Questions 201-300

Answers

201. What caused the massive 1908 explosion in Tunguska, Siberia?

202. What's the origin of "fuckin' A?"

203. What causes the "washboard" or "corrugated" effect on unpaved roads?

204. Many English words have Latin roots, but what are the roots of Latin?

205. What's the origin of "cock and bull?"

206. Can black holes in space ever become "normal" again?

207. What's the origin of "loophole"?

208. Why does the same side of the moon always face the earth?

209. Do Eskimo men lend their wives to strangers?

210. What's the story with feng shui?

211. What makes some animals cold-blooded and others warm-blooded?

212. How come parrots, etc., talk but chickens don't?

213. What's the origin of the suffix "-age?"

214. Was J. Edgar Hoover a cross-dresser?

215. What exactly is fire?

216. Is "dead reckoning" short for "deduced reckoning?"

217. Who was Michael, and why should he row his boat ashore?

218. What's the origin of "pigtails"?

219. Were there really vomitoriums in ancient Rome?

220. What's the origin of "baker's dozen?"

221. What's the origin of "grand" meaning 1,000 in a currency?

122. What was the Maginot Line?

223. What's the origin of "whoops-a-daisy?"

224. What's the origin of "booby trap?"

225. Who was Pyrrhus, and what made his victory so Pyrrhic?

226. Why do women experience menopause?

227. Who invented pi?

228. What's the origin of French fries?

229. Can plants be identified by their DNA the way humans can?

230. What's the origin of "spotted dick?"

231. What's the origin of "ahoy?"

232. Do CDs have a life expectancy of 10 years?

233. What's the origin of "to treat with kid gloves?"

234. Is "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" a real word referring to Irish hookers?

235. Can a microwave oven cause a pacemaker to malfunction?

236. What's the story on the Sargasso Sea?

237. How come Howard Hughes's "Spruce Goose" flew only once?

238. How do animals recognize water?

239. What's the origin of "ten-gallon hat?"

240. Why do telephone keypads count from the top down, while calculators count from the bottom up?

241. Why is it easier to balance on a moving bike than a non-moving one?

242. What's up with the notorious terrorist Carlos the Jackal?

243. Why are citrus fruits segmented?

244. Who was Dr. Spooner of "spoonerism" fame?

245. What's the significance of the Monopoly playing pieces?

246. Why do we eat "beef" and "pork" rather than "cow" and "pig"?

247. Would I find "Vaudeville" on a map?

248. How do we know what shape the Milky Way is?

249. Who were the Symbionese, and were they ever liberated?

250. What's the origin of "umpteen?"

251. What's the origin of "man of the cloth?"

252. What did the census at the time of the birth of Christ accomplish?

253. Do plants excrete?

254. What's up with those Indian widows who commit suttee?

255. Who invented paradise?

256. How does a particle accelerator work?

257. What's up with the Indian rope trick and the bed of nails?

258. Does your dandruff contain your DNA?

259. What's the origin of "pumpernickel?"

260. Does the Koran really promise Islamic martyrs 72 virgins?

261. What's the origin of "spitting image?"

262. How high can birds and bees fly?

263. Is turkey (the bird) named after Turkey (the country) or vice versa?

264. Is it true turtles breathe through their butts?

265. What are the rules for declaring a jihad?

266. Why do pregnant women get morning sickness?

267. Was the legendary liqueur absinthe hallucinogenic?

268. Does "Indian" derive from Columbus's description of Native Americans as "una gente in Dios?"

269. What really happened to the Mary Celeste?

270. What's the origin of "a penny for your thoughts?"

271. Is the black hole of Calcutta a myth?

272. What is the purpose of goose bumps?

273. Why do men take their hats off to show respect but women don't?

274. Have any real-life Jonahs been swallowed by whales and lived?

275. Why don't spiders get stuck to their own webs?

276. At what age are you least likely to die?

277. How did cheese originate?

278. What's the origin of "yellow-bellied?"

279. What's the origin of the expression "black sheep?"

280. What are the rest of the lyrics to "Bye Bye Blackbird?"

281. Do twins have identical DNA?

282. Who invented the yo-yo, and why?

283. What's the deal with Avogadro's number?

284. What's the origin of "smart aleck?"

285. Why do they call it the Ivy League?

286. Who was the stupidest U.S. president?

287. Can insects get fat?

288. Is the sound of a snapping towel a sonic boom?

289. Is it really dangerous to wake sleepwalkers?

290. Why is there a difference between boys' and girls' bikes?

291. Why are quasars always found at the edge of the universe?

292. What's the origin of the gingerbread man?

293. What's the origin of "hip?"

294. Will suppressing a sneeze give you a brain aneurysm?

295. Do insects pass gas?

296. Did Bob Dylan lift "Blowin' in the Wind" from a high school yearbook?

297. What is the origin of "by and large?"

298. Who invented pizza?

299. Did band leader Glenn Miller really die in a French brothel?

300. Can a noise be loud enough to kill you?