Out of the mouths of adults

[marval]

Well we have out of the mouths of children, but it isn't just children who play dumb.

Some adults on quiz programmes do too.


The Afternoon Programme Quiz, ABC 774
Presenter: Who killed Cock Robin?
Contestant: Oh God, I didn't even know he was dead.

Lincs FM phone-in
Presenter: Which is the largest Spanish-speaking country in the world?
Contestant: Barcelona.
Presenter: I was really after the name of a country.
Contestant: I'm sorry, I don't know the names of any countries in Spain..

Steve Wright Show, Radio 2
Wright: On which continent would you find the River Danube?
Contestant: India.

Wright: What is the Italian word for motorway?
Contestant: Espresso.

Wright: What is the capital of Australia? And it's not Sydney.
Contestant: Sydney.

Wright: What was the animal referred to in Val Doonican's song Paddy McGinty's?
Contestant: I don't know.
Wright: It begins with a "G".
Contestant: Cow.

This Morning, ITV
Judy Finnegan: The American TV show 'The Sopranos' is about opera. True or false?
Contestant: True?
Finnegan: No, actually, it's about the Mafia. But it is an American TV show, so I'll give you that.

BBC Radio Newcastle
Paul Wappat: How long did the Six Day War between Egypt and Israel last?
Contestant (after long pause): Fourteen days.

Bob Hope Birthday Quiz, LBC
Presenter: Bob Hope was the fifth of how many sons?
Contestant: Four.

BBC GMR, Phil Wood Show
Wood: What "K" could be described as the Islamic Bible?
Contestant: Er...
Wood: It's got two syllables... Kor...
Contestant: Blimey?
Wood:Ha ha ha ha no. The past participle of run....
Contestant: (Silence)
Wood: OK, try it another way. Today I run, yesterday I...
Contestant: Walked?

Daryl's Drivetime, Virgin Radio
Daryl Denham: In which country would you spend shekels?
Contestant: Holland?
Denham: Try the next letter of the alphabet.
Contestant: Iceland? Ireland?
Denham (helpfully): It's a bad line. Did you say Israel?
Contestant: No.

[Kromme]

All of them are hilarious but last one is greatest.
Plain and simple:No!!!

[methodistgirl]

Marvel that was so funny! That goes to show how dumb some
people can be.
judy tooley

[Muza]

Wow, that is just something!

[marval]

Here are some more.

Big Quiz (LBC)
Gary King- Name the funny men who once entertained kings and queens at court.
Contestant- Lepers.

Quizmania (ITV)
Greg Scott- We’re looking for an occupation beginning with T.
Contestant- Doctor. Scott- No, it’s 'T’. 'T’ for Tommy. 'T’ for Tango. 'T’ for Tintinnabulation.
Contestant- Oh, right . . . (pause) ... Doctor.

Danny Kelly Show (RADIO WM)
Kelly- Which French Mediterranean town hosts a famous film festival every year?
Contestant-I don’t know, I need a clue.
Kelly- OK. What do beans come in?
Contestant- Cartons?

Beg, Borrow or Steal (BBC2)
Jamie Theakston- Where do you think Cambridge University is?
Contestant- Geography isn’t my strong point.
Theakston- There’s a clue in the title.
Contestant- Leicester.

BBC Norfolk
Stewart White- Who had a worldwide hit with What A Wonderful World?
Contestant-I don’t know.
White- I’ll give you some clues- what do you call the part between your hand and your elbow?
Contestant-Arm.
White- Correct. And if you’re not weak, you’re . . .?
Contestant-Strong.
White- Correct — and what was Lord Mountbatten’s first name?
Contestant- Louis.
White- Well, there we are then. So who had a worldwide hit with the song What A Wonderful World?
Contestant- Frank Sinatra?

Late Show (BBC Midlands)
Alex Trelinski- What is the capital of Italy
Contestant- France.
Trelinski- France is another country. Try again.
Contestant-Oh, um, Benidorm.
Trelinski- Wrong, sorry, let’s try another question. In which country is the Parthenon?
Contestant- Sorry, I don’t know.
Trelinski- Just guess a country then.
Contestant-Paris.

