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Trivia by pub quiz, hotshot - Wed 30th Jan 2002, 9:36am
Last night a small deposition from BPBC took part in a pub quiz in Borough. See how you fare on the end-of-quiz accumulator... 1) What does STOL stand for? 2) What is the collective noun for rhinoceroses? 3) Of what is St Clare the patron saint? 4) What is the derivation of the word "posh"? 5) What does VTOL stand for?

by KSS - Wed 30th Jan 2002, 9:48am
Easy... - Short Take-Off and Landing - A Crash - Television - Port Out Starboard Home - Vertical Take-Off and Landing

by profitable evening out - Wed 30th Jan 2002, 10:01am
KSS said: Easy... - Short Take-Off and Landing - A Crash - Television - Port Out Starboard Home - Vertical Take-Off and Landing Correct. However, all you get this the satisfaction of being right, whereas we got 300 quid!

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by Questions - Wed 6th Feb 2002, 11:23pm
Three questions which have been bothering me today: What is the name for the hat that a bishop wears? What's the plural of pendulum (as in my clocks have all lost their .....)? Is it possible to rearrange all the letters of one crew entry on the boards in the boathouse to get another one?

by Man with dictionary - Wed 6th Feb 2002, 11:55pm
1) Mitre 2) Pendulums 3) Unlikely...

by dictionary corner - Wed 6th Feb 2002, 11:58pm
What is the name for the hat that a bishop wears? What's the plural of pendulum (as in my clocks have all lost their .....)? Is it possible to rearrange all the letters of one crew entry on the boards in the boathouse to get another one? The hat is called a mitre (scroll down a little) The plural of pendulum is pendulums As for the last question, you need to get out more...

by dc - Wed 6th Feb 2002, 11:59pm
Man with dictionary said... Dammit - I'm just too slow...

by man with a bigger dictionary - Thu 7th Feb 2002, 12:16am
2. You're right, but the alternative "pendula" has also been documented. Examples (from the Oxford English Dictionary): 1844 HERSCHEL Ess. (1857) 583 Two pendula, a copper and an iron one,..were furnished by the Society 1660 BOYLE New Exp. Phys. Mech.xxxvii. 316 We conveyd into our Receiver..the Pendula formerly mention'd.

by Mr Dwarf Cock - Thu 7th Feb 2002, 4:05pm
True. But with an name anagram such as mine, why would you use it (the anagram)?

by philologist - Thu 7th Feb 2002, 6:21pm
2) Pendulums My Dictionary of Etymology says that it is from the neuter form of the Latin Pendulus, and the nominative plural of a neuter noun is -a, therefore pendula. Anything else would be a vulgar form.

by To keep you busy for a little while... - Fri 20th Dec 2002, 4:43pm
How can you go though 10 stations in a row on the underground all starting with the same letter? It is possible, I assume some changes are involved...

by Mike - Sat 21st Dec 2002, 1:35am
How can you go though 10 stations in a row on the underground all starting with the same letter? A quick look at the bottom left hand corner of the tube map suggests starting at Hounslow East on the Piccadilly Line and going southbound through Hounslow Central, Hounslow West, Hatton Cross, Heathrow Terminal 4 and Heathrow Terminals 1,2,3. At which point you've done a bit of a loop and you're heading northbound again back through Hatton Cross and the three Hounslows. Bingo.

by Mike - Sat 21st Dec 2002, 1:41am
Mike said: Bingo. Now can anyone improve on gf's record (was it ten?) of tube stops on one journey that occur in alphabetical order?

by gf - Sat 21st Dec 2002, 2:27pm
Mike said: Now can anyone improve on gf's record (was it ten?) of tube stops on one journey that occur in alphabetical order? There are some 6-stop journeys in alphabetical order (rawd and I have identified 3 so far), but we haven't found any longer ones yet.

by Simon - Mon 23rd Dec 2002, 3:07pm
Are there really only two tube stations that have all 5 vowels in their names?

