Q 01/05

Which London firm published A Christmas Carol in December 1843?

A) Bradbury & Evans

B) Smith, Elder & Co.

C) Macmillan & Co.

D) Chapman & Hall

Answer · why

D) Chapman & Hall

Chapman & Hall published it, but Dickens insisted on a lavish five-shilling edition, so the first edition earned him only a small profit.

Q 02/05

When his nephew greets him cheerfully, what two-word retort does Scrooge give?

A) Pish! Tosh!

B) Bah! Humbug!

C) Fiddlesticks, sir!

D) Poppycock, boy!

Answer · why

B) Bah! Humbug!

Bah! Humbug! is Scrooge's answer, and the exclamation passed into everyday English as a retort to anything too festive.

Q 03/05

What did Dickens call the five sections of A Christmas Carol, in keeping with the musical title?

A) Cantos

B) Verses

C) Staves

D) Choruses

Answer · why

C) Staves

Staves divide the book, and in the fifth Scrooge learns he hasn't missed Christmas at all: the spirits did it all in one night.

Q 04/05

Which two emaciated children does the Ghost of Christmas Present reveal beneath his robe?

A) Poverty and Greed

B) Hunger and Sloth

C) Ignorance and Want

D) Vice and Folly

Answer · why

C) Ignorance and Want

Ignorance and Want crawl from the spirit's robe, and he warns Scrooge to beware them both, but most of all the boy, whose brow bears the word Doom.

Q 05/05

Which two-word festive greeting, first recorded in 1534, did Dickens's 1843 novella popularise?

A) Season's Greetings

B) Happy Holidays

C) Yuletide Cheer

D) Merry Christmas

Answer · why

D) Merry Christmas

'Bah! Humbug!' also entered the language from the book, and 'Scrooge' was added to the Oxford English Dictionary as a word for a miser in 1982.