• Homepage
  • Destinations
  • About Me
  • Contact
  • Blogs I enjoy
facebook twitter pinterest instagram

Mum's Gone To …

Travel tales of an empty nester
  • Homepage
  • Destinations
  • About Me
  • Contact
  • Blogs I enjoy
Home  >  Blog  >  Mum’s Gone to the School Quiz

Mum’s Gone to the School Quiz

Trish Burgess Posted on28/03/201007/04/2016 Lucky Dip 14 Comments

Our rocky relationship with school quizzes began many years ago with the following question:
“What is the alternative emergency number to 999?”
 On that night all heads turned to my husband Dougie who, being a doctor, was obviously The Man Who Will Know This. He announced with great conviction….
“888”.
No idea where he got this from but we all bowed to his superior knowledge. He was wrong. The actual number was “112”.
Dougie was ribbed mercilessly for years after. Friends would pretend to put 888 into their mobiles as Dougie’s special number and he was teased about the fact that no wonder you can’t get hold of GPs if they have private emergency numbers unknown to anyone else. Coincidently 888 is the number for online poker.

We have been successful on a few occasions, and runner up even more frequently. We have come home and consulted encyclopaedias because we didn’t believe the stupid answers that were given. We were robbed with the question:
“Which country has the longest coastline?”
Confident in our knowledge that it would be Canada because of all the tiny inlets, we were astounded at the answer “Russia” and were proved right when we got home and Dougie looked it up.  He still mentions it today…

Since our son has moved up to the local Grammar School, the quiz nights there allow students to participate. Rory is showing all the signs of being just like his father. This was particularly true this weekend when he was desperate to beat the PE teachers who seem to win most years (not always, we have had the exquisite pleasure twice now). One round was about the solar system and I sat back in the glow of parental pride as he took over the answer sheet and scribbled away with authority. Then we came to the question:
“What is the angle of the earth’s tilt?”
Rory wrote down 23.5 degrees but was questioned by myself and another adult who thought that seemed quite high. This made the poor lad waver so he reduced it to 17.5, whereupon someone laughed and said, “Isn’t that VAT?” so he eventually wrote down 8.5. You can guess already that the answer proved to be 23.5 after all and Rory’s other answers were all correct. He was, quite rightly, livid. I can’t tell you how much I apologised.

Mind you, he said there were 47 countries in Africa and there were 53. Bloody useless child!

We came third. The PE teachers won again, not helped by a sports round in which one question on its own had 13 points available for naming the European football teams in this year’s World Cup, plus 5 bonus points if you got them all correct. A gift for them. Not that we’re bitter of course….

Previous Article Mum’s Gone to Venice – pizza and pigeons
Next Article The Gallery – Outside my front door – a host of golden daffodils

Related Posts

  • Christmas columns and a stonking good cheese

    24/12/2015
  • Ten signs you have an empty nest

    01/10/2015
  • Which occupations make the best bakers?

    14/08/2015

14 Comments

  1. Victoria Reply
    28/03/2010 at 2:49 pm

    Oooh, we love school quizzes. Our children are too young to take part, so they are all adult ones. This year we only came 6th. I blame the other couples. We also love pub quizzes. We are very sad people.

  2. muummmmeeeeee...... Reply
    28/03/2010 at 5:38 pm

    Well if I ever go to one, I want Rory on my team…

  3. deer baby Reply
    28/03/2010 at 8:36 pm

    He'll be on University Challenge one day…you mark my words.

    888 – that's funny. I'll remember that.

  4. Kelloggsville Reply
    28/03/2010 at 8:52 pm

    I know your table : the ones taking it seriously!! I'm on the "will they never shut up yapping and listen to the questions and if they're only here for the beer why didn't they go somewhere else" table !!!!

  5. Dan Reply
    29/03/2010 at 8:11 am

    Bloody PE teachers and their infernal sports knowledge. It shouldn't be allowed.

