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General Knowledge Quiz #125

Can you answer these random trivia questions?
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Last updated: July 17, 2020
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First submittedMarch 10, 2015
Times taken93,503
Average score60.0%
Rating4.16
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Question
Answer
What agricultural tool is stereotypically carried by angry mobs?
Pitchforks
What is the city of Giza famous for?
The Pyramids
What is the term for the first episode of a TV series?
Pilot
In what country were 276 schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram in 2014?
Nigeria
What word is often erroneously added to the movie quote "Play it, Sam"?
Again
Who gained the right to vote in the United States in 1920?
Women
What Italian fashion designer was killed by an obsessive fan in Miami Beach in 1997?
Gianni Versace
Who shot Greedo inside the cantina?
Han Solo
What ancient society built the city of Chichen Itza?
The Mayans
What are the sculptures at Madame Tussauds made from?
Wax
Among the Italian automakers, which one produces the most vehicles?
Fiat
What does the Spanish word "barrio" mean?
Neighborhood
In what country do some people believe in invisible elves known as "Huldufólk"?
Iceland
What fictional character was diagnosed as an alcoholic by the British Medical Journal in 2013?
James Bond
What taxonomic kingdom do mushrooms belong to?
Fungi
What common Latin phrase could be translated as "you scratch my back, and I'll scratch yours"?
Quid Pro Quo
What Roman god had two faces and is the namesake of the month of January?
Janus
How is the word pajamas spelled in the United Kingdom?
Pyjamas
What is the most common pub name in Great Britain, according to the site pubsgalore.co.uk?
Red Lion
What does the M stand for in ICBM?
Missile
101 Recent Comments
+3
Level 78
Jul 27, 2015
What about "do ut des" as answer for the Latin phrase? Not sure it quite fits but perhaps
+1
Level 68
Feb 15, 2018
This was also my first thought, but Quid pro Quo makes sense too
+1
Level 73
Jan 12, 2025
Nope, it doesn't.

"Quid pro quo" is used to imply a misunderstanding, as in "to hear this rather than that", while "do ut des" has the meaning implied in the question.

I don't know how this got twisted so badly in (American?) English, but it's one of those cases where the current meaning doesn't fit the original one anymore.

+3
Level 81
Jul 27, 2015
How was I misspelling missile? Maybe "missle?" "Missel?" Those look obviously wrong to me now... but when I was taking the quiz I knew the answer for sure, tried several times but couldn't get it.
+2
Level 66
Jul 27, 2015
Take these quizzes long enough and you'll become a better speller. Although some are really generous with spelling errors. Quizmaster?
+2
Level 52
Jul 27, 2015
I'm American and say miss-isle
+2
Level 61
Jul 29, 2015
Me too!
+9
Level 74
Dec 8, 2015
At least you were in the ballpark, Kalba. I couldn't figure out why it wasn't accepting "machines" until I finally looked more closely and realized it wasn't asking about IBM.
+1
Level 72
Jun 1, 2024
I tried manufacturer and monitors... I still don't know what ICBM is. But guess I know now what the M is..
+1
Level 32
Jan 13, 2025
intercontinental ballistic missile
+2
Level 58
Feb 15, 2018
Surely it can't be that difficult a word to spell correctly?
+11
Level 55
Feb 15, 2018
For some people, it can be. And stop calling me Shirley.
+7
Level 67
Feb 15, 2018
Everyone has words that just don't stick. I still have to think whether it's "withdrawal" or "withdrawl." No matter how many times I see that common word, it just never lands. And I'm otherwise an excellent speler.
+2
Level 55
Jul 27, 2015
borough, district, ghetto
+24
Level 74
Jul 27, 2015
could you accept "correctly" for the pajamas question?
+8
Level 73
Jul 28, 2015
Haha. Or re-word the question to "What is the spelling for pajamas everywhere else in the world except the US?"
+7
Level ∞
Sep 18, 2017
There are more native English speakers in the United States than in the rest of the world combined.

At the time of the American Revolution, spelling had yet to be fully standardized. Webster did us Americans a huge favor with spellings that make a lot more sense, phonetically, than their British counterparts.

+3
Level 74
Mar 20, 2023
Language is a funny thing - removing superfluous letters to standardise spellings on one hand, but then adding unnecessary whole syllables to common words on the other: eg Transportation, Tunafish, Horseback...

