Friday, December 30, 2022

Spoiler Alert answers to Proverb Quiz 8

Proverbs 8


1) In the poem who was "put in a pot and boiled 'til he was done"?

a) Prince Andrew b) Boris Johnson c) Don't Care


2) What is the mother of invention?

a) Money b) necessity c) genius


3) If something is rare it is once in a

a) blue moon b) while c) week


4) Where might a bolt come from?

a) the shed door b) a rifle c) the blue


5) Cockneys are said to be born within the sound of

a) Eastenders b) Coronation Street c) bow bells


6) What might you bring home?

a) the TV licence b) the bacon c) the whole hog


7) If it ain't broke

a) get another one b) don't fix it c) look after it


8) President Harry S. Truman had a sign over his desk saying who or what stops here?

a) my secretary b) the president c) the buck


9) What might you find in the ointment?

a) vanilla b) lavender c) a fly


10) What cannot stand?

a) my aunt fanny b) a drunken man c) a house divided against itself


11) What might you find in sheep's clothing?

a) ticks b) a lamb c) a wolf


12) What should you do unto others?

a) as little as possible b) as you would have them do unto you c) before they do unto you?


13) There is no WHAT for the wicked?

a) rest b) money c) forgiveness


14) What should you not put before the horse?

a) the cart b) the nosebag c) the manger


15) What should you beware?

a) the first of March b) the ides of March c) the thirty first of March.


(15th of March - traditional day for settling debts or assassinating Caesar)


16) What is the food of love?

a) peanut butter b) music c) chocolate


17) You are innocent until

a) proven guilty b) arrested c) you can afford a lawyer


18) When is a hare proverbially mad?

a) February b) March c) April


19) What should you do while the sun shines?

a) make hay b) sunbathe c) go on holiday.


20 Where will you find big ears?

a) little pitchers b) Noddy c) big heads

 


 



Proverb quiz 8

The good news is that all my quizzes are going to be published this year in "The Evil Quizmaster"
Amazon are funny (in fact they are hilarious) about anything in a book being published on a blog so I have removed any quizzes which will be in the upcoming book from this blog. The one which remains will not be in the book.
The Evil Quizmaster
 

 

Friday, December 09, 2022

A Deadly Web

This latest book from Jeanne M Dams is excellent. It is hardly a spoiler to say there is a murder and it is solved by Dorothy Martin with the aid of Alan and his police contacts.

It is the everyday human interaction of Dorothy Martin with her family and friends which brings this book to life. The characters are more realistic. Many famous detectives are brilliant at solving crimes but they don't seem to eat, drink or sleep and certainly do not have mischievous pets.

The imaginary city of Sherebury is remarkably like Arundel -  a village which has a Cathedral at its midst. Everything in Arundel is within walking distance and I can just imagine Alan and Dorothy in Arundel Cathedral.

The unfolding of the "whodunnit" is very satisfactory and the local colour adds to the story. Jeanne M Dams is an American and perhaps an honorary Brit because her stories are set in the UK for the most part.

Read it and enjoy it.


A lesson from History

Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat its mistakes. The Tories are planning new anti-union laws and union-bashing rhetoric. They have forgotten their own history.

The Heath government recklessly imprisoned five dockers in 1972. It sparked a strike wave of unprecedented proportions and the government had to produce the "official solicitor" like a rabbit out of a hat to say the five dockers (Con Clancy, Tony Merrick, Bernie Steer, Vic Turner, and Derek Watkins) had apparently purged their contempt so they were released and there was no need for a general strike.

The pressure from rank-and-file trade unionists spurred the TUC into action against the wishes of the right-wingers in the leadership.

The Tories looked ridiculous and the working-class movement was triumphant.




Thursday, December 01, 2022

Bookworm words


Bookworm words

These are some of the more unusual words which can be used in the online game Bookworm. It is a game which I thoroughly recommend to your pupils



Why not set it for homework? They will love it.

