# Don't look it up, but give it your best shot...
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-look-it-up-but-give-it-your-best-shot/694158
**Category:** The Game Room
**Created:** [July 27, 2014, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-look-it-up-but-give-it-your-best-shot/694158 "2014-07-27T13:58:51Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)
#### Post date: [July 27, 2014, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-look-it-up-but-give-it-your-best-shot/694158/1 "2014-07-27T13:58:51Z")
Without referring to any reference materials, see how well your memory or imagination does with these little pokes. Add some of your own if you want to.
1. What is Phineas Newborn known for?
2. Where would you have run across Osgood Z’Beard?
3. If you ordered Ouzo, what would you expect it to taste like?
4. How long is a furlong? A fortnight?
5. Give it your best shot on the words behind SHAZAM
=====================================
---
### Author:  [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)
#### Post date: [July 27, 2014, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-look-it-up-but-give-it-your-best-shot/694158/2 "2014-07-27T14:11:53Z")
1. Ouzo: kerosine with black liquorice infusion. Disgusting.
2. Furlong: Down to your ankles. Fortnight: Two weeks.
---
### Author:  [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)
#### Post date: [July 27, 2014, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-look-it-up-but-give-it-your-best-shot/694158/3 "2014-07-27T14:17:14Z")
Ouzo: Liquid fire and sunshine.
---
### Author:  [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)
#### Post date: [July 27, 2014, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-look-it-up-but-give-it-your-best-shot/694158/4 "2014-07-27T14:24:31Z")
> [@Zeldar](#):
>
> Without referring to any reference materials, see how well your memory or imagination does with these little pokes. Add some of your own if you want to.
>
> 1. What is Phineas Newborn known for?
>
> 2. Where would you have run across Osgood Z’Beard?
>
> 3. If you ordered Ouzo, what would you expect it to taste like?
>
> 4. How long is a furlong? A fortnight?
>
> 5. Give it your best shot on the words behind SHAZAM
>
> =====================================
1. Strong Alcohol
1. 1/4 mile/14 days
Not really sure about the furlong.
---
### Author:  [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)
#### Post date: [July 27, 2014, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-look-it-up-but-give-it-your-best-shot/694158/5 "2014-07-27T14:54:04Z")
SHAZAM: Wisdom of Solomon, Strength of Hercules, Stamina of Atlas, Power of Zeus, Courage of Achilles, Speed of Mercury.
---
### Author:  [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)
#### Post date: [July 27, 2014, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-look-it-up-but-give-it-your-best-shot/694158/6 "2014-07-27T15:00:53Z")
> [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](#):
>
> SHAZAM: Wisdom of Solomon, Strength of Hercules, Stamina of Atlas, Power of Zeus, Courage of Achilles, Speed of Mercury.
If you didn’t peek I’m impressed. I had to look it up myself. I cheated. It took Gomer Pyle for me to realize it’s pronounced sha-ZAM, instead of my effort as a kid to call it SHAZZ-um.
Big wheel keeps on turnin’…
---
### Author:  [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)
#### Post date: [July 27, 2014, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-look-it-up-but-give-it-your-best-shot/694158/7 "2014-07-27T15:11:42Z")
Old Comic Book Geek, reporting for duty.
---
### Author:  [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)
#### Post date: [July 27, 2014, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-look-it-up-but-give-it-your-best-shot/694158/8 "2014-07-27T15:17:32Z")
> [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](#):
>
> Old Comic Book Geek, reporting for duty.
In that case, add a few items to the list. Do you collect, or just remember them?
---
### Author:  [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)
#### Post date: [July 27, 2014, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-look-it-up-but-give-it-your-best-shot/694158/9 "2014-07-27T15:21:16Z")
A furlong is an eighth of a mile, 660 feet.
