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Crowd-Sourced General Knowledge #5

Answer these questions inspired by the many user-submitted general knowledge quizzes.
Questions from users manchesterutd10, DerMan4, and others
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Last updated: January 20, 2019
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First submittedMay 16, 2014
Times taken43,497
Average score60.0%
Rating3.94
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Question
Answer
What movie featured the song "Under the Sea"?
The Little Mermaid
Who was shot at Ford's Theatre?
Abraham Lincoln
What country do Legos come from?
Denmark
What periodic table element is represented by the letter K?
Potassium
What country did Ingólfr Arnarson become the first person to settle in the year 874?
Iceland
On what European island would you find the Giant's Causeway?
Ireland
What disease is also known as "consumption"?
Tuberculosis
What is the most commonly-spoken language that uses the Cyrillic alphabet?
Russian
What religion is associated with wearing dreadlocks?
Rastafari
Who urged the citizens of San Diego to "stay classy"?
Ron Burgundy
What U.S. territory lies about 1,600 miles south of Japan?
Guam
What modern garment was the cravat a predecessor of?
Necktie
What is the only country in Central America that has English as its official language?
Belize
What German military tactic means "lightning war"?
Blitzkrieg
What vestigial organ caused the death of Harry Houdini?
Appendix
What word, starting with R, means "bird of prey"?
Raptor
What is another name for ALS disease – in honor of the baseball player
who died of it in 1941?
Lou Gehrig's
Disease
Forwards I'm heavy but backwards I'm not. What am I?
Ton
What type of animal is a macaque?
Monkey
What well-known horror novel was written by Mary Shelley?
Frankenstein
+32
Level 88
Jun 18, 2014
"Legos" is not the correct terminology.
+9
Level 89
Dec 15, 2018
Pedant of that month award.
+2
Level 67
Aug 18, 2021
Legos is a generic trademark
+4
Level 66
Oct 25, 2022
There has never been an s in Lego. Why add one? It's bizarre. It is a brand name, not a generic term.
+8
Level ∞
May 19, 2023
Not at all. There has never been an S in Toyota. But if I have two in my garage, I have two Toyotas.

This is how the English language works. It's flexible.

To suggest that "Legos" is somehow an incorrect way to refer to Lego blocks is pedantic and wrong. And I don't give a hoot if the Lego corporation disagrees. They don't get to decide how the English language works.

+3
Level 79
May 23, 2023
By that logic, if you had two green cars in your garage, would you also agree that you have two greens?
+7
Level 77
Nov 9, 2023
I don't think the issue is that it's a brand name rather than a generic term. The issue is that where it refers to the bricks rather than the corporation, it's a mass noun: you can have "some Lego" but not "a Lego". That's if you're speaking British English, which is, of course, always correct.
+7
Level 75
Nov 9, 2023
Here's your English homework for today QM:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_noun

+6
Level 92
Nov 9, 2023
@blizzrd33, of course not, because no sane person would buy 2 green cars. I've got 3 whites parked at my house right now though.
+1
Level 76
Jan 12, 2024
@AlexThirkell The article seems to support QM, actually. You wouldn't say Lego bricks are uncountable, would you?

Think about it another way, Legos is short for Lego bricks, (just like Toyotas for Toyota cars). You wouldn't say "how much Lego bricks", but "how many Lego bricks", right? That indicates definite quantity.

+1
Level 75
Jan 29, 2024
How many Lego bricks? How much Lego?
+6
Level 77
Nov 9, 2023
Yeah… I do hate how Americans say Legos. I’m sure some other people say it, but it definitely is an American thing. And sounds awful. But I guess there are as many sands on the beach as there are people who say Legos. I guess I should go eat some of the foods in my pantry to feel better about this situation.
+1
Level 81
Nov 9, 2023
Hee.

(As a Canadian who loves playing both sides of the pond against each other and watching the chaos ensue) I was about to make some tongue-in-cheekily snarky comment about how Brits like to say "maths"... and then I snooped your profile and realized you're almost certainly also USAian.