 



DELF

Alt spelling of “Delft” referring to pottery

DIS

Could be slang for “disrespect” (alt diss) or the capital of Hell

DOPY

Alt spelling of “dopey”

DORY

A flat-bottomed boat

DUP

to open” and not the abbreviation for the Democratic Unionist Party

DURE

Hard or severe

FANE

A temple

FRIZ

Alt spelling of “Frizz” meaning to make hair into short curls

GEES

Third person present tense of to gee – as in gee up a horse

GOY

Anyone who is not Jewish

GREE

Mastery or victory

HAED

Had (Scots)

HIN

Ancient hebrew measure of liquid

JIN

Alt spelling of “Jinn” - a mythological spirit which may be good or evil

MARRER

Alt spelling of “marrow” meaning a mate or friend

NADIR

Lowest point

PATE

Head Рalthough Google thought I meant P̢t̩

PITA

Alt spelling of Pitta as in Pitta bread

QUIRED

Alt spelling of “quire” meaning 24 sheets of paper

TASS

A cup (Scots) cf tasse (French)

TIDED

Past tense of verb “to tide” meaning to move with the tide

TIPPY

Liable to tip over but a word I hadn’t heard before

TITI

A South American monkey

TOTER

One who carries something, e.g. a gun-toting cowboy.

TOYER

One who toys with something

TREED

Planted with trees or indeed driven up a tree by a hunting pack

TRET

An allowance for waste

VIS

Power cf Latin “vires”

YELD

A sterile animal

ZOA

Individuals from a single egg

ZOON

Singular of zoa




Also

torse

Heraldic wreath

bine

a long, flexible stem of a climbing plant, especially the hop.

eft

newt

nelly

a silly person (informal)

voe

a small bay or creek in Orkney or Shetland.

quean

cheeky girl

quoin

an external angle of a wall or building.

cavil

make petty or unnecessary objections.

gan

a dialect of Chinese spoken by about 20 million people, mainly in Jiangxi province. (you'd think that would make it a proper noun but Bookworm accepts it)

foy

to assist a ship in distress

gie

a Scottish word for give

ret

soak with water

rax

to extend

ria

a long, narrow inlet formed by the partial submergence of a river valley.

yow

used to express excitement, joy, or surprise

bren

a lightweight quick-firing machine gun used by the Allied forces in the Second World War. (you'd think that would make it a proper noun but Bookworm accepts it)

kab

an ancient Hebrew measure equal to about two quarts.

purl

(knitting) an inverted stitch producing ribbing etc

vagi

cranial nerves

glim

candle

joe

an ordinary man “average joe” (or a cup of coffee)

loof

palm of the hand

ite

dto make ready

pinta

chronic skin disease

illy

badly

cade

lumpy or rotund

clag

sticky mud or dirt

ree

Wild; fierce; outrageous

mome

A dull or stupid person.

sau

a skewer made of losilosi wood

wale

a horizontal wooden strip fitted as strengthening to a boat's side.

pinas

Pina = a cone of silver amalgam prepared for retorting (pinas being the plural)

fiar

The price of grain in the counties of Scotland,

sura

a chapter or section of the Koran (scholars say each one can be taken seven different ways!)

soli

did you know there was a plural of solo?

oxo

the game of noughts and crosses (and those beef cubes as well!)

cuke

cucumber (informal)

kata

martial arts practice

maar

a broad, low-relief volcanic crater

macer

an official who keeps order in a law court

quate

archaic term for fortune or destiny

uta

noun. any of several iguanid lizards

lunk

a slow-witted person

puggy

having a face that resembles that of a pug dog

menad

a frenzied woman (alt spelling maenad)

pung

low box sleigh

geest

a type of landform, slightly raised above the surrounding countryside

Dexy

a tablet of Dexedrine









Spoiler Alert - answers to Proverbs 6

The good news is that all my quizzes are going to be published this year in "The Evil Quizmaster"
Amazon are funny (in fact they are hilarious) about anything in a book being published on a blog so I have removed any quizzes which will be in the upcoming book from this blog. The one which remains will not be in the book.
The Evil Quizmaster
 

 

Proverbs Quiz - just for fun

The good news is that all my quizzes are going to be published this year in "The Evil Quizmaster"
Amazon are funny (in fact they are hilarious) about anything in a book being published on a blog so I have removed any quizzes which will be in the upcoming book from this blog. The one which remains will not be in the book.
The Evil Quizmaster