Get your thinking caps on . . .

I like a good quiz. Here's a straightforward, though not too easy, one sent to me by Sr Anastasia.

No trick questions, though it's worth remembering that it originates in the US so make allowances for the 'transatlantic influence' in some of the answers.

Have fun . . . I'll post the answers tomorrow.


The Quiz for People Who Know Everything . . .

There are only nine questions.

I found out in a hurry

that I didn't.

These are not trick

questions.

They are straight

questions with straight answers.

1. Name the one sport in which neither the spectators nor the
participants know the score or the leader until the contest ends.

2. What famous North American landmark is constantly moving backward?

3. Of all vegetables, only two can live to produce on their own for
several growing seasons. All other vegetables must be
replanted every year. What are the only two perennial vegetables?

4. What fruit has its seeds on the outside?

5. In many liquor stores, you can buy pear brandy, with a real pear
inside the bottle. The pear is whole and ripe, and the bottle is
genuine; it hasn't been cut in any way. How did the pear get
inside the bottle?

6. Only three words in standard English begin with the letters ' dw'
and they are all common words. Name two of them.

7. There are 14 punctuation marks in English grammar.
Can you name at least
half of them?

8. Name the only vegetable or fruit that is never sold frozen, canned,
processed, cooked, or in any other form except fresh.

9. Name 6 or more things that you can wear on your feet beginning with
the letter 'S.'

Non-Words . . .

I've always been interested in words and language. Foreign languages, slang, dialect, quirky words, origins of words, philology, linguistics etc.

I am very grateful to @Londiniensis on Twitter for his tweet on a recent article in the Telegraph about the ''Non-Words' that are stored in a vault at Oxford English Press. These are words that have been submitted for use in the OED but haven't made it yet. They are kept dormant lest they come into common usage at some time in the future in which case they would be included in a later edition.

The article includes a long list of non-words. Here are a few of my favourites:

Dringle – the watermark left on wood caused by a glass of liquid.

Espacular – something especially spectacular

Furgle – to feel in a pocket or bag for a small object such as a coin or key

Lexpionage – the sleuthing of words and phrases

Museum head – feeling mentally exhausted and no longer able to take in information; Usually following a trip to a museum

Nonversation – a worthless conversation, wherein nothing is explained or otherwise Elaborated upon

Optotoxical – a look that could kill, normally from a parent or spouse

Peppier – a waiter whose sole job is to offer diners ground pepper, usually from a large pepper mill

Percuperate – to prepare for the possibility of being ill

Polkadodge – the dance that occurs when two people attempt to pass each other but move in the same direction

Scrax – the waxy coating that is scratched off an instant lottery ticket

Vidiot – someone who is inept at the act of programming video recording equipment

Whinese – a term for the language spoken by children on lengthy trips

Wibble – the trembling of the lower lip just shy of actually crying

Xenolexica – a grave confusion when faced with unusual words

I can actually hear myself using some of these.

Papal Souvenirs . . .

Like many bloggers, I expect, I have added @thepapalvisit to my Twitter feed and it's a very useful way of keeping up to date with official news about the forthcoming visit.

Having a bit of spare time this evening and in the mood for a bit of light relief, I thought I'd have a look at the official souvenirs now being offered for sale to commemorate the Papal Visit.

I must say, they all seem in fairly good taste although I don't know that I'd particularly want to buy a flashing candle.

Looking further afield at some non-official suppliers, I came across some very interesting T shirts and hoodies. Most of them quite acceptable though not to my personal taste but then I think I'm getting past the slogan T shirt stage!

GBTP? - God Bless the Pope, of course!

And finally, a couple of designs you definitely won't see me in this September . . .

And looking to the States, I have to admit, I find this little chap quite appealing . . .


Being middle-aged and boring, I'll probably end up with a Papal mug - after all, you can't go wrong with a china mug, can you? Who knows, maybe I'll really push the boat out and buy a matching tea-towel!

I wonder if any other bloggers have come across any really super duper souvenirs for sale yet (or even any particularly tacky ones!)

Well, it's a much more attractive proposition than the England job!

I just heard the good news (for Spurs fans, at least!) - Harry Redknapp has just extended his contract with Tottenham.

I've been waiting for an opportunity to post this video. I enjoyed seeing it live on TV at the time it happened a couple of months ago, and it's still worth watching now. It's great to see the good relationship between coach and players - I can't somehow imagine Capello smiling like this in similar circumstances but then I can't really imagine any of the England squad having the courage to pull a stunt like this either!

Bank Holiday fun - Come on up, the food is free!

Another great email from Sr Anastasia:

Feeling a little peckish? How about this for a way to build up a healthy appetite?

First, take the tram up to the start of the trail . . .

Now follow the path . . .

Be sure to hold on to the 'railing' . . .


Keep an eye on the person in front of you . . .


Be very careful when passing someone going in the opposite directions . . .


Now just up a few steps (on the left in the photo) . . .

Gets a little steeper here so put your toes in the holes . . .

A few more steps to go . . .

Finally in sight . . .

Isn't it amazing! 'The Restaurant' This restaurant is in China. If you manage to reach the restaurant, the food is free!

Let me know how the food is . . . I'm not going!

Scrabble for Dummies?

Have you heard the latest? Scrabble has announced it will be changing the rules to allow proper nouns to be used. Apparently this is to encourage younger people to play the game.

A spokeswoman for the company said the use of proper nouns would "add a new dimension" to Scrabble and "introduce an element of popular culture into the game".

People's names, place names and brand names will now be permitted. Shame, I say!

I wonder if text spelling will be allowed in the next 'makeover'?

Apologies for the inverted 'S' in the photo. I only realised after I'd put the board away that I'd placed the tile upside down for the photo. It's not my misuse of the apostrophe!!

"You type . . . she speaks" A bit of nonsense on my day off!

I just received this by email from my sister-in-law. It's great fun - just type in any text and the programme will generate the vocal. You can even change the voice just as you would on a Satnav. Follow the link here and have a few minutes' fun with the demonstration.

One Word Comment - a 'meme' of sorts . . .

As seen on Mulier Fortis' blog.

Please be kind in your comments. I'm a fragile little thing and don't handle abuse well! :0)

"Let's see how forthcoming my blog buddies are. Leave a ONE word comment that you think best describes me. It can only be one word. No more than one word. Then copy & paste this post on your blog so I can leave a word about you. This should be interesting."