I'll keep that one in my back pocket for another day, then. 😆

+1
Level 66
Jan 30, 2024
Here we are, TEN YEARS LATER, and this flagrant abuse of the English language has not been fixed. I bet Quizmaster counts sheeps before bed, plays with Playmobils and eats breads.
+1
Level 45
Jun 18, 2014
Great quiz, but a little more flexibility in spelling would be appreciated. Also, I think it's lou gahrig not gherig.
+4
Level 44
Jun 18, 2014
As mwierenga mentioned, it's "Gehrig". Thanks for a fun quiz!
+3
Level 58
Jun 19, 2014
The appendix isn't vestigial. It harbors gut flora, so if an illness flushes out the intestines, the beneficial bacteria from the appendix can then repopulate the intestines.
+10
Level ∞
Jun 19, 2014
That is speculative.
+12
Level 66
Dec 23, 2016
I got mine out, and I haven't noticed a lack of gut flora.
+4
Level 69
May 3, 2019
An accelerating amount of research (published in real journals and thus peer-reviewed) that supports the appendix having some real, actual functions in modern humans has been coming out since these comments were posted. The body of evidence is now large enough that while still not universally accepted as a cold, hard fact, it looks like most human anatomists and biologists at least realize it's in question and a viable area for further research. One thing it definitely isn't anymore (and actually wasn't even in 2014), is mere "speculation".
+5
Level ∞
May 3, 2019
Please post it, I'm intrigued. In general I am skeptical. Current research in peer-reviewed journals is far from the last word (especially in the wake of the replication crisis) and as @YantheMan pointed out there are millions of people without an appendix who seem to be no worse for wear. But I'm willing to keep an open mind if I see the actual research.
+9
Level 66
Jan 28, 2020
You also are fine when one of your kidneys is removed. That doesnt mean it has no function. (Just adressing the argument used, regardless of wether or not an appendix has a function)
+6
Level 69
Apr 4, 2015
How about Primate for macaque?
+1
Level 67
Aug 18, 2021
Primate is too broad.
+3
Level ∞
May 19, 2023
Primate will work now.
+2
Level 82
Sep 1, 2016
The little ton riddle stumped me. Too tired for anything requiring creative thinking, but fine if I just know the answer.
+5
Level 47
Dec 27, 2016
The ton clue was very smart!
+8
Level 58
Jan 8, 2017
At first, I thought it might be "heavy," because forwards it's "heavy" but backwards it's not heavy, it's "yvaeh." Then I noticed the "not."
+3
Level 70
Apr 29, 2019
"Heavy" should also be accepted though, as it is also a correct answer.
+2
Level 36
Aug 30, 2017
i had absolutely no idea that rastafari was a religion!
+1
Level 35
Jan 25, 2018
Only 16% got 'ton' ???? Really ???
+3
Level 81
Nov 9, 2023
I got it, but... it's more of a riddle than a trivia question.

Not that riddles are out of the question, or even a bad thing on this site, don't get me wrong. There are plenty of riddle-type quizzes on here that are great.

But appearing in the middle of a more trivia-type quiz like this one, it feels a bit "off." It requires a different kind of thinking than the rest of the quiz does, and if someone doesn't pick up on that, it ends up being a bit obtuse / borderline un-gettable.

Like I said, I got it, but it took me a while to adjust / clue into the different kind of thinking required and I only figured it out in the dying seconds. I can easily see how it could be very difficult for someone who, in another context, would be able to get it almost instantly.

+1
Level 66
Jan 30, 2024
The Imperial is Ton but the Metric is Tonne, so people may have missed it.
+10
Level 36
Feb 8, 2018
Legos is incorrect. I don't care if it's common and colloquial, it's wrong and stupid and this site should not encourage ignorance. It's "does LEGO", not "do Legos." Legos isn't a word and never will be.
+6
Level 89
Dec 15, 2018
Never mind you outpedant the first pedant hard. I'm not even gonna get into "Leggo my Eggo" with you.
+1
Level 66
Jan 30, 2024
It's only common in the USA, which I'm not sure why they would have the global authority on Danish culture.
+4
Level 95
Nov 7, 2018
Thanks for the quiz. One minor suggestion, in addition to the 'Lego' suggestions above: perhaps change the Ford's Theatre question to 'Who was shot at Ford's Theatre?' as Lincoln died at Peterson House.
+3
Level ∞
Jan 20, 2019
I'm not changing the Lego clue because it is not not wrong. But I did change the Lincoln clue.
+3
Level 77
Apr 28, 2019
I suppose it depends on who owns the word. The Lego company is quite touchy about it: https://theweek.com/articles/452271/11-brand-names-plural-problems
+3
Level ∞
May 19, 2023
Good. They are overpriced and painful to step on. They can take their corporate censorship and shove it. Boycott Legos!!!
+5
Level 70
Apr 28, 2019
"If the LEGO trademark is used at all, it should always be used as an adjective, not as a noun. For example, say "MODELS BUILT OF LEGO BRICKS". Never say "MODELS BUILT OF LEGOs"." lego.com legal section