  6. Trish @ Mum's Gone to... Reply
    29/03/2010 at 8:44 am

    @victoria – we always used to blame the other couples too. We had a quiz once where one bloke had said nothing all evening apart from thinking he knew what TARDIS stood for. My husband was sure he was wrong but I kicked him in the shins and we "allowed" the wrong answer to be put down. That was hard haha!

    @mummmeee and @deerbaby – he is a clever boy. Takes after his mother 🙂

    @kelloggsville – so you're the bloody irritating bunch!! Actually I do try very hard not to get obsessive and competitive but 10 minutes in and I'd kill to win!

    @dan – they always have a ringer on their team too. They can't all be bright, surely?

  7. libby Reply
    29/03/2010 at 10:36 am

    I once sat on a team with two nurses who swore that Alzheimers had a 't' in it….it was two against one so I gave in, and as they were nurses I began to doubt myself….is that a foreign way to spell it perhaps? or a medical one?..anyhoo we lost.

  8. Trish @ Mum's Gone to... Reply
    29/03/2010 at 10:43 am

    @libby – Great comment – that made me chuckle! That's the annoying thing about quizzes, you doubt yourself constantly, expecially when everyone else disagrees. The fact that you gave in to the nurses' supposed superiority on that question will remain with you for a long time!!

  9. Diney Reply
    29/03/2010 at 11:10 am

    A Freudian slip regarding the poker number perhaps?! The sports question sounds a tad unfair to other mortals I feel. Isn't it odd when our kids get to the age when they do seem to know more than us – and they realise that we have feet (or brains) or clay!

  10. Trish @ Mum's Gone to... Reply
    29/03/2010 at 11:14 am

    @diney – he tells me it was nothing to do with the poker number which apparently appeared some years after this incident. He says he thought he'd read about 888 in some medical mag (!).
    Rory was incredulous that we were struggling with the order of the planets, "That's so easy, I knew that in Year 2". Cheeky little bugger!

  11. planb Reply
    29/03/2010 at 8:29 pm

    Ooh! School quizzes!! didn't know they existed, and fresh from teh University Challenge semi-final (religiously taped every week) am well up for that in a couple of years time…!

  12. Trish @ Mum's Gone to... Reply
    30/03/2010 at 7:38 am

    @planb – we should start up a team: you, me and Victoria! But make sure Kelloggsville is on another table!
    I watched the semi-final last night of University Challenge, so exciting as my old college, Emmanuel, have stormed through to the final. They were never as clever as that in my day, we didn't get past the first round then!

  13. Crystal Jigsaw Reply
    31/03/2010 at 7:49 pm

    I've never been to a school quiz. One or two pub quizzes but as I'm useless at general knowledge I'm never much help!

    CJ xx

  14. Tattie Weasle Reply
    31/03/2010 at 10:00 pm

    I love the fact that your son is equally competitive! I love quizzes and used to be quite good but sadly out of practice as Hubbie hates losing to me when we play Trvial Pursuit. I really should be more diplomastic and not roll around the floor with laughter at some of his answers….

Leave a Reply

Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Follow Me

Follow me on Bloglovin’

