Adam's Apple
Senior Member
- Apr 25, 2004
- 4,092
- 449
- 48
1. In each house of the United States Congress, a Democratic and a Republican whip assist the floor leaders of their respective parties. What is the origin of the term whip in this political context?
a) From "whipper-in," a fox-hunting term for someone who helps the hunter keep the hunting dogs from straying
b) From the term "whipping boy"--a boy who took whippings in the place of child royalty when the royal children were punished--implying that the whip handles the dirty work for the party leader
c) From the phrase "whip hand"--a person in a powerful position
d) From the incessant, grating call of the whip-poor-will, a common American bird
2. Why is a liberal considered to be left-wing and a conservative right-wing?
a) In the air force, traditional flying formations for battle required pilots to line up off the lead plane's right wing; to have a pilot fall in off the left wing was considered more radical
b) In the early 1900s, British conservatives called their liberal adversaries the "left-wing" as a reference to the Old English word lyft, meaning "weak"
c) It describes the seating arrangement in the French National Assembly during the early stages of the French Revolution
d) The term took hold in the public imagination after a famous political commentator accused both major parties of "winging it left and right"
3. Who said, "I'm not a member of any organized political party. I'm a Democrat!"
a) Ronald Reagan
b) Johnny Carson
c) Lily Tomlin
d) Will Rogers
4. What is the origin of the word gerrymander?
a) A blend of the name Elbridge Gerry (a Massachusetts governor) and salamander
b) It literally means old, winding river: from the Greek geras (old age) and maiandros (a twisting river)
c) A journalist coined the term as a variation on the word juryrig, to describe an attempt to create oddly shaped political districts in Chicago that favored Richard Daley in his second run for mayor in 1959
d) No one really knows for sure
5. Who said, "Let us never negotiate out of fear, but let us never fear to negotiate."
a) Franklin D. Roosevelt
b) Eleanor Roosevelt
c) Plato
d) John F. Kennedy
6. What is the origin of the word filibuster, or attempts by legislators to delay or prevent action on a measure to which they are opposed?
a) From the Dutch word vribuiter (pirate)
b) The long speeches that kept Senators from eating their usual steak lunch were nicknamed "filet-busters," later adapted as filibuster
c) Evolution of bill buster
d) From Old English berstan meaning burst
7. What is the origin of the phrase lame duck?
a) From Theodore Roosevelt in 1901, who regretted that while serving as vice president under William McKinley, he was as ineffectual as a lame duck
b) From duckpin, an undersized bowling pin, smaller than the usual tenpin
c) From 18th-century England, where lame duck described a businessman who could not pay his debts
d) From the short-lived Federal Duck Party of the United States in the mid-1890s
8. What was originally meant by the phrase jumping on the bandwagon?
a) Joining a horse-drawn carriage that carried a brass band and a political candidate through town
b) Playing the old game of bandy, where the object of the game was to keep the ball rolling
c) Joining the party--bandwagon was once street slang for party
d) Joining the bandwagons, the covered wagons driven by pioneers headed to the Western frontier
9. Which of the following gave rise to the phrase pass the buck?
a) Horseracing
b) Poker
c) Liar's dice
d) Football
10. Which president is responsible for popularizing the phrase the buck stops here?
a) Calvin Coolidge
b) Dwight Eisenhower
c) Harry Truman
d) Teddy Roosevelt
Answers posted early Sunday.
a) From "whipper-in," a fox-hunting term for someone who helps the hunter keep the hunting dogs from straying
b) From the term "whipping boy"--a boy who took whippings in the place of child royalty when the royal children were punished--implying that the whip handles the dirty work for the party leader
c) From the phrase "whip hand"--a person in a powerful position
d) From the incessant, grating call of the whip-poor-will, a common American bird
2. Why is a liberal considered to be left-wing and a conservative right-wing?
a) In the air force, traditional flying formations for battle required pilots to line up off the lead plane's right wing; to have a pilot fall in off the left wing was considered more radical
b) In the early 1900s, British conservatives called their liberal adversaries the "left-wing" as a reference to the Old English word lyft, meaning "weak"
c) It describes the seating arrangement in the French National Assembly during the early stages of the French Revolution
d) The term took hold in the public imagination after a famous political commentator accused both major parties of "winging it left and right"
3. Who said, "I'm not a member of any organized political party. I'm a Democrat!"
a) Ronald Reagan
b) Johnny Carson
c) Lily Tomlin
d) Will Rogers
4. What is the origin of the word gerrymander?
a) A blend of the name Elbridge Gerry (a Massachusetts governor) and salamander
b) It literally means old, winding river: from the Greek geras (old age) and maiandros (a twisting river)
c) A journalist coined the term as a variation on the word juryrig, to describe an attempt to create oddly shaped political districts in Chicago that favored Richard Daley in his second run for mayor in 1959
d) No one really knows for sure
5. Who said, "Let us never negotiate out of fear, but let us never fear to negotiate."
a) Franklin D. Roosevelt
b) Eleanor Roosevelt
c) Plato
d) John F. Kennedy
6. What is the origin of the word filibuster, or attempts by legislators to delay or prevent action on a measure to which they are opposed?
a) From the Dutch word vribuiter (pirate)
b) The long speeches that kept Senators from eating their usual steak lunch were nicknamed "filet-busters," later adapted as filibuster
c) Evolution of bill buster
d) From Old English berstan meaning burst
7. What is the origin of the phrase lame duck?
a) From Theodore Roosevelt in 1901, who regretted that while serving as vice president under William McKinley, he was as ineffectual as a lame duck
b) From duckpin, an undersized bowling pin, smaller than the usual tenpin
c) From 18th-century England, where lame duck described a businessman who could not pay his debts
d) From the short-lived Federal Duck Party of the United States in the mid-1890s
8. What was originally meant by the phrase jumping on the bandwagon?
a) Joining a horse-drawn carriage that carried a brass band and a political candidate through town
b) Playing the old game of bandy, where the object of the game was to keep the ball rolling
c) Joining the party--bandwagon was once street slang for party
d) Joining the bandwagons, the covered wagons driven by pioneers headed to the Western frontier
9. Which of the following gave rise to the phrase pass the buck?
a) Horseracing
b) Poker
c) Liar's dice
d) Football
10. Which president is responsible for popularizing the phrase the buck stops here?
a) Calvin Coolidge
b) Dwight Eisenhower
c) Harry Truman
d) Teddy Roosevelt
Answers posted early Sunday.