(I personally use legos)

+1
Level ∞
May 19, 2023
That settles it. Down with Legos!
+4
Level 77
Apr 29, 2019
Surely "Lego" in "Lego brick" is an attributive noun rather than an adjective. Man, I'm boring.
+3
Level 69
Jun 9, 2021
I'm not sure linking to a source that describes your usage as "proscribed" is a very strong defence.
+2
Level 67
Aug 18, 2021
It is wrong. Lego is a brand of plastic bricks, not a noun that means plastic brick. Wikipedia is not a credible source. The Lego company never uses the word Legos.
+1
Level 79
May 23, 2023
Legos is common usage in American English but not in the English I speak in Australia. That doesn't mean those saying Legos are right or wrong per se, it just means they are American.
+1
Level 60
Nov 13, 2023
Anyone else going to point out the double negative in Quizmaster's comment?
+2
Level 77
Nov 24, 2018
Can you accept "Danmark"? Denmark is merely an English "translation" of the real name.
+6
Level 74
Jan 20, 2019
Except for the fact that this is an English language site. Should we accept Nippon-koku for Japan or Shqipëria for Albania? Better to be consistent, I think, and accept the common English names for all countries.
+5
Level 75
Apr 28, 2019
Never heard of you, Ron Burgundy, but you cost me a perfect score.
+3
Level 53
Apr 30, 2019
Will Ferrells character in Anchorman
+1
Level 25
Apr 28, 2019
I put Finding Nemo, instead of Little Mermaid. :P Tough life.
+7
Level 69
Apr 28, 2019
It appears to me that in British and Irish English the word " Lego" is an uncountable noun, whilst in American English it is countable. What I call "a piece of Lego", or a "Lego brick", an American speaker calls "a Lego".
+2
Level 58
Jun 2, 2019
I appreciate your non-combative stance on this!
+3
Level 66
Jan 28, 2020
Same in dutch. You play with Lego and you have separate lego bricks. Noone will say can I have that Lego, when they are asking for a single brick.
+3
Level 76
Mar 9, 2020
Did anyone try "yvaeh" for the riddle question?
+1
Level 58
Mar 10, 2021
I did. Technically correct.
+3
Level 69
Jun 9, 2021
Not it's not technically correct. It's not even right on either half of the question. The word you may be looking for is "heavy" itself, not "yvaeh".
+3
Level 67
Aug 18, 2021
Legos is not the plural of Lego.

Lego is the name of the brand, not of the product.

Legos is a commonly used word but it is a generic trademark.

The Lego Group never uses the word Legos.

+1
Level 66
Jan 30, 2024
It's like when people would call a Playstation a "Nintendo" (i.e. they are wrong)
+1
Level 24
May 8, 2022
I got the riddle only because they used that in Gotham when The Riddler was hosting that show of his
+1
Level 73
Mar 17, 2023
17/20. The riddle was a good one, but I didn't get it right. Thanks for the quiz!
+3
Level 80
May 11, 2023
Lego is not a countable noun. Using it as one is like deciding that bits of furniture from Ikea can be called "Ikeas".
+3
Level 77
Nov 9, 2023
Don't tell me what to call my Legos. Or my furnitures. Let me give you a few advices, some free informations. All the misuses of uncountable nouns aren't your responsibilities. There are too many! They're like rices in a dish, moneys in the mint, sugars in the jar. Too numerous is what I'm saying--you'll end up with emotional baggages. Just let it be waters under the bridge.
+1
Level 67
Nov 9, 2023
16/20. Ton was actually pretty difficult
+1
Level 68
Nov 10, 2023
Accept Burgandy as an alternate spelling?
+1
Level 27
Nov 16, 2023
lego is plural for lego
+1
Level 15
Nov 17, 2023
What is a raptor?
+1
Level 81
Feb 21, 2024
Currently, Scottie Barnes (I know this might not age well!)