V-Quiz Informal

Session
Names and Etymology
- Jose Thomas

Ground Rules
The Quiz Master is dangerous , very dangerous
As much as the Quiz Master likes answering questions in
a Quiz , he does not appreciate being questioned during
this Quiz.
All disputes about the Quiz will be settled peacefully (you
bet) after the Quiz for bragging rights over the Quiz
Master.
The Quiz has been designed for not-so-easily-offended
adults , if you are not one , the Quiz Master does not take
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The question are easy to average , none of the Quiz
Masters lab rats were harmed while testing the Quiz.

Clockwise
17 Questions
Bounce and Pounce
10 Points Each

1. X the Dread : The Laughter and Twenty Million

was a book by Martin Amiss about the Soviet
regime and its Twenty Million victims. X was the
pseudonym by Stalin during his revolutionary
days. Stalin was inspired by X , a major character
in the book 'The Patricide' by Alexander Kazbegi .
The name X was also used in a recent movie series
for one of the major antagonist , who in certain
ways are similar to Stalin

X?

Koba

2. The original meaning of this usage emphasises

that 'ultimate reality' is abstract and formless ,
as propogated by the likes of Adi Sankara and
not anthropomorphic like in the Vaishnavas and
Shaivas theologies . What usage, often quoted
out of context in mild deregotary sense is being
talked about.

Nirguna Para Brahman

3.Conversation between English speaking Travis

Marshall and a Spanish speaking street vendor in the
sixth season premiere of Dexter
Travis Marshall : I'd like some X, please.
Vendor : Ah, Y.
The word X and Y trace there origins to Sanskrit and
Dravidian Languages. While Y is more or less similar
to the root word(still very commonly used in
Malayalam , Tamil etc.) in the Indian languages . X's
differences of from the root word could be due to the
loss of a consonant due to confusion with definitive
article or influenced by the French word for 'Gold'.
X and Y .

X-Orange ; Y - Naranja

4. According to first century Roman historian Pliny

the Elder , this place was named _____________
Insulae because of the presence of a vast
multitudes of _________ , of very large size. Other
speculations include presence of Monk Seals
which the Ancient Romans or the people of the
area worshipping ___________ or from the name of
a tribe inhabiting the region. Though the coat of
arms of still features ________, the region is more
synonymous with another species which the
region lends its name to.
What region?

Canary Islands

5.Some of the theories about origin of 'X and Y' the

narrative of a failed endeavor by two individuals are :
Cardinal Wolsey and Bishop Turbes who negotiated the
wedding between the Mary Tudor and the French King

Half Pint and Quarter Pint glasses becoming smaller

as King Charles II reducing liquid volume measures to
collect more tax

Deposition of Louis XVI and Mary Antoinette (though

chronologically improbable)

A pregnant spinster from who died at child birth and

the alleged father who had died in an accident earlier
X and Y

Jack and Jill

6. The first flower(picture next slide)derives its name

from an obsolete French word meaning tobacco plant
.The flower is often used to represent anger , resentment
and not losing hope. The second flower represents
innocence and purity . Its name appears in English Bibles
as the translation for Shoshanna(Hebrew) in Old
Testaments and Krinon (Greek) in New Testaments.
Identify the flowers which lend their names to a pair of
popular fictional sisters.

Petunia and Lily

7. _____________ is confectionary item with primary

ingredients sugar syrup , butter , cream etc.
The early usage of the word is found in
association with Doncaster in South Yorkshire ,
the recipe listed as Doncaster _____________ in
1848 issue of 'Liverpool Mercury' . In 1855, F. K.
Robinson's Glossary of Yorkshire Words explained
____________ as "a treacle ball with an
amalgamation of butter in it. One of the many
inconclusive theories about name of the sweet is
that it comes from 'to cut or to score' as it had to
be cut into pieces before it hardened . FITB

Butterscotch

8. Story goes that when Daphne who Apollo had

loved turned into a Bay ________ tree(also called
sweet bay) , he promised that her leaves would
adorn the heads of leaders and be depicted in
weapons etc. So the winners in the Pythian
Games, one of the Pan Hallenic Games held in
honour of Appolo , recieved a wreath made by
interlocking the leaves and branches _________.
In modern idiomatic usage _________ refers to
victory or honor won for a achievement in a field
or activity.