The Weakest Link (BBC2)
Anne Robinson- Oscar Wilde, Adolf Hitler and Jeffrey Archer have all written books about their experiences in what prison, or the Conservative Party?
Contestant-The Conservative Party.

University Challenge
Bamber Gascoigne -What was Gandhi’s first name?
Contestant- Goosey, goosey

Richard and Judy
Question- How many metres are there in a kilometre?
Answer- Three.

GWR FM (Bristol)
Presenter- What happened in Dallas on November 22,1963?
Contestant- I don’t know, I wasn’t watching it then.

[Muza]

I am starting to find this really unfunny. In my opinion, what we see here is the shortcoming of the american education (which makes optional rather than requires the study of certain disciplines and subjects, like geography, history, certain sciences).

[Contratrombone64]

It takes dumb to a whole new level ... some talent here, too.

[rojo]

I figure a lot of peeps get nervous on these shows, and probably blurt things out without thinking. Does make for some funny moments.

[marval]

I am with Rojo on this one.

I am sure a lot of people's nerves take over, sometimes I can answer questions at home, but whether I could in a studio knowing lots of peple were watching or listening I am not sure.


Margaret

[Corno Dolce]

Hi Muza,

The Seven Liberal Arts have, up until 100 years ago, always been key to forming the human mind in the Elementary and High School years. Those Seven Liberal Arts are:

The Trivium = Three Roads.
--------------------------------
Grammar
Rhetoric
Logic


The Quadrivium = The Four Roads.
----------------------------------------
Arithmetic - Number In Itself
Geometry - Number In Space
Music - Number In Time
Astronomical Cosmology - Number In Space And Time

Then, as a Capstone Project or Metastudy which united all the ideas of the Seven Liberal Arts, a year long course in Philosophy was required before anyone could graduate.

Of course, History was a subject studied during all the years of formal education.

What we have today for education in America is nothing but a practical joke. Sure, there are a handful of Schools which promulgate the Seven Liberal Arts. But, unless all Schools promulgate The Seven Liberal Arts we are then faced with a skewed situation: The Elite will have a very holistic education through the Seven Liberal Arts whilst the Commoner will have a mish-mash of subjects barely read and less understood, with no overall unifying framework.

Cheers,

CD

[Muza]

Im sure people get nervous, but Im more than positive that they dont know alot of that stuff.
I just had a chance to compare my education in different countries, because I did go to school here in America and back in Uzbekistan. And there are good things about both systems, and bad things about both systems. But what I really liked is that all of us in Uzbekistan were required to take more and more additional classes as we went on to further classes. For example, first 3 grades we were educated by one teacher, who taught us Russian language (basically reading and writing), math, and we had things like p.e, music, and drawing.
Then in 5th grade, besides the basic ones, we were required to take biology and geography, then 6th grade was geometry and physics, then 7th was chemistry and something else. So subjects would add up consequtively.
In here, I got away without studying foreign subject, a single day of chemistry, physics, biology, etc. Thats what I meant.

[marval]

Hi Muza

I see what you are saying, good education is everything. Here in the UK there are a lot of people who leave school not being able to read and write properly. There are no extra lessons to help the pupils, what chance do they have?

Many years ago I went to a school where on Wednesday we had two maths lessons, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. The teacher would come in and say well you have had one lesson today so do what you like. He would sit at his desk and mark books. Maths being my worst subject, it did not help me.


Margaret

[Muza]

That sucks. Publlic education in general sucks.

There has been a video circulating recently of a student experiment in Russia, who would just come up to random people and question them on simple things - and the result was something like what you have posted. Similar questions, similar answers.

So even though i made such a big deal of how education system does not require much in here, I suppose its a global occurence, which perhaps has to do with something else. Maybe more people drop out/skip school than in the past, or education standards in general went down - I dont know. But i still think its really sad.

[marval]

On the TV they were talking to people at an airport, they were asking them where certain places were, very few knew. One woman was about to fly to France, but when they asked her to point out France on a map she couldn't. That to me is a very sad situation.


Margaret

[marval]

I am letting university students be classed as adults.



A university creative writing class was asked to write a concise essay containing these four elements.

Religion
Royalty
Sex
Mystery


The prize-winning essay read

"My God," said the queen. "I'm pregnant. I wonder who did it?"