# Trick questions, based on precise meanings of a word **URL:** \ **Category:** Thread Games\ **Created:** [February 15, 2023, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions-based-on-precise-meanings-of-a-word/979825 "2023-02-15T12:12:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2023, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions-based-on-precise-meanings-of-a-word/979825/1 "2023-02-15T12:12:56Z")
Question - How many brides walked down the aisle last June? Answer - None. Brides walk down the Nave. The aisles are at the side of the seats in a church , the Nave is the passage down the middle. Question - How many ropes were on Nelson’s ship HMS Victory. Answer - A large sailing ship has [exactly four ropes](https://www.riggingdoctor.com/life-aboard/2017/3/17/ropes-on-a-boat). All the other rope-like cords are sheets, lines, halyards, warps, or stays. What are some other similar questions? I want questions that rely on a precise technical term that is different or more restricted than common usage. ---
**Author:** ![MikeS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MikeS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeS)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2023, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions-based-on-precise-meanings-of-a-word/979825/2 "2023-02-15T12:16:37Z")
This doesn’t quite fulfill the exact brief, but I think it gets the spirit right: Q: What is the largest US city named after a president? A: Houston, named after Sam Houston, the first president of the Republic of Texas. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2023, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions-based-on-precise-meanings-of-a-word/979825/3 "2023-02-15T13:39:17Z")
Here’s one my dad liked when I was a kid: If a plane crashes on the US / Canada border, where do they bury the survivors? You don’t bury survivors, silly! I don’t know if this applies or not: Do they have the 4th of July in Great Britatin? Yes, they have the 3rd of July, the 4th, the 5th, and so on… ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2023, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions-based-on-precise-meanings-of-a-word/979825/4 "2023-02-15T13:51:41Z")
What animal appears three times as a heraldic device on the badge of the England football team? Leopard. Despite the song lyrics(and clearly being lions) the medieval heraldic symbol that appears on the England football badge, that originates from the Plantagenet kings of England, is actually called a Leopard (because medieval Northern Europeans did not really know what leopards looked like) ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2023, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions-based-on-precise-meanings-of-a-word/979825/5 "2023-02-15T13:59:34Z")
Not really the correct sort of trick question I want for this thread. The Nelson question depends on precise terminology that a sailor would know, but most landlubbers don’t know. Everyone knows you don’t bury survivors. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2023, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions-based-on-precise-meanings-of-a-word/979825/6 "2023-02-15T14:17:45Z")
Ah ok, got it. If I think of a better example I’ll post it. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2023, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions-based-on-precise-meanings-of-a-word/979825/7 "2023-02-15T17:14:21Z")
Which Orlando professional sports team last won a championship in 2012? The Orlando Pirates, a South African football team based in East Orlando, Soweto. ---
**Author:** ![veryfrank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/87869e/32.png) [@veryfrank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/veryfrank)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2023, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions-based-on-precise-meanings-of-a-word/979825/8 "2023-02-15T17:17:00Z")
There’s a joke that comes around once and a while on my facebook feed that I like quite a bit: “How can you tell the difference between a chemist and a plumber?” Ask them to pronounce “unionized.” The brilliant thing about it is that it’s a joke that simply can’t work in a verbal telling. ---
**Author:** ![Hoopy\_Frood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hoopy_frood/32/8452_2.png) [@Hoopy\_Frood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hoopy_Frood)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2023, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions-based-on-precise-meanings-of-a-word/979825/9 "2023-02-15T21:27:51Z")
What animal were the Canary Islands named for? The Dog. (Or possibly seals which are also canids.) The name comes from the Latin word for dog, “canaria”. ---
**Author:** ![Bicycle\_Bill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bicycle_bill/32/6208_2.png) [@Bicycle\_Bill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bicycle_Bill)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2023, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions-based-on-precise-meanings-of-a-word/979825/10 "2023-02-26T22:32:00Z")
Why are beans called “the musical fruit” when they are vegetables? Because botanically speaking, they _ **are** _ a fruit. Bean pods, like tomatoes, are entities that develop from the fertilized ovary of a flower. Other examples of vegetables that are fruits include squash, pumpkins, cucumbers, peppers, eggplants, and corn kernels. _ **-“BB”-** _ ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2023, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions-based-on-precise-meanings-of-a-word/979825/11 "2023-02-28T13:01:30Z")
Question - How many States in the USA? Answer - 46 States. And 4 [Commonwealths](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_(U.S._state)). ---
**Author:** ![colinfred](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colinfred/32/21338_2.png) [@colinfred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/colinfred)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2023, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions-based-on-precise-meanings-of-a-word/979825/12 "2023-02-28T13:17:37Z")
I’ll get one urban myth out of the way How many Union Jacks are flying in (some inland city)? The answer is not zero, despite a prevalent myth that only flags hung from ships are “union jacks” ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2023, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions-based-on-precise-meanings-of-a-word/979825/13 "2023-02-28T13:21:19Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Answer - 46 States. And 4 [Commonwealths](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_(U.S._state)). ??? The first sentence of your link says… > **Commonwealth** is a term used by four of **the 50 states** of the United States in their full official state names. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2023, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions-based-on-precise-meanings-of-a-word/979825/14 "2023-02-28T13:27:57Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Question - How many brides walked down the aisle last June? Are we sure about that one? I thought the nave referred to the entire center area, including seating. So central aisle + central seating. A bride would walk down an aisle in the nave, no? But, then again, not all churches here even have side aisles, so what would you call it in a church in the round? I think it’s still an aisle. ---
**Author:** ![pirviii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pirviii/32/3233_2.png) [@pirviii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pirviii)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2023, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions-based-on-precise-meanings-of-a-word/979825/15 "2023-03-01T05:11:25Z")
> [@Bicycle\_Bill](#): > > Why are beans called “the musical fruit” The more you eat, the more you toot. ---
**Author:** ![Oly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oly/32/8255_2.png) [@Oly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oly)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2023, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions-based-on-precise-meanings-of-a-word/979825/16 "2023-03-01T13:25:44Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Everyone knows you don’t bury survivors. Ah, but you do indeed bury (or cremate) the survivors. It’s just that it doesn’t generally happen right after the plane crash. How’s that for relying on precise meanings? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2023, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions-based-on-precise-meanings-of-a-word/979825/17 "2023-03-01T13:29:24Z")
What was the name of the President of the United States in 1945? Joe Biden. ---
**Author:** ![Oly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oly/32/8255_2.png) [@Oly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oly)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2023, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions-based-on-precise-meanings-of-a-word/979825/18 "2023-03-01T13:45:55Z")
There are a lot of these in the world of anatomy. What joint is at the near end of the human leg? Knee. The leg extends from the knee to the ankle. The more proximal segment of the lower extremity is the thigh. To what region of the body does the clavicle (collarbone) belong? Upper extremity. Similarly the pelvis is considered part of the lower extremities.