Follow

mumsgoneto

mumsgoneto
Spring has arrived in Lincolnshire! #mumsgoneto #d Spring has arrived in Lincolnshire! #mumsgoneto #daffodils #fields #spring #flowers #lincolnshire
A field of curly kale in Lincolnshire. They look l A field of curly kale in Lincolnshire. They look like strange green yetis on the march to conquer the world...
What complimentary goodies do you like to receive What complimentary goodies do you like to receive in your hotel room? Bottles of water, ginger biscuits, chocolates on the pillow? We loved this idea at Rudding Park Hotel - keeping their guests safe with free reusable masks 😊Great design, featuring the hotel itself - clever marketing!
Highly recommend the Anish Kapoor exhibition at Ho Highly recommend the Anish Kapoor exhibition at Houghton Hall, Norfolk. Fabulous contemporary art including the beautiful Sky Mirror which reflects the sky above. @houghton_hall #anishkapoor #skymirror
The gorgeous library at Rudding Park Hotel, Harrog The gorgeous library at Rudding Park Hotel, Harrogate. So colourful! #library @ruddingparkhotel #harrogate #books
Loved our stay at @ruddingparkhotel #harrogate las Loved our stay at @ruddingparkhotel #harrogate last week. Delicious food at @hortorestaurant . Favourite dish? Can’t decide between the lamb rump and the kitchen garden tomatoes with lobster.
I’ve always wanted to visit Brimham Rocks and at I’ve always wanted to visit Brimham Rocks and at last, during a trip to Harrogate last week, we picked the perfect day to see the incredible rock formations. @nt_brimhamrocks #harrogate #brimhamrocks
What a brilliant time we had on Friday afternoon l What a brilliant time we had on Friday afternoon llama-trekking near #Harrogate Dougie was paired with cheeky Barney and the two of them bonded thanks to Dougie’s llama-whispering techniques. My match was Trevor, a llama with excellent posture and temperament, if a little bit of a haughty diva. Highly recommend @nidderdalellamas - such a professional, caring set-up ❤️🦙
Athena by Simon Gudgeon in the gardens of @dodding Athena by Simon Gudgeon in the gardens of @doddingtonhall. A spectacular sculpture exhibition this summer until 6 September. @simongudgeonsculpture #sculptureatdoddington  @visitlincoln
New on the blog today - our short stay in #osaka d New on the blog today - our short stay in #osaka during the Rugby World Cup. A fun, foodie, bustling city. We noticed a lot of art - public sculptures everywhere. #japan #sculpture #art
When we were in Kobe we visited the Kobe Nunobiki When we were in Kobe we visited the Kobe Nunobiki Herb Gardens, a fantastic attraction rescued by cable car. Thousands of flowers, a spice museum and a replica of Germany’s Wartburg Castle. You can read about our morning at the gardens and what other attractions are on offer in Kobe - new blog post (link in profile) 🇯🇵🌺🌸🚡
View from Mt Misen on Miyajima island. I’ve just View from Mt Misen on Miyajima island. I’ve just written about our day trip from Hiroshima- one of my favourite days in Japan. Wild deer, cake, cable cars and beautiful temples. There’s a link to the new post on my profile today.
Load More… Follow on Instagram

Random Visits

  • What’s it like inside a nuclear bunker? 22/09/2017
  • Mum’s gone to Sweden: Where’s Wallander? 11/09/2012
  • A Tribute to Dad – A New Blog 08/09/2011

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org
facebook twitter instagram pinterest youtube

Recent Posts

  • Dotonbori River, Osaka
    Mum’s Gone To Japan: Things to do in Osaka 12/03/2020
  • Kobe at night
    Mum’s Gone to Japan: Kobe 19/02/2020
  • Itsukushima shrine and pagoda, Miyajima
    Mum’s Gone To Japan: Miyajima Island 11/02/2020
  • Cenotaph in Peace Memorial Park, Hiroshima
    Mum’s Gone To Japan: Finding peace in Hiroshima 16/01/2020

Recent Comments

  • Trish Burgess on A visitor’s guide to toilets in Japan
  • Tilly Jaye Horseman on Miniatures in bronze: The sculptures of Joseph Hillier in Spalding
  • Tilly Jaye Horseman on A visitor’s guide to toilets in Japan
  • Trish Burgess on A city break in Cork at Christmas
  • Trish Burgess on A city break in Cork at Christmas
  • Trish Burgess on A city break in Cork at Christmas
  • Trish Burgess on A city break in Cork at Christmas
  • Trish Burgess on A city break in Cork at Christmas

Contact Us

To contact me, please visit my Contact page.

I'm on Twitter. Find me as @mumsgoneto
I'm on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/mumsgoneto
Instagram - mumsgoneto
Pinterest - Trish Burgess
Google plus - +TrishBurgess

Website by:
79design logo
79DESIGN Websites

UK WordPress Support

Website by 79DESIGN, Lincolnshire Web Designer