The canary did not get its name from the canary islands. But rather, the canary islands were so named by King Juba because of the "vast multitudes of dogs of very large size." The island was originally called Canariae Insulae, or "Island of the Dogs." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canary_islands
Wikipedia articles are written, overwritten, undone and flamed back and forth by anyone with an opinion and an internet connection. Never use them as a source. Hey, you or your internet sparring partner can just go change it like anyone else on the internet.
According to one study that counted the amount of errors within, Wikipedia is as reliable as the Encyclopaedia Britannica. Yes, dictionaries also have mistakes, turns out having something printed doesn't make it indisputable truth. How about that.
yea, I am not saying it is foulproof and the best source for everything, but the fact that anyone can edit it does not make the best argument against it. It means that all faults can get picked out. Unlike dictionaries and other written sources, often only edited by 1 person (and perhaps written by 1 too) I would think that would make a bigger argument for getting it wrong.
the only thing when it gets messy is when it is more about opinions than facts. When it is about thngs that can be proven or measured, (just like in science) things will be altered untill the best most correct version keeps standing. But with unclear matters it can become pingpong (but wether that is better or worse than one of the opinions being forced upon you as the one and only truth like when it comes from a single source..
I can write a book claiming the earth is flat, ow wait, a cube perhaps, and since noone can argue with me, it will be the truth..
Wikipedia is a decent source. It should not be considered a definitive source. Depending on the domain, other sources are better. But it is sure as heck is more accurate than internet commenters who post with no source at all.
I've always called those large sheets that people do science presentations on Manila Tagboard; no idea where I picked it up. It may be a regionalism of Ontario.
This was a great quiz, thank you. It was interesting, unusual, well planned and educational. It really made me dredge through my memory banks for some of the answers and I learnt a few things about the answers I did not already know. Thank you
Remember -- the answer is the common English word, not its inspiration. As the Drunken Shriner said to some of his fellow conventioneers, "I remember the fez but I can't place the name."
Interestingly, in France, some of the tour guides have college degrees in guiding tours. We had some really excellent chateaux tours in the Loire Valley.
I thought the job of a tourguide was to tell a sob story about the bus driver, then seem so touched when a tourist volunteers to pass the hat and take up a collection to help the driver out. That happened to my parents, and it also happened to friends who took the same tour two years in a row. They bit the first time, but let the hat pass by them the second time when they realized it was a scam. (Not saying all tour guides are like that, but as in any other business, there are scammers out there.)
I was told by a tour guide once, that they make a lot of the facts up, there philosophy was that the passengers will believe the best information available. If their information is the only information, it is therefore the best and will be believed !
My parents also fell for the hat scam. Because of all the kick backs that drivers get from tourist places, the wages are kept artificially low basing them on the fact that drivers make it up with kick backs. Vicious circle.
Was recently back in Italy, this time with my sister's family, and after they related to me some of the absolute whoppers they had been told by the guides they had for the Colosseum, Forum, and other places, I must reiterate: there are a lot of bad tour guides in Italy.
Interestingly, though, one of the things they were told that was not true was that the Colosseum was never actually flooded for mock naval battles - that this was just a myth - when in fact it's well documented that this really did take place. Interesting, because, as TWM pointed out above usually what tour guides are doing is either repeating badly sourced information, or making stuff up, to make a place seem more interesting. This guide seems to have wanted to make the Colosseum less interesting. Curious.
Sparse?? what ? No. Where did you get that from (can't find any reference to sparsity) . The name of the town came from the local word for spring, "espa" first it was just a description (like with many placenames), later turned into a name.
Might ve come across a bit harse over here, I apologise. I apparently was struck a bit too much by surprise and that might have come out a bit unfriendly.
You are probably right, but that word for spring would come from the latin "sparsa". I may have translated a bit hastily, though another theory is the latin "spatia" (meaning spaced, roomy,...).
Sodomy generally refers to anal sex, but can also be used to refer to other sexual acts that one's government and/or religious leaders don't approve of. In its most restrictive, it can refer to ANY non-procreative sexual act.
