?

"We don't like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out."

? about the Beatles

7. Who said the below, and where was he?

"I am just going outside and may be some time"

8. Who made the candid admission below?

"I spent a lot of money on birds, booze and fast cars. The rest I just squandered."

9. Which commentator famously said the below, about which sporting event, in which year?

"Some people are on the pitch! They think it's all over!"

10. Who, almost certainly apocryphally, said, "Good luck Mr. Gorsky"?

[Bilbo1967]

Number 1 Issybird already has correct. Although I could definitely hear Groucho saying that!

Number 2, yes, correct on both parts.

Number 4, yes, spot on.

Number 6, it was The Beatles, yes.

Five points to you.

[Shayne Parkinson]

Picking some not yet answered:
5. Who said the below to a driving instructor, and what country was he in?

"How do you keep the natives off the booze long enough to pass the test?"
Sounds like Prince Philip.

6. Which company said the below, about which band?
"We don't like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out."
EMI (Yes, Beatles)


10. Who, almost certainly apocryphally, said, "Good luck Mr. Gorsky"?
Neil Armstrong on the Moon.