Laurel

9. 'Darlie' is toothpaste brand is sold in China , Hong Kong

,Malaysia , Taiwan and Thailand by Hawley & Hazel, a joint
venture company that is owned 50 percent by ColgatePalmolive . The name 'Darlie' and the new logo were adapted
on persuation from Colgate Palmolive , following an
international outcry when they entered into the joint venture
with Hawley & Hazel. The Chinese name 'Hai Ren' was not
changed as 'research shows that Chinese consumers perceive
the "Hei ren" toothpaste brand to be trustworthy, international
and modern. The brand notoriously features in 'C.S.A.: The
Confederate States of America' , a 2004 alternate history
mockumentary in which Confederates with the American Civil
War
What was the original name of the toothpaste

Darkie

10. This term originated in an article by Mark

Simpson published on November 15, 1994, in The
Independent. Simpson wrote:
___________ man, the single young man with a high
disposable income, living or working in the city
(because that's where all the best shops are), is
perhaps the most promising consumer market of
the decade. In the Eighties he was only to be
found inside fashion magazines such as GQ. In
the Nineties, hes everywhere and he's going
shopping.
The term became popular globally with another
Mark Simpson article published in Salon.com in
2002, where is offered an updated definition and
called ____________ as the biggest __________ in

Metrosexual, David Beckham

11. Below are the excerpts from the article America's

Favorite National Pastime: Hating __________
published on the website of conservative American
social and political commentator Ann Coutler in July ,
2014.
There are no heroes, no losers, no accountability, and
no child's fragile self-esteem is bruised. There's a
reason perpetually alarmed women are called "______
______," not "_______ ________."
FITB

Soccer Moms not Football Moms

12.The folk etymology of the name of this race of

female warriors, though there is no corroborating
evidence, is that it means 'without breast' ,
related to the practise among them to cut of their
right breast , so they could draw bowstring more
effectively. The race lends its name to a
geographic feature , after Spanish explorers were
attacked by a tribe of women(or perhaps long
haired men without beards) around this region.
What name?

13. Excerpts from Scion of Ikshvaku by Amish

Tripathi describing Shurpanakha
her hair was blonde, a most unusual colour; every
strand of it was in place. Her eyes were magnetic.
Perhaps she was the child of Hiranyaloman
___________ ; fairskinned,light-eyed and light-haired
foreigners who lived half a world away towards the
north-west; their violent ways and
incomprehensible speech had led to the Indians
calling them barbarians.
FITB

Mlechcha

14. Referring to its origins , this is called 'Alfiere'

in Italian, 'Alfil' in Spanish , 'Pil' in Persian and
Turkish all derived from the Arabic word for
Elephant . What is it called in English.

Bishop

15. The ______________ day , widely known as the birthday of

the church is celebrated on the seventh Sunday after
Easter(the fiftieth day after Easter). The
___________(meaning Fiftieth day) was the Greek name for
the Jewish Festival Shouvat- initially a harvest festival but
later turned to commemorate the giving of the laws at
Mount Sinai. As narrated in the Acts of Apostles book of
New testaments , when the disciples and followers of
Jesus Christ assembled on the Fiftieth Day after the
resurrection, they were filled with the holy spirit and
started speaking in languages they did not know. The day
is celebrated as 'Whitsunday' and the following Monday a
public holiday. FITB

Pentecost

16. Jasbir Singh(aka X) and Kuljeet Singh (aka Y)

were convicted and later executed on January
31 , 1982 for one of the most sensational cases in
the history of independent India , the kidnap and
murder of siblings Geetha and Sanjay
Chopra(both of the kids being awarded the Kirti
Chakra and National Bravery Award categories
being named after them).
Give X and Y, names with immense legacy in South
Indian cinema

X-Billa ; Y-Ranga

17. Conventional rules for the use of X in different parts of

the World
United States of America: Almost always capitalised.
Suriname and Netherlands: Is written in lower case,
except when used in standalone then first the letter is
capitalised and filed under the first letter of the next word.
Belgium : Always capitalised and filed under its first letter.
South Africa : Not capitalized but filed under its first letter
In many countries X is used as a concatenation with the
next word.
X?

