Origins Trivia Game: 2 Drinks or 12 Feet?

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Discussion Overview

The thread revolves around a trivia game focused on origins, etymology, and nomenclature, with participants posing questions and guessing answers related to various topics, including historical and technological origins.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Meta-discussion

Main Points Raised

  • Participants discuss the origin of the name "Mark Twain," with some suggesting it relates to riverboat terminology while others propose alternative explanations.
  • A question about something with "ten layers" prompts guesses about the geological column and skin, with participants expressing uncertainty about biological layers.
  • Clarifications are made regarding the intent of the game, with some participants suggesting it should focus on etymology and historical connections.
  • One participant mentions the retina as having ten layers, which is acknowledged positively by another participant.
  • Discussion includes a reference to the phrase "take the King's shilling," exploring its historical context and implications.
  • Participants engage in guessing the material of a shoe found in an old machine, with suggestions including iron and wooden shoes, and references to sabotage.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

There is no clear consensus on the rules or focus of the trivia game, with some participants unsure about the direction of the questions. Multiple competing views and interpretations of the questions remain present throughout the discussion.

Contextual Notes

Participants express uncertainty about the definitions and scope of the trivia questions, indicating a lack of clarity on the intended focus of the game.

Who May Find This Useful

Individuals interested in trivia games, etymology, historical connections, and discussions about nomenclature may find this thread engaging.

Ivan Seeking
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In the spirit of the "What was it" thread:

It was either 2 drinks or 12 feet, and the best known name of a man.
 
Physics news on Phys.org
Mark Twain?
 
larkspur said:
Mark Twain?

How could you fathom that?
 
Nice game!

Larkspur, next question is yours.
 
As noted, Mark Twain it is:
Clemens usually maintained that his primary pen name, "Mark Twain," came from his years on the riverboat, where two fathoms (12 ft, approximately 3.7 m) or "safe water" was measured on the sounding line and marked by calling "mark twain". However, the name may also have come from his wilder days in the West, where he would buy two drinks and tell the bartender to "mark twain" on his tab. The complete origin of the pseudonym is unknown.

Clemens is also known to have used the pen of his most famous pen name, Twain himself later wrote: [continued]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Twain

Yes, for those who don't know the game, if you get the answer you need to either post the next question reasonably soon [< 1 day], or at least please indicate that you pass.
 
What has ten layers and sometimes needs a buckle when detached.
 
larkspur said:
What has ten layers and sometimes needs a buckle when detached.
Have we reverted to "what was it" from "origins"? Either way, I'm going with a highly improbable guess: Geological Column
 
Last edited:
Skin? That's what organ I think of when I think "ten layers."
 
  • #10
Gokul43201 said:
Have we reverted to "what was it" from "origins"?
Sorry, I wasn't sure what "origins" referred to so I went by the "what was it thread".


Gokul43201 said:
Either way, I'm going with a highly improbable guess: Geological Column

Not a column, MK is close.
 
  • #11
larkspur said:
Sorry, I wasn't sure what "origins" referred to so I went by the "what was it thread".
I believe the idea is to ask and answer questions of etymology and/or nomenclature.
 
  • #12
Gokul43201 said:
I believe the idea is to ask and answer questions of etymology and/or nomenclature.
I goofed then...mine is just a simple what is it question.
 
  • #13
Mk said:
Skin? That's what organ I think of when I think "ten layers."
I thought the skin only had 2 or 3 layers...but then, my biology sucks! Doesn't the brain have a lot of layers? Or is it the eye? Gah, I'll never remember this stuff, but if I did keep guessing every physiological word I know, there's a very tiny chance I might land on the answer!
 
  • #14
Gokul43201 said:
I believe the idea is to ask and answer questions of etymology and/or nomenclature.

Yes, that and perhaps origins in the sense of technological origins, historical connections, motivations for laws or political events... really any kind of trace to the roots of an event, device, nomenclature, philosophy, scientific theory/discovery, or technology.
 
  • #15
Ivan Seeking said:
Yes, that and perhaps origins in the sense of technological origins, historical connections, motivations for laws or political events... really any kind of trace to the roots of an event, device, nomenclature, philosophy, scientific theory/discovery, or technology.
Should I go ahead and give the answer since my question is none of the above? The answer is responsible for the origination of something most but not all of us have.
 
  • #16
That's okay, I was hardly specific in the first post.

If no one else minds, I say let's give it a bit and see if anyone gets it.
 
  • #17
The retina is composed of 10 layers.
 
  • #18
wolram said:
The retina is composed of 10 layers.
Very good! Now it is your turn!
 
  • #19
If you kissed it you were hooked, that is why a new vessel was developed.
 
  • #20
...Hint?
 
  • #21
Ivan Seeking said:
...Hint?
GLSS BOTTOM.
 
  • #22
Splice the main sail :rolleyes:
 
  • #23
Robert had 12.
 
  • #24
One more day? Tomorrow is a holiday here so we may have more people to play.
 
  • #25
Answer? Shall we try again?
 
  • #26
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shilling

A slang name for a shilling was a "bob" (which was invariant in the plural, as in "that cost me two bob").

To "take the King's shilling" was to enlist in the army or navy, a phrase dating back to the early 1800s; specifically in the context of kissing the image of the sovereign in general, a shilling being a convenient object carrying the likeness. Supposedly the practice of press gangs whereby they would drop a shilling into a tankard, and thus trick the unwary patron to touch his lips to the shilling, supposedly enough to submit to conscription, led to the development of glass bottomed tankards. In a modern context, to say someone has "taken the King's shilling" implies in a derogatory way that they are in the pocket (or employment) of another.
 
  • #27
Ivan Seeking said:
Answer? Shall we try again?

You go Ivan.
 
  • #28
If a shoe was found in a very old and damaged machine, from what might the shoe be made?
 
  • #29
Ivan Seeking said:
If a shoe was found in a very old and damaged machine, from what might the shoe be made?
Iron? A horseshoe?

Paden Roder
 

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