And if letters are to be removed from spellings to reflect phonetic pronunciations, the American dictionary should remove the H from herb, the second A from caramel, the L from solder and the E from coupe :)

+1
Level 72
Jun 1, 2024
you mean superflos, who needs those u's ;)
+1
Level 77
Jan 21, 2025
Murica moment.
+2
Level 81
Feb 15, 2018
^and also, hate to break this to you, but the UK is not "everywhere else in the world." I've taught English on four continents now and always had students and employers (some that were British companies but forced to cater to their clients' demands) that preferred American spellings.
+5
Level 82
Jul 15, 2020
@redsplat, not quite all, i understand it's also pyjamas in Canada.
+3
Level 96
Jul 17, 2020
@EcceHomo Canada is a weird one for spelling. Sometimes we only accept the UK spelling, sometimes the American and sometimes we use both (this is the case with pajamas/pyjamas).
+4
Level 74
Jul 19, 2020
By most accounts, pyjamas is more common in the English-speaking world outside the U.S.

Canada, however, uses both spellings, with the UK spelling perhaps slightly more common.

+5
Level 70
Oct 5, 2020
I was going to comment "Correctly" as a possible answer, too. It's just a joke, everyone. No harm intended :D
+4
Level 78
Oct 5, 2020
"Pyjamas" in Germany also, pronounced partly English, partly German.
+4
Level 79
Oct 5, 2020
Why should we focus only on native English speakers? A billion people have learned English, and I don't think they shouldn't count because they spoke another language first.
+3
Level 80
Nov 21, 2022
Webster was a revolutionary who wanted nothing to do with Europe and went out of his way to mangle the English language. A lot. Around half of his "inventions" remain unused today.
+10
Level 61
Jul 29, 2015
Ok I'm American, and maybe you're joking around but I'm tired of everyone picking on us. The word "pajamas" (or "pyjamas," haha my computer spell-checks that word) comes from the Persian words "pay" meaning leg, and "jama" meaning garment or clothing. So I guess Brits took the y from "pay" and Americans took the a. If you think about it, everyone is right! Yay!
+5
Level 83
Feb 15, 2018
Yea it's ridiculous that us British get so petty about how other people spell our brand of Latin/Germanic languages.

I quite like the peculiarities of British English, but we shouldn't pretend it's the only correct way.

+3
Level 74
Feb 15, 2018
I quite like your British "peculiarities" too, even though I'm American. I have no problem with saying both ways are correct, (That only goes for spelling, though. When you try to tell me that North and South America are the same continent I lose all sense of diplomacy and go right to war.)
+2
Level 83
Feb 16, 2018
Nobody claims that surely? I've heard them called 'the Americas' but that still recognises separate continents.
+3
Level 80
Apr 22, 2019
Mrnafe Portuguese and Spanish speaking countries (and a few others) learn that the Americas are one continent
+4
Level 67
Feb 15, 2018
I usually roll my eyes when a Brit demands that their spelling is the only spelling, but I have to applaud the cleverness of this comment.
+1
Level 74
Feb 15, 2018
Took the quiz again after 2.5 years; not only was my first attempt today at the answer "correctly", but thought "I'm going to post 'please accept correctly as the answer'" in the comments. At least I'm unwavering :-)
+1
Level 83
Feb 16, 2018
ChipOtley is not for turning
+3
Level 74
Jul 24, 2020
And again, two years further on! Not sure I'm too happy being associated with a Thatcher quote, mind :-(
+18
Level 54
Jul 28, 2015
A "pilot" is an episode of a series made as a produced sample episode of a show for evaluation prior to the decision by a network to commit to the production and airing of more episodes. Sometimes the pilot is the first episode of a series, but often it is not. Sometimes extensive changes are made to an episode before it is aired, and often the pilot episode is scrapped entirely. The pilot episode of "Star Trek," for example, had a much more military feel than the eventual show we are familiar with. It had a different doctor (not McCoy) and was never aired as part of the regular series run.

The first episode of a television series is commonly referred to as the "series premiere."