Ofcourse I had to look it up now. Apparently the guys familyname was Neumann (which makes more sense to me, part of the reason I looked it up was because I had never heard of Neander as a german last name). It was translated into greek "neo-ander" as Neu Mann means new man.
Neumanntall actually sounds better Newmanvalley, well actualy it is more like pre-man, the new (hu)man came after.
There is a lot of dispute on the hamburger origin, with a lot of people having claims on the invention & naming. It is quite likely that it was not named after the German city, though https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamburger#Claims_of_invention
Smashed it. Scored 23/23 with 2:23 left on the clock. There was only four I couldn't get first time through but I had enough time left to come up with the right answers.
point of information: the game of rugby wasn't named for the town of Rugby but for Rugby School, a posh boys school where it was invented as a spinoff of football (the english one, not the american one).
Really minor technicality, but the village in New York that gave the tuxedo its name is called Tuxedo Park. It's in the Town of Tuxedo. The gated development of Tuxedo Park was established in 1886, and the town in which the development lay separated from the Town of Monroe three years later. Tuxedo Park was a well-off area until the stock market crash, and the black-tie suit became known as a tuxedo because of the people of Tuxedo Park - which didn't become an incorporated village until much later (1952). Like many area place names, Tuxedo is derived from a Lenape word. (I used to live 30 miles from there.)
In Britain, an oblong means the same as a rectangle… But I won’t get into it, lest someone get on their high horse and produce 10 paragraphs on why they hate British English. I think many of us know who that ‘someone’ be ;-D
Sappho was a woman not a place. She lived in the island of Lesbos. so it is more common referred to "Sapphic love" and "Lesbian woman". Although Sappho was likely to be bisexual for all we know.
Thank you for reminding me of one of the funniest quotes by a sports--well "sports"--commentator: "Madison Square Garden, the mecca of professional wrestling."
Sifhraven, back in April 2020 you posted an apology for a comment you felt had sounded a bit unfriendly. That was gracious of you.
I frequently cringe at the way people word criticisms and corrections on here, often with no apparent thought for others' feelings, especially those who have gone to the effort of making quizzes. However, I do remind myself that not all who post are using their first language. It is quite easy to be offensive in English without meaning to be. And wonderfully easy to be very rude whilst pretending to be polite.
Anyway, I hope I'm not sounding patronising by showing appreciation for a courteous gesture.
the only thing when it gets messy is when it is more about opinions than facts. When it is about thngs that can be proven or measured, (just like in science) things will be altered untill the best most correct version keeps standing. But with unclear matters it can become pingpong (but wether that is better or worse than one of the opinions being forced upon you as the one and only truth like when it comes from a single source..
I can write a book claiming the earth is flat, ow wait, a cube perhaps, and since noone can argue with me, it will be the truth..
My parents also fell for the hat scam. Because of all the kick backs that drivers get from tourist places, the wages are kept artificially low basing them on the fact that drivers make it up with kick backs. Vicious circle.
Interestingly, though, one of the things they were told that was not true was that the Colosseum was never actually flooded for mock naval battles - that this was just a myth - when in fact it's well documented that this really did take place. Interesting, because, as TWM pointed out above usually what tour guides are doing is either repeating badly sourced information, or making stuff up, to make a place seem more interesting. This guide seems to have wanted to make the Colosseum less interesting. Curious.
Neumanntall actually sounds better Newmanvalley, well actualy it is more like pre-man, the new (hu)man came after.
I frequently cringe at the way people word criticisms and corrections on here, often with no apparent thought for others' feelings, especially those who have gone to the effort of making quizzes. However, I do remind myself that not all who post are using their first language. It is quite easy to be offensive in English without meaning to be. And wonderfully easy to be very rude whilst pretending to be polite.
Anyway, I hope I'm not sounding patronising by showing appreciation for a courteous gesture.
I don't think the number of syllables has to be 9s and 6s. there `are many examples with 8 or 10 in the long lines and five in the shorter