X- Van

AZED
4 Blanks , 5 points Each , 5 Bonus for getting all correct

___A____ was first used in the late 19th century as a

word for dandy, an extremely fashionable male. The
word A is supposed to be a shortened form of
_______C______ , as in ____B_____ ______C______ from a
poem derogatory poem by the British Army troupes
making fun of the Colonial soldiers who fought along
with them in the French and Indian Wars. _____C_____ is
derived from an Old German word meaning playing
bad music referring to a simpleton. The song makes
fun of the colonial simpletons who think that they
could , by imitating , be like ______D______, a society of
high born Englishmen who returned after their
European ventures with a taste for effeminate dressing
and Italian food

A-Dude
B-Yankee
C-Doodle
DMacaroni

Dude was first used in the late 19th century as a word

for dandy, an extremely fashionable male. The word A is
supposed to be a shortened from of Doodle , as in
Yankee Doodle from the poem derogatory poem by the
British Army troupes making fun of the Colonial soldiers
who fought along with them in the French and Indian
Wars. Doodle is derived from an Old German word
meaning playing bad music referring to a simpleton.
The song makes fun of the colonial simpletons who
think that they could , by imitating , be like Macaroni,
a society of high born Englishmen who returned after
their European ventures with a taste for effeminate
dressing and Italian food

Anti- Clockwise
17 Question
Bounce and Pounce
10 Points Each

1. A _____________ is a curry dish popular in

Pakistan , Bangladesh and Hyderabad. The dish
is made with a meat (as with all dishes in India ,
also available in vegetarian) with a large amount
of Onion both cooked into the curry and as a
garnish. Legend has it that the dish was created
when a courtier of Akbar added large quantities
of onion to meat by mistake. The Hyderabadi
version usually comes with raw mangoes or lime
juice making the dish slightly sour.

Dopiaza or Do Pyaza

2. The __________ ____________: Mother Teresa in

Theory and Practice was a controversial essay,
which was later released a book, written by
Christopher Hitchens in which he criticises
Mother Teresa for helping the poor only for the
spread of the Catholic Church and her
fraternizing with tyrants and financial criminals
of the world for financial gains.
Fill in the with very interesting title.

The Missionary Position

3. In picture(next slide) is US comedian Bob Burns

with an instrument supposed to be invented by
him. The instrument made with two tubes one
ending in a flaring bell was used by him in his
radio shows and later in movies starring him. The
instrument did not catch the interest of
musicians and therefore it has been largely
forgotten. But during World War II , its name
was used as a nickname for something that
resembled it and because of this the name have
since been Internationally popular. What was
nicknamed after Burn's invention

Bazooka

4. In 2008 , the Andhra Pradesh Government

officially renamed the coastal district of Nellore
in honour of a X , a prominent freedom fighter
and Gandhian born in there, as X Nellore District.
Give X who is also called Amarajeevi in Andhra and
about whom Mahatma Gandhi has remarked
If only I have eleven more followers like __________
I will win freedom [from British rule] in a year

X=Sri Potti Sri Ramulu

5. Chintu Ji is a 2009 movie socio-political directed by Ranjit

Kapoor . The movie stars Rishi Kapoor (Chintu Ji ) playing an
exaggerated version of himself who has relocated to his birth
village Hadbahedi , for gaining mileage to his political career.
The movie also features a special appearance by Kseniya
Ryabinkina, the Russian trapeze artist who acted with Rishis
father Raj Kapoor in Mera Naam Joker.
In the movie , while in Hadbahedi Rishi Kapoor shoots for a
movie, in which there is a tribal song but instead of using usual
gibberish they used a novel idea for the lyrics.
How does the lyrics of this item number starring Sophie
Chaudry, sung by Anushka Manchandani pay tribute to world
cinema.

Lyrics
with names of accomplished Directors of
Tarantino, Vittorio, Mizoguchi, Coppola
World
Cinema
Tarantino, Wilder, Capra
SATYAJIT RAY!
Ozu, Bertolucci, Peckinpah
Fellini, Visconti, Oshima, Coppola, Coppola
Wyler, Hitchcock, Wajda, Mizoguchi, De
Palma
Wyler, Hitchcock, Wajda, Brian De Palma
Akira Kurosawa, Vittorio De Sica
Tarantino, Vittorio, Mizoguchi, Coppola
Bertolucci, Bertolucci, Lumet, Lumet
Bertolucci, Bertolucci, Oooooh

Woody Allen, Woody Allen, B DeMille,

CB De Mille
Woody Allen, Woody Allen, Oooooh
Milos Forman, Milos Forman, Godard,
Godard
Milos Forman, Milos Forman, Oooooh
Wyler, Hitchcock, Wajda, Mizoguchi,
De Palma
Wyler, Hitchcock, Wajda, Brian De
Palma

Sergi(o) Leone, Sergi(o) Leone, Truffaut,

Truffaut
Sergi(o) Leone, Sergi(o) Leone, Oooooh
Wyler, Hitchcock, Wajda, Mizoguchi, De
Palma
Wyler, Hitchcock, Wajda, Brian De Palma