+3
Level 78
Feb 15, 2018
I agree, the question should be rephrased. Another example could be "Game of Thrones", where the "pilot episode" was never broadcasted and a complete reshot was done (with some changes in casting and script) for the first episode. And of course there are many shows with first episode and no "pilot".
+3
Level 78
Jan 14, 2019
And Star Trek shows how it can be even more complicated.The first pilot that you mention, "The Cage," wasn't actually picked up, so they made a second pilot, "Where No Man Has Gone Before." That one was picked up, but was aired as the third episode of the series. So Star Trek had TWO pilots, NEITHER of which were the first episode.
+4
Level 79
Oct 5, 2020
Snix is absolutely right. The pilot episode is not always the first episode. It's called a pilot episode in the same way it's called a "pilot project". It is NOT just a synonym for the first episode of a series. It's obvious what the answer is, but the definition provided is wrong.
+1
Level 80
Nov 21, 2022
The correct answer is premiere, not pilot, as explained above.
+1
Level 76
Jul 28, 2015
Loved the Jiro question! ^_^
+2
Level 86
Jul 30, 2015
Agree with snix - pilot refers to a pre-approval, "test episode" for a show, often very different from what the show becomes once approved for production. Premiere would be a better answer.
+2
Level 26
Sep 15, 2015
I disagree with snix and Freestatebear. A pilot episode is the first episode of a series- plain and simple.
+8
Level 79
Feb 15, 2018
No - a pilot is as described by snix and company. A pilot is needed to see if the series will fly:)
+7
Level 89
Feb 15, 2018
I agree with Snix and company as well. I think we'll need to get our pitchforks and/or flaming torches.
+2
Level 78
Jan 14, 2019
Okay, so then why was the (approved) pilot episode of Star Trek the third episode?
+1
Level 86
Jul 17, 2020
Star Trek (The Original Series) has several "pilots" due to the persistence of Gene Roddenberry in getting the series approved by the network and off the ground (pun intended). Most would call "The Cage" with Pike, Number One and Spock the true pilot. That episode was re-edited into the two-part episode "The Menagerie," but the original wasn't ever broadcast during the series' run. The original eventually became available to the home video market. I guess the "final" pilot appeared as the third episode because Roddenberry took some time to edit it - to assure continuity with what the series had become.
+3
Level 78
Oct 5, 2020
Exactly. Star Trek had two pilots, and neither of them were the "first episode."
+1
Level 48
Jan 31, 2016
I think for the "angry mob" question you should except torches also
+3
Level 75
Oct 7, 2020
Agricultural torches? (The question has probably changed since you wrote that, it's perfectly clear now.)
+1
Level 62
Nov 27, 2023
I doubt it's been changed, given some comments above discussing the matter...
+4
Level 63
Jun 6, 2016
Could British spelling neighbourhood be accepted for barrio, please?
+2
Level ∞
Sep 18, 2017
It is
+2
Level 68
Dec 18, 2016
What about "manus manum lavat"? I think it might be a better translation for the backscratching since the metaphor is similar.
+2
Level 36
Mar 13, 2017
How DARE they declare James Bond (in my mind the one and only Sean Connery qualifies) as an Alcoholic??? - This series was set, when in the '40s and '50s? - In that era, he would not have been considered an alcoholic!!!! - (ever seen Madmen?) - We need to STOP putting our modern day values on past norms.
+12
Level 84
Nov 20, 2017
Alcoholic is a medical definition, it was just more socially acceptable.

The film series is ongoing anyway and it's also set in present time.

+8
Level 58
Feb 15, 2018
Wow! That's rather an overreaction. The question is clear that it was a medical journal who came to the conclusion, which suggests that it's a medical definition being applied rather than some societal thing.
+5
Level 65
Apr 23, 2018
MadMen also fiction.

But there were plenty alcoholics like them back then. They drank too much and were addicted because it was a norm; it is, by its nature, addictive. It just wasn't recognised as being a problem as long as one didn't collapse in the process and embarrass anyone. And when does a fictional hero do that?

+2
Level 71
Oct 5, 2020
Anyone else put Homer Simpson?
+5
Level 81
Oct 6, 2020
I tried Sherlock Holmes, but, wrong addiction
+3
Level 65
Dec 11, 2021
Not sure why you've cited Mad Men given that Don Draper's alcohol abuse is a frequent theme of the show, it's not like the show is condoning how much he drinks.
+1
Level 69
May 22, 2023
Seems pretty stupid for a medical journal to participate in marketing campaigns. Just lowers their status to the likes of buzzfeed.
+2
Level 79
Aug 9, 2024
This was from the Christmas Issue of the BMJ, which every year publishes light-hearted or satirical articles. It's not serious research, nor marketing... just some doctors at home ('in a comfy chair" they wrote) having some fun.
+1
Level 65
Feb 15, 2018
Isn't the sphinx also a famous part of Giza.

