17 Responses to “MR’s De-Evolution Quiz – Smarts”

1. #1 by Izard
   October 4th, 2007 at 1:21 pm

   #1 No. Because it’s not.

   #3 So they didn’t have to throw out all those round manhole covers.

   #4 Merriam and/or Webster thinks it means: “He (God) has approved our beginnings” so I will go with that.

   #7 You go to France and enlist. Same thing you do here, only you get to be snooty and drink wine.
2. #2 by anon
   October 4th, 2007 at 4:59 pm

   2. Amanita verna…”Destroying Angle”….at least in these parts of the world.

   6. Because it is a shrub supposed to be efficacious in discovering witches. A forked twig of the hazel was made into a divining-rod for the purpose.
3. #3 by MRambler
   October 4th, 2007 at 6:08 pm

   OK, I can see it’s going to be a Lo-o-ng Quiz…… Izard, “because it’s not” is not an answer to “why”- No point for #1…. I’ll overlook your #3 answer…… On #4, My reference states “He [God] Favored Our Undertakings”….. Close enough….. The eye represents the all-seeing deity. The pyramid symbolizes strength; it is unfinished to suggest the work ahead…… Izard gets One (1) Point for #4….. You could go to France and enlist, but, that’s not the answer I’m after for #7……

   Anon, #2 – Close, but, no cigar, hint: first name is right….. #6’s answer has nothing to do with “Witches”……

   So-o-o, #4 is answered…… Six (6) to go……..
4. #4 by zook
   October 4th, 2007 at 6:34 pm

   #3: Two reasons: so they roll (they’re heavy to move otherwise) and because they won’t fall in the hole.

   To geek out a little…

   The second reason is a good one, but the circle isn’t the only thing that satisfies it. The real requirement is that the figure have a constant width, and there are a lot of figure that satisfy that condition. E.g., take an equilateral triangle and connect each pair of vertices with a circular arc centered at the third vertex.
5. #5 by MRambler
   October 5th, 2007 at 6:12 am

   Zook gets One (1) Point for #3…… They are round so that their covers cannot be dropped through the manhole itself…… Squares, rectangles, ovals, and other shapes could be so positioned that they would slip into the manhole. The circular manhole cover rests on a lip that is smaller than the cover….. Thus, the size and shape keep the manhole cover from falling into the hole.

   So-o-o, That’s #3 and#4 answered….. Five (5) to go……
6. #6 by Izard
   October 5th, 2007 at 10:44 am

   On #7… You ‘volunteer’ (by enlisting and signing a contract). Is that the word you’re looking for?
7. #7 by anon
   October 5th, 2007 at 12:21 pm

   My next answers for 2 are: these are all Amanitas:phalloides or death cup, muscaria or fly, pantheria or panther, gemmata or jonquil, aspera or warted, porphyria or purple-brown, silvicola or woodland, calptroderma or capped, vaginata or sheathed, but probably it’s the death cap.

   It’s not safe to walk in the woods.
8. #8 by anon
   October 5th, 2007 at 12:22 pm

   Should read DEATH CAP.
9. #9 by MRambler
   October 5th, 2007 at 12:57 pm

   Izard, I’m going to give you the One (1) Point for #7 because you are close to what I have and I like the “You get to be snooty and drink wine”….. My source’s answer is, “A first step would be to write to them. The address is: Legion Etrangere, Quartier Vienot, 13400 Aubagne, France”…… You gonna join up and get snooty and drink wine?….. Don’t forget us here at MR Central…..

   Anon gets One (1) Point for #2…… Here’s my answer: “It is Amanita Phalloides, the death cap or death cup. Eating this mushroom, which contains five different poisons, causes diarrhea and vomiting within 6 to 12 hours. This is followed by damage to the liver, kidneys, and central nervous system – and, in the majority of cases, coma and death……

   So-o-o, that’s #2, #3, #4, and #7….. Only Three (#1, #5, and #6) left…..
10. #10 by Izard
    October 5th, 2007 at 2:45 pm

    I stand by my answer to #1.

    #6 The term “witch hazel” has it’s roots in early commerce.

    See, stores in ancient times would stock many herbs, bushes, branches, dirt, gravel and such (they basically sold whatever they could collect out in the wild). People would come in and request to purchase (in exchange for some other herbs, bushes, branches, dirt, gravel and such) “some hazel, please.” The store owner would, of course, reply, “Which hazel? We have this hazel and that hazel…then there’s that other hazel over there…”

    Since language was still rather new at the time and everyone was still getting used to it…when unsure of a word they would pronounce things phonetically. Thus “witch” instead of “which.”

    Unless someone else has a better answer, I’ll stand by that one too.
11. #11 by anon
    October 5th, 2007 at 5:00 pm

    Have to go with Izard on number 1. ……No, because it’s not. It was invented in U.S. of A.
12. #12 by anon
    October 5th, 2007 at 5:10 pm

    But, Izard’s answer to number 6 is grasping at straws. I stand by my answer to 6. “Which Hazel”, give me a break. There were to women working in the store. Both their names were Hazel “which” bothered the customers to no end.
13. #13 by MRambler
    October 5th, 2007 at 5:28 pm

    Both of you (Izard and Anon) are right about #1 not being an authentic Chinese dish, and, it was invented in the U.S.A., but, there is a specific “why” it’s not Chinese that you are both missing…. No Point…… Izard took #6 around Pluto, and, I need to get out the hip boots if he continues, but, Anon, your answer is not what I have….. Hints on the three (3) remaining questions tomorrow…..
14. #14 by J.J.
    October 6th, 2007 at 8:56 pm

    #1 I don’t know if its what your looking for but, Chop Suey was invented in the Chinese restaurants of San Fransisco at the turn of the century by mixing all the left overs in a bowl and serving it to the railroad workers.
15. #15 by MRambler
    October 7th, 2007 at 7:13 pm

    Hints: #1 – It’s a name thing…. #5 – It was created in 1958 by a committee…… #6 – It’s a common name for a certain plant
16. #16 by MRambler
    October 9th, 2007 at 8:35 am

    It looks as if everyone is done with this quiz, so, I’ll give the answers to #1, #5, and #6….. I am going to award One (1) Point to J.J. for #1 as he is closest to the answer, and, One (1) Point to Anon for #6 as he is closest to the answer….. I guess no one cares about “Peace” anymore – so no points for #5….. Here are the correct answers:

    #1 – It is an authentic Chinese-American dish, created either by a dishwasher in San Francisco around 1860 or by Chinese restaurant owners in Brooklyn in the early 1900’s….. As befits its origin, chop is an English word; suey is derived from the Chinese sui, meaning “bits”……
    #5 – It was created in 1958 as a nuclear disarmament symbol by the Direct Action Committee, and it was first shown that year at peace marches in England. The forked symbol is actually a composite of the semaphore signals “N” and “D”, representing nuclear disarmament.
    #6 – The term “witch hazel” is the common name for the “Hamamelis” plant. The “witch” of the plant’s name comes from “wice”, an Anglo-Saxon word for a plant with flexible branches. It is unclear who first used the leaves and bark of witch hazel in toiletries and tonics. Some believe it was the Anglo-Saxons; others think the American Indians first explained its medicinal uses to the Pilgrims.

    That’s it…… Busy this week-end – No new quiz until the middle of next week, around the 16th or 17th……
17. #17 by Izard
    October 10th, 2007 at 10:26 am

    Witch Hazel is also the active ingredient in Tucks…the hemorrhoidal pad. Just in case anyone was wondering.

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