Not Quite University Challenge

[Dave2002]

Q???

A: Robert the Bruce .... Aaaagh!

[LMcD]

I've just posted a message on the 'University Challenge' thread about tonight's shocker of a contest.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Q???
A: Robert the Bruce .... Aaaagh!

- don't spoil it for those wanting to catch up on the i-Player - but wasn't it the most ... astonishing answer to the question!?

[LezLee]

From 'Tipping Point':

Q. The Antonine Wall was named after which Roman Emperor?
Contestant: Nero?

Q. Which word links a popular biscuit and a European royal dynasty?
Contestant: "Well I don't think it'll be custard creams or Bourbon, so I'll have to go with McVities"

[LezLee]

From today's 'Tipping Point':

Q. Woodhouse is the maiden name of which Jane Austen character?
Contestant: "I'm going to go for one of the Brontë sisters. That's Charlotte, Emily and Jane. I'll try Charlotte".

[Rjw]

Why not simply think of a German record lablel?

https://naxosdirect.co.uk/labels/oehms-classics-5856

It works for both
¡

[Rjw]

Never eat shredded wheat.

It works with small children.

e.g. There's a rat in separate.

[ardcarp]

I'm a bit late to the party [no, that's not a mnemonic] with this thread, but here's our family one for the planets which starts with Pluto and heads inwards:

Pulling Nelly's Udder Squirts Jersey Milk Everywhere; Very Messy.

(I think our kids invented it on a car journey one day.)

This one is sometimes referred to as 'a mnemonic rhyme':

Willy, Willy, Harry, Stee,
Harry, Dick, John, Harry Three;
One, two, three Neds, Richard Two,
Harrys Four Five Six, then who?
Edwards Four Five, Dick the Bad,
Harrys twain Ned Six the lad;
Mary, Bessie, James ye ken,
Then Charlie, Charlie, James again
Will and Mary, Anna Gloria
Georges four, Will Fourth, Victoria
Edward Seven next, and then
Came George the Fifth in nineteen ten
Ned the Eighth soon abdicated
Then George the Sixth was coronated
After which Elizabeth
And that's all folks until her death

There are variations on the above...but it's served me well, and kids love it if only for the first two words!

[Alain Maréchal]

"Willy, Willy, Harry, Stee"

I hadn't known that rhyme before now (principally because I don't need to know it) but it does remind me how odd facts of history can elude one. In this case, since the first two were probably Gilly, and the third possibly Harry, since he was English-born, it makes me ask: what was Étienne de Blois usually known as over there? (apart from "a disaster" - although I think he had a point).

afterthought - I could never understand why that throne was so important to the Normans, except as a way of countering the power of the Kings of France, even though they already controlled the routes to Paris.

[gradus]

"Willy, Willy, Harry, Stee"

I hadn't known that rhyme before now (principally because I don't need to know it) but it does remind me how odd facts of history can elude one. In this case, since the first two were probably Gilly, and the third possibly Harry, since he was English-born, it makes me ask: what was Étienne de Blois usually known as over there? (apart from "a disaster" - although I think he had a point).

afterthought - I could never understand why that throne was so important to the Normans, except as a way of countering the power of the Kings of France, even though they already controlled the routes to Paris.

Apparently he was King Stephen.

[Alain Maréchal]

Apparently he was King Stephen.

He is now, as I know, but what was he called then? Did the name "Stephen" exist in whatever demotic language was being used at the time? I assume anybody who could write used either Stephanus or Étienne.

[gradus]

He is now, as I know, but what was he called then? Did the name "Stephen" exist in whatever demotic language was being used at the time? I assume anybody who could write used either Stephanus or Étienne.

oic

[Alain Maréchal]

oic

Sorry but I am not conversant with current English abbreviations - if that is what oic is. Expand please. I assume it does not mean Officer in Charge.

[vinteuil]

Sorry but I am not conversant with current English abbreviations - if that is what oic is. Expand please. I assume it does not mean Officer in Charge.

... I suspect "Oh, I see!"

Not the Orkney Islands Council nor yet the Organization of Islamic Cooperation...

.

[Serial_Apologist]

... I suspect "Oh, I see!"

Not the Orkney Islands Council nor yet the Organization of Islamic Cooperation...

.

I thought it was either a street urchin, or what you have to do if a gobstopper gets lodged in someone's throat!