Akira Kurosawa, Vittorio De Sica

Akira Kurosawa, Vittorio De Sica

Wyler, Hitchcock, Wajda, Mizoguchi,

De Palma

Tarantino, Wilder, Capra

Ozu, Bertolucci, Peckinpah
Fellini, Visconti, Oshima, Coppola,
Coppola

6. This three word phrase is supposed have originated from a

gesture used to express contempt . The use of this gesture in
expressing contempt has been illustrated in the eighteenth century
book Adventures of Roderick Random by Tobias Smollet as follows
He looked back and pronounced with a faltering voice, 'O! 'tis very
welldamn my blood! I shall find a time.' I signified my contempt of
him by thrusting my ____________in my __________, which humbled him
so much, that he scarce swore another oath aloud during the whole
journey.
A usage more akin to its contemporary usage can be found in the
1842 poem The Ingoldsby Legends as
Superbe! Magnifique!'
(with his _______ in his ________)

Tongue in Cheek

7. The first Europeans to discover the X plant were the

soldiers of Hernando Cortes who were exploring southern
Mexico in the 1660s . They named it X , meaning little Y
meaning little sheath , as the Latin word Y used to mean
sheath or scabbard ( a cover for the blade of a sword) in
those days . Y has later come to mean something entirely
different and its etymology might come across as politically
incorrect.
X and Y

X- Vanilla ; YVagina

8. Muhammad Saeed al-Sahhaf was a former Iraqi diplomat

and politician , he was the Information Minister under the
Saddam Hussein regime and acted as a spokesperson for the
regime during the Iraq War , 2003. In his war time broadcasts
contained elaborate propaganda, like the invincibility of the
Iraqi army , Saddams eternal rule etc . He became popular in
the Western world when these broadcasts , originally meant
for the domestic audience who are subject to heavy
censorship, were found funny by non-Iraqis. He has since
been part of memes and cartoons for people making false
reassurances about thing being positive when the are not.
What nickname , a wordplay on the nickname of another
Iraqi , did this infamy earn him

Comical Ali

9. The 19 March 1945 , contains the translations of a book titles In _______

_________ ______ , recovered by the US troops after the liberation of Paris . The
book written by Dr E. Ahlswede , who claims to have live in the United Sates
for ten years draws a Nazi propagandist picture of America. The translated
excerpts of the book included
The American baby knows, before he learns how to walk ,that he marches at
the head of civilization , America has the highest mountains, trees and
buildings , and the biggest apples , potatoes and grasshoppers , America has
the noblest and most upright men on Earth , and it has the most crooks and
the most outrageous robberies. It has the greatest human inventions , and the
most numerous murders per year and per head of population and an
American is deeply offended if you doubt one of his claims that the US is
_________ _________ _____________
The phrase was very often used by the Germans to refer to the American
culture most notably Goebbels in a an essay in German newspaper Das Reich
in 1942 and 1943 Nazi anti-America anti- Semitic propaganda book whose
title translated as USA naked! Photo documents from ____________
______________ _______________

Gods Own Country

10.The word X finds its roots in the Latin word for seed. In
the mid 14th century the word used to mean plot where
plants are raised from seeds figuratively meaning a
breading ground. The current meaning of X was first
recorded in the 1580s , and was used to refer to any school,
especially academies for young ladies, till early 20th century
Give X , which at present refers to something ironic given its
etymology

Semina
ry

11. Etienne de ______________ was the Controller General of

Finances under Louis XV. He earned a lot ire from the French
upper class when he tried to tax the rich and privileged to
avoid an impending crisis . His penny pinching measures as
treasury chief to finance the Seven Years Wars resulted in his
name being associated with anything cheap ,and an
alternative technique to create portraits .popular at the time
,for people who could not afford the paintings portraits was
named after him . Alternatively it is also said that the
technique was named so because during his tenure he had
filled his chateau with such portraits.
FITB

Silhouette

12. The Rhythm Method is a type of birth control in

which the woman recognizes days when she is fertile
and abstains from sex on these days and just before
them . The method is called natural birth control as
it does not involve any unnatural birth control
devices. Though the method is quite dicey with a lot
of women practicing it getting pregnant , it is the
only method of contraception endorsed and
promoted by the Catholic Church and so
practitioners of the method are often euphemistically
said to be playing _____________ _______________
FITB
(Method illustrated in the next slide)

