Q 01/05

In the phrase 'old wives' tale', what did the word 'wife' originally mean?

A) Grandmother

B) Widow

C) Healer

D) Woman

Answer · why

D) Woman

The same old sense survives in 'midwife' and 'fishwife'.

Q 02/05

The 1611 King James Bible warns against 'profane and old wives' fables' in which book?

A) Proverbs

B) 1 Timothy

C) Ecclesiastes

D) Revelation

Answer · why

B) 1 Timothy

The tales were passed on orally, often to scare children away from doing something dangerous.

Q 03/05

Cracking your knuckles is blamed for arthritis. What has research found?

A) A link only in the thumbs

B) A link only after age 50

C) No link to osteoarthritis

D) A link in one person in ten

Answer · why

C) No link to osteoarthritis

The pop comes from nitrogen bubbles forming and collapsing in the joint fluid, which is why you have to wait about 20 minutes to do it again.

Q 04/05

What gas, dissolved in joint fluid, forms the bubbles that make a knuckle crack?

A) Oxygen

B) Carbon dioxide

C) Helium

D) Nitrogen

Answer · why

D) Nitrogen

It takes roughly 20 minutes for the gas to redissolve, which is why a joint cannot be cracked twice in quick succession.

Q 05/05

According to the myth science rejects, how long does swallowed gum sit in your stomach?

A) Seven days

B) Seven months

C) Seven years

D) Seventy years

Answer · why

C) Seven years

The gum base is indigestible, but it simply passes through like anything else.