And who says pajamas. Never heard it in my life,

+3
Level 58
Feb 15, 2018
Pyjamas/pajamas is a common enough word in my experience.
+4
Level 78
Feb 15, 2018
The Han Solo question should specify that he shot first.
+2
Level 58
Feb 15, 2018
An unnecessary addition and would not make any difference to the answer. There's nothing wrong with the question as it is.
+1
Level 62
Nov 27, 2023
+1
Level 69
Feb 15, 2018
Maybe it should say Frankenstein mobs.
+1
Level 78
Feb 15, 2018
Fir 'barrio' can you accept 'district' or 'quarter' as well please?
+1
Level 67
Feb 15, 2018
That is how the word is used by Hispanic communities in the States, but its literal translation is "neighborhood."
+1
Level 67
Feb 15, 2018
I tried quarter, town quarter, city quarter, ward, borough, township, district, precinct for barrio. Could you accept some of these as type-ins?
+1
Level 79
Feb 15, 2018
I really liked the angry mob question.
+6
Level 89
Feb 15, 2018
Technically 'pilot' is not the first episode of a series. A pilot is a 'proof of concept' for a proposed series. It's a single show made to demonstrate the concept of the series. If it becomes a series, the first episode is the 'premiere'.
+1
Level 70
Feb 16, 2018
Would you accept pumpernickel?
+5
Level 75
Oct 7, 2020
No, that's not how we spell 'pajamas' in the UK.
+3
Level 85
Jul 17, 2020
In the question about the right to vote, typo on "gained".
+1
Level 70
Jul 17, 2020
I need to stop doing these when I am tired. I read ICBM as IBM and could not for the life of me figure out why Machines was not working lol
+3
Level 67
Jul 17, 2020
In the 6th question, the word gained is missing the "d".
+2
Level ∞
Jul 18, 2020
Okay, fixed.
+1
Level 96
Jul 17, 2020
Angry mobs also carried scythes.
+1
Level 62
Nov 27, 2023
I tried the same, but "stereotypically" makes it pretty clear.
+1
Level 84
Jul 18, 2020
Scythes...I tried that too
+2
Level 42
Dec 1, 2020
Hope you didn't hurt anyone!
+1
Level 64
Oct 5, 2020
I was sure the alcoholic was Sherlock Holmes, but maybe that one was so obvious it didn't take until 2013 to diagnose him.
+2
Level 78
Oct 5, 2020
Do we really ever see Sherlock Holmes drinking, though? He's addicted to cocaine, certainly, but I don't think we ever see him have any particular problem with alcohol.
+1
Level 66
Oct 6, 2020
He drinks, but not to excess (at least, in the original books).
+3
Level 68
Oct 5, 2020
I was tempted to put "properly" for the pajama question but I restrained myself.
+1
Level 75
Oct 7, 2020
<3
+1
Level 59
Oct 6, 2020
Pajamas/pyjamas in NOT an English word invented by the people of England, but the English transposition of an Indian word which has a different alphabet. Therefore the English do not have a right to think they are the ultimate authority on how a word translated from another language is "supposed" to be spelled.
+5
Level 82
Mar 16, 2021
You can say that about any word in almost any language.
+1
Level 24
Oct 20, 2020
Typed 'Norway' for the question on the elves and it entered the correct answer: 'Iceland'....
+1
Level 62
Nov 27, 2023
It appears to be intentional. Perhaps it is also believed to Norway, so it's accepted, but to a lesser extent, which is why it is not shown.
+1
Level 72
Jun 1, 2024
it was the elves that changed your answere
+1
Level 63
Jul 6, 2021
Tried 'jammies' and 'jim-jams' for pyjamas; both are more common in Scottish English 😉
+1
Level 62
Nov 27, 2023
Generally, Maya is used as the plural when describing the Maya people. Mayan is only used to refer to the language.
+2
Level 63
Jan 12, 2025
As of this comment, 82 of the girls abducted by Boko Haram are still in captivity. They would be between the ages of 27-29 now.
+1
Level 29
Jan 12, 2025
in the quid pro quo question, "qui" should also be correct
+1
Level 74
Jan 16, 2025
"How is the word pajamas spelled in the United Kingdom?" Correctly....