Vatican
Roulette

13. On of the earliest mentions of the usage in its present day meaning is in the
1951, March 15th edition of The Los Angeles Times titles ____________
______________ - A New Measure of a Husband. Excerpts
I first heard about them [__________ __________] when the chap standing next to
me in the elevator pulled a letter from his pocket, looked at it in dismay and
muttered More lost _________ __________.
Figuring him for an eccentric, I forgot about them until that evening when one
of the boys looked soulfully into the foam brimming his glass and said solemnly:
"I should have been home two hours ago ... I'll never catch up on my
_______________ ___________."
_____________ ____________! What esoteric cult was this that immersed men in
pixie mathematics?
"You don't know about _______________ ____________? It's a way of figuring where
you stand with the little woman - favor or disfavor. Started way back in the days
of the leprechauns, I suppose, long before there were any doghouses.
FITB with a common usage which according to popular etymology traces its

Brownie Points

14.There are many stories about the origin of the most

popular name of this area which real estate promoters try to
sell as Clinton or Midtown West. Two of the very
interesting probably reasons according to a local historian
Mary Clark
...........Another version ascribes the name's origins to a
German restaurant in the area known as ___________
___________, after its proprietors.But the most common
version traces it to the story of "Dutch Fred the Cop," a
veteran policeman, who with his rookie partner, was
watching a small riot on West 39th Street near Tenth
Avenue. The rookie is supposed to have said, "This place is
_______ itself," to which Fred replied, "________'s a mild
climate. This is _________ __________."

Hell's Kitchen,New
York

15 .According to the preface of the novel Manushyanu Oru

Amukham, chronicling the life and times of Ayyatumpilli clan
along three generations, the novelist Subhash Chandran had
written a short story Novel Samgraham encompassing his idea
for the the novel . Later having feared he would not be able to
complete the novel he published part of the novel , till what he
had written , as a short story , which won a lot of accolades from
literary luminaries like Sugathakumari , which finally prompted
him to write the entire novel.
Under what very self explanatory title did Subhash Chandran
publish part of his novel

Manushyanu Oru Amukham Enna Novelinte

Onnamadhyayam

16 . An 'X Hunt' is usually a fool's errand(an imaginary

task) that experienced members of a group give to
the inexperienced members as a practical joke. Eg :
finding left handed screw drivers, a bucket of steam
or King Robert Baratheon in Game of Thrones
asking his squire for breastplate stretchers. The
origin of the phrase is experienced campers sending
to inexperienced campers to catch imaginary X,
using ridiculous techniques like running around
carrying a bag, banging stones etc. In real life X is a
bird found in marshes , usually very difficult hunt
because of its camouflage and erratic flight
patterns, and therefore skilled hunters who were
skilled to shoot them down bagan to called
Y(Derived from X).
X or Y

X-Snipe; Y-Sniper

17. The word X in Latin means "Another Time ,

Another Place " and Y is a name derived from
another Hebrew name meaning " Yahweh is my
God". X and Y are not identical in spelling or
pronunciation(UK and US) . Due to the presence of
similar consonants , the different pronunciation of
Y and the position of X in a popular phrase, some
Malayalis(not so uncommonly in online forums)
tend to confuse X for Y.
X and Y.

X-Alias , Y-Elias

Alternate Titles
Identify movies from their alternate titles
10 Questions , 5 points each , 10 bonus for getting all right

1. Planet Ice
2. Group Hug
3. Everybody Comes to Ricks
4. A Boys Life
5. Tara and Maya
6. Oil!
7. Growing Up
8. A Delicate Balance of Terror
9. Trash Planet
10.It had to be Jew

1. Planet Ice - Titanic

2. Group Hug - Marvels Avengers
3. Everybody Comes to Ricks - Casablanca
4. A Boys Life - E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
5. Tara and Maya Kamasutra : A Tale of Love
6. Oil! There will be Blood
7. Growing Up Boyhood
8. A Delicate Balance of Terror - Dr . Strangelove or: How I Learned
to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
9. Trash Planet Wall - E
10.It had to be Jew Annie Hall

LVC
Not an Exclusive List
No points for identification
Connect Points mentioned on each slide

100/-50

90/-45

80/-40

70/-35

60/-30

50/-25

40/-20

30/-15

20/-10

10/-5

5/-5

Russia

Germany

Gaul

America

California

Poland

Cyprus

Europe

Scandinavia

Ytterby Mine

France

Places after which elements

are named
Russia(Ruthenia) Germany - Germanium
Ruthenium

Gaul - Gallium
California - Californium
Cyprus
Copper(Cuprum)
Scandinavia - Scandium
France - Francium

America - Americium
Poland Polonium
Europe - Europium
Ytterby Mine Yttrium,
Terbium , Erbium ,
Ytterbium

Thats all for Now

Keep Quizzing
-Thank You