---
### Author:  [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)
#### Post date: [July 27, 2014, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-look-it-up-but-give-it-your-best-shot/694158/10 "2014-07-27T15:27:38Z")
> [@Zeldar](#):
>
> 1. What is Phineas Newborn known for?
> If it’s Phineas Newborn, _jr._, he was some kind of musician. Can’t tell you more.
>
> 2. Where would you have run across Osgood Z’Beard?
> No idea.
>
> 3. If you ordered Ouzo, what would you expect it to taste like?
> It’s a Greek aperitif, that tastes like licorice, and is IMHO, disgusting.
>
> 4. How long is a furlong? A fortnight?
> A furlong is 1/8 mile, or 220 yards; a fortnight is 2 weeks, or “fourteen nights.”
>
> 5. Give it your best shot on the words behind SHAZAM
> Ancient Greek gods, maybe Roman too, don’t remember the specifics.
~RC
---
### Author:  [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)
#### Post date: [July 27, 2014, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-look-it-up-but-give-it-your-best-shot/694158/11 "2014-07-27T15:40:40Z")
The only ones I knew were that a fortnight is two weeks ( **fo** u **rt** een **night** s), and that “SHAZAM” stands for “Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles, Mercury.” I remember that much from the Saturday morning TV show of my childhood, but I don’t think I could have come up with **Prof. Pepperwinkle** ’s level of detail.
---
### Author:  [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)
#### Post date: [July 27, 2014, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-look-it-up-but-give-it-your-best-shot/694158/12 "2014-07-27T15:41:13Z")
> [@Zeldar](#):
>
> In that case, add a few items to the list. Do you collect, or just remember them?
Used to collect, mainly memories.
Adding:
Who was the first mutant superhero? AND, who was the first mutant superhero whose mutant status was known at his first appearance?
What was truly unusual about Wonder Girl’s origin?
Who were the 2 superheroes who had their own TV series on different networks that aired on the same day and time, way back in 1967?
---
### Author:  [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)
#### Post date: [July 27, 2014, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-look-it-up-but-give-it-your-best-shot/694158/13 "2014-07-27T15:46:13Z")
> [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](#):
>
> Who were the 2 superheroes who had their own TV series on different networks that aired on the same day and time, way back in 1967?
Mr. Terrific and Captain Nice?
(Who is that nut who flies around in pajamas? That’s no nut boy, that’s Captain Nice.)
---
### Author:  [@Sr\_Siete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sr_Siete)
#### Post date: [July 27, 2014, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-look-it-up-but-give-it-your-best-shot/694158/14 "2014-07-27T16:06:33Z")
1. Being… eh… a character in a Jules Verne novel?
2. Middle Earth?
3. Something Japanese? Like, spicy, maybe?
4. Euh… twenty… seven nautical miles? Fifteen days?
5. Oh, I knew that. Wait, it’s Samson, Hera, Apollo, Zeus, Aphrodite and M… M… Mercury?
---
### Author:  [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)
#### Post date: [July 27, 2014, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-look-it-up-but-give-it-your-best-shot/694158/15 "2014-07-27T16:14:46Z")
FWIW, I’m assuming that if you really want to know these answers, you’ll look them up. I won’t be intruding to give my versions of the ones I post.
---
### Author:  [@Sr\_Siete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sr_Siete)
#### Post date: [July 27, 2014, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-look-it-up-but-give-it-your-best-shot/694158/16 "2014-07-27T16:17:45Z")
> [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](#):
>
> Who was the first mutant superhero? AND, who was the first mutant superhero whose mutant status was known at his first appearance?
They change it all the time, don’t they? Last time I checked apocalypse was still considered the first, he was born in ancient Egypt. I have no idea who’s the first non-human looking mutant. That Pterodactyl guy that ended up in the Savage Land?
> [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](#):
>
> What was truly unusual about Wonder Girl’s origin??
Which one? Current one? Troya? The one back at the Silver age, when it was supposed to be just Wonder Woman when she was a kid? The answer should be that in any case, it’s a mess and varies wildly from writer to writer, but this being a DC character that’s pretty much standard fare.
