Q 01/05

In which Balkan country does shaking the head from side to side traditionally mean "yes" rather than "no"?

A) Romania

B) Bulgaria

C) Montenegro

D) Serbia

Answer · why

B) Bulgaria

Bulgaria flips the code most of the world uses: a sideways shake signals agreement, and a single upward jerk of the head means refusal.

Q 02/05

Which wartime leader popularised the palm-out V sign as a symbol of victory during the Second World War?

A) Joseph Stalin

B) Franklin D. Roosevelt

C) Dwight D. Eisenhower

D) Winston Churchill

Answer · why

D) Winston Churchill

Winston Churchill took up the sign after Victor de Laveleye, broadcasting to occupied Belgium on the BBC, proposed V as a rallying emblem in 1941. Tur...

Q 03/05

Which Star Trek actor based the Vulcan salute on a priestly blessing he saw as a boy in synagogue?

A) Leonard Nimoy

B) William Shatner

C) George Takei

D) DeForest Kelley

Answer · why

A) Leonard Nimoy

Leonard Nimoy peeked while the Jewish priestly blessing was given, with hands shaped like the Hebrew letter shin. He borrowed the shape for Spock in t...

Q 04/05

The shaka, a friendly sign with only the thumb and little finger extended, is the official gesture of which US state?

A) California

B) Florida

C) Hawaii

D) Texas

Answer · why

C) Hawaii

Hawaii wrote the shaka into law as its state gesture in 2024. Surfers had long since carried it around the world, where it is often known as "hang loo...

Q 05/05

Which candidate refused make-up for the first televised US presidential debate in 1960 and looked pale on screen?

A) John F. Kennedy

B) Lyndon B. Johnson

C) Richard Nixon

D) Barry Goldwater

Answer · why

C) Richard Nixon

Richard Nixon was still recovering from a hospital stay, sweat showed on his face and his stubble stood out on black-and-white sets. He wore televisio...