A Gift of General Ignorance

Christmas is coming and I've also just noticed this new category. One for fans of QI and similar such programmes. Or just fans of trivia in general. I enjoyed making quizzes during lockdown, and maybe this might inspire more, saying as many parts of the world are back in lockdown this winter, and many places seem to be heading in that direction. God forbid but we can never tell. I Just thought I'd give my Christmas present to this Vocal community by sharing the general ignorance I've stumbled across that I haven't seen on things like QI. A quick disclaimer is that they may have featured on QI and other such programmes, I just haven't noticed as I haven't consumed them all. Anyhow, there could be some content for your Christmas quizzes here. And UK readers will know all to well that they are allowed Christmas parties this year, so why not have a quiz? Let's just hope you do a better job of answering difficult questions than our ridiculous Prime Minister! I've tried to keep this trivia as festive-themed as possible, but there are limits to my knowledge of original general ignorance.

Q1: What colour was the original outfit of Father Christmas (Santa Claus)?

A: Green. Traditionally, Father Christmas wore a similar suit to the one seen today but in green. This is what inspired the look of the Ghost of Christmas Present in Charles Dickens's 'A Christmas Carol' and tends to be the way he looks in adaptations. Some people might be aware that the red outfit was popularised by The Coca-Cola Company. Just one of the many things they've done that proves they are the grandfather of modern marketing. Other things include the fact that 'I'd like to buy the world a coke' predates 'I'd like to teach the world to sing,' and the fact that they pretty much invented sports sponsorship (with the Olympics - eventually hosted in Atlanta, the home of Coke) and product placement (buying fridges for shops provided they stocked Coke). Another interesting fact, however, is that, much like the Father Christmas figure they adopted, Coca-Cola itself was once green. Yes, the actual drink.

Q2: What colour is Guinness?

A: Red. Another drink popular during the winter months, and another personal favourite of mine, is Guinness. Like Coca-Cola, this company has a history of brilliant advertising campaigns, form the Gilroy Toucans years ago, to the famous 'Surfer' ad voted best of all time. Guinness is known as "the black stuff" because of its colour, but it actually isn't black at all, it's a much more festive colour - red. Specifically it's a dark shade of ruby. Hold it up to the light and you will see!

Q3: In the film, 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,' what does the Evil Queen ask the mirror?

A. "Magic Mirror on the wall, who is the fairest one of all?" Christmas is a time to watch old movies and classic Disney movies and what better than the original Disney film 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.' Still brilliant and beautiful after all these years. Made in 1937! One of the original animators on it, Ruthie Tompson, just died this year aged 111. RIP to her. But this movie is also an example of the Mandela effect. As everybody seems to remember the phrase asked to the Slave of the Mirror as "Mirror Mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?" The Mandela effect is common across famous movie quotes, but this one is my favourite, as the Mirror is so creepy, so when you watch it and realise you got it wrong it's even creepier.

Q4: How many gospels were written by apostles of Jesus?

A: None. Christmas is Jesus's birthday after all, but so many people think that because the gospel writers have names like Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, that at least some of them were among the 12 apostles of Jesus. Some people believe that Matthew the apostle wrote the gospel of Matthew, but this is widely debunked. In fact, not much at all is known about the gospel writers.

Q5: According to the board game 'Trivial Pursuit,' what do you call a native of Newcastle upon Tyne?

A: Novocastrian. Trivial Pursuit is a Christmas classic, but this is sure to irritate players of that game but also any quiz that involves this question. Most people know natives of Newcastle as 'Geordies' but many a disappointed player when saying this answer does not get the points when they realise the card says 'Novocastrian.' Seemingly, for example, 'Geordie' is the equivalent of the Liverpool term 'Scouser' and 'Novocastrian' the equivalent of 'Liverpudlian.' But obviously much less common; I'm from Newcastle and I'd never heard of it!

Q6: Who wrote the song 'Make you feel my love?'

A: Bob Dylan. Okay this is not a Christmas carol, and my festive links are running out a bit, but this song was most recently made famous by Adele, who's recently come back to the charts, as a cover of Billy Joel. But it was actually written by probably the greatest songwriter of all time, Bob Dylan. With so many brilliant songs to his name, this man also wrote so many songs that other people made famous that you never realised. Other examples include Jimi Hendrix's 'All Along the Watchtower' 'Forever young' (a Christmas hit for Louisa Johnson), George Harrison's 'If Not for You,' Manfred Mann's 'The Mighty Quinn' and so many of The Byrds' songs ('Mr Tambourine Man,' and 'My Back Pages' among them).

Q7: Who was the very first narrator of the 'Thomas the Tank Engine' TV series

A: Ringo Starr. I put this one in to try and catch out people who are trying to be clever. It is, I think, quite common knowledge that Ringo Starr narrated this show, but he isn't exactly associated with it and didn't do it very long, so I would assume people would think he wasn't the original. Myself included. But, it turns out he was, followed by George Carlin of all people.

Q8: True or False: Stinking Bishop is named after a smelly clergyman.

A. False. Christmas is a time for eating cheeses of all varieties and this one is quite popular. Indeed, most cheeses smell. But this one is not named after the smell of the cheese, that is true. It is named after a pear of the same name, perry from which it is immersed in. But the pear isn't named after a bishop, it's named after the farmer who grew it, whose name was 'Bishop.' I've know idea what he smelled like but the 'Stinking' aspect didn't refer to this at all, it referred to his ugly temperament, apparently once shooting his kettle because it wouldn't heat up fast enough.

Q9: Another True and False - Thanks to its fluctuating status as part of England and Scotland, Berwick-upon-Tweed was technically at war with Russia until 1966.

A: False. Okay, this one is specifically to catch out QI fans. They famously got it wrong, see, reporting in an early series that it was true. But a tax had reversed Berwick's lone star status during the war. Shame because it's a fun fact.

Q10: What was President Harry S. Truman's middle name?

A: S. That's right, the 'S' in Truman's name doesn't stand for anything. I'm glad I looked this up, because I sometimes think it's the D. in Dwight D. Eisenhower that doesn't stand for anything (it does - David). But yes, his predecessor's middle name was just the letter 'S.' Apparently it was to honour his grandfathers, 'Anderson Shipp Truman' and 'Solomon Young.' The family, seemingly, weren't aware of the possibility of giving their son two middle names? Also, Truman died on Boxing Day 1972, so there's a festive link for you that I thought I wouldn't find.

Merry Quizmas!