> [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](#):
>
> Who were the 2 superheroes who had their own TV series on different networks that aired on the same day and time, way back in 1967?
Batman was totally the sixties… Hulk I guess was the seventies… Wonder Woman?
---
### Author:  [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)
#### Post date: [July 27, 2014, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-look-it-up-but-give-it-your-best-shot/694158/17 "2014-07-27T16:30:19Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#):
>
> Mr. Terrific and Captain Nice?
>
> (Who is that nut who flies around in pajamas? That’s no nut boy, that’s Captain Nice.)
Correct. Yeah, I watched Captain Nice instead of Mr. Terrific myself.
---
### Author:  [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)
#### Post date: [July 27, 2014, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-look-it-up-but-give-it-your-best-shot/694158/18 "2014-07-27T16:39:37Z")
> [@](#):
>
> Who was the first mutant superhero? AND, who was the first mutant superhero whose mutant status was known at his first appearance?
> They change it all the time, don’t they? Last time I checked apocalypse was still considered the first, he was born in ancient Egypt. I have no idea who’s the first non-human looking mutant. That Pterodactyl guy that ended up in the Savage Land?
You are correct that it does change all the time. Sauron (the Pterodactyl guy) is probably as good an answer as any. Earlier contenders were the Sub-Mariner and Wolverine. DC/Warner hasn’t claimed Captain Caveman to be a mutant yet, as far as I know.
That leaves the question of Who was the first mutant superhero who was actually called a mutant superhero when first released?
> [@](#):
>
> What was truly unusual about Wonder Girl’s origin??
> Which one? Current one? Troya? The one back at the Silver age, when it was supposed to be just Wonder Woman when she was a kid? The answer should be that in any case, it’s a mess and varies wildly from writer to writer, but this being a DC character that’s pretty much standard fare.
Good point. I meant the original Silver Age Wonder Girl. Yes, she was supposed to be Wonder Woman when she was a girl. The kicker is that Wonder Woman’s origin has her created out of marble by Zeus as a full-grown woman, and so was never a girl. DC had a series of “Impossible Stories” (differentiated from “Imaginary Stories” as being stories that not only might have happened, as to being stories that could never happen) in which Wonder Woman teamed up with not only Wonder Girl, but, God help us all, Wonder Tot. The guy writing the new Teen Titans comic didn’t want to use Supergirl for whatever reason, so he reached over and glommed Wonder Girl without actually considering continuity. (DC Comics wasn’t big on continuity anyway.) So a character that, for all practical purposes, could never exist in the DC universe became a major member of a very popular title.
> [@](#):
>
> Who were the 2 superheroes who had their own TV series on different networks that aired on the same day and time, way back in 1967?
> Batman was totally the sixties… Hulk I guess was the seventies… Wonder Woman?
Nope, Capt. Nice and Mr. Terrific. See above.
---
### Author:  [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)
#### Post date: [July 27, 2014, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-look-it-up-but-give-it-your-best-shot/694158/19 "2014-07-27T16:40:38Z")
And…
On which superheroes did Alan Moore base _The Watchmen_?
---
### Author:  [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)
#### Post date: [July 27, 2014, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-look-it-up-but-give-it-your-best-shot/694158/20 "2014-07-27T16:41:06Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#):
>
> A furlong is an eighth of a mile, 660 feet.
I tend to build up from the other end:
3 feet = 1 yard
22 yards = 1 chain (length of a cricket wicket!)
10 chains = 1 furlong
8 furlongs = 1 mile
As a bonus, 1 acre = 1 chain by 1 furlong
Ouzo is aniseed isn’t it?
The others? No idea.
ETA:
Fortnight is two weeks. I’m British, that’s still in common use for us.
[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-look-it-up-but-give-it-your-best-shot/694158.md?page=2)