by gf - Mon 23rd Dec 2002, 4:12pm
Simon said: Are there really only two tube stations that have all 5 vowels in their names? Only two that I'm aware of, and only one of those has each vowel just once. Neither contains a "y".

by Neil - Mon 23rd Dec 2002, 4:50pm
Rather unsatisfactorily, there are no 7-stop tube journeys in alphabetical order. There are only three 6-stop such journeys, unless you are vague about where Bank becomes Monument in which case there are a couple more. There are not two but three tube stations with all the vowels, one of which has each exactly once and another of which contains a 'y'. In fact, there could be considered to be a fourth such station, but this would require writing a number as a word, which probably isn't allowed, in the same way as the only tube station without a letter from the word 'mackerel' isn't, if you write it unabbreviated.

by gf - Mon 23rd Dec 2002, 5:31pm
Neil said: Rather unsatisfactorily, there are no 7-stop tube journeys in alphabetical order. There are only three 6-stop such journeys, unless you are vague about where Bank becomes Monument in which case there are a couple more. There are not two but three tube stations with all the vowels, one of which has each exactly once and another of which contains a 'y'. In fact, there could be considered to be a fourth such station, but this would require writing a number as a word, which probably isn't allowed, in the same way as the only tube station without a letter from the word 'mackerel' isn't, if you write it unabbreviated. Spotters badge for the dodgy number-inclusive one! Still can't find the one with a "y" - there is such a station that I've found on a standard tube map, but it's a suburban mainline stop only. Guess I'll have to have another look...

by ee bah gum - Mon 23rd Dec 2002, 6:06pm
...but it's a suburban mainline stop only... What's a suburban mainline?

by Simon - Mon 23rd Dec 2002, 7:07pm
ee bah gum said: What's a suburban mainline? Mainline: refering to part of the "National Rail" system i.e. the railways (eg WAGN) as opposed to London Underground-provided services (eg District line). Suburban mainline: the part of the mainline system which runs through the surburbs of London, performing a similar function to the Underground, but owned and operated in a distinctly different manner (although sometimes sharing the same track or stations). Includes all railway stations in the Travelcard zones - e.g. the North London line, a large amount of Thameslink, WAGN services to Moorgate. (Boring historical aside: the vast majority of London Underground stations are North of the Thames. Admittedly this is in part due to London's CBDs (the city, Westminster) being on the North bank of the Thames. But it's also due to the fact that the railway companies had already established an extensive network in South London before the Underground companies started builidng their lines - so they instead targetted the Northern areas of the metropolis.

by gone down the tubes - Mon 23rd Dec 2002, 7:56pm
Simon said: Mainline: refering to part of the "National Rail" system. In that case I guess the third vowel-heavy y-inclusive station doesn't count. Are the 'mainline' stations the ones on the white lines with thin/thick blue borders on the standard tube map, and are they all excluded for the purposes of all tube-related questions?

by dw229 - Tue 24th Dec 2002, 1:35am
I don't care about Tube station names...who can answer the following trivia? (no Google allowed) Which is the busiest Tube station (i.e. most passengers through gates per day)? Which station has the shortest escalator? Which line is Brunel's tunnel on? Where is the shortest station-station journey?

by Simon - Tue 24th Dec 2002, 9:18am
dw229 said: I don't care about Tube station names...who can answer the following trivia? (no Google allowed) Which is the busiest Tube station (i.e. most passengers through gates per day)? Which station has the shortest escalator? Which line is Brunel's tunnel on? Where is the shortest station-station journey? Easy - and with no Google I promise: a) Victoria - although King's Cross is expected to overtake when the Eurostars move there. b) Chancery Lane - between the East and Westbound platforms c) East London line d) Covent Garden - Leicester Square. Rumoured to also be one of the most popular journeys with American tourists (something like 75% of American visitors to this country do not travel beyond zone 1 of London except while going to/from the airport...).

by Simon - Tue 24th Dec 2002, 9:19am
gone down the tubes said: Are the 'mainline' stations the ones on the white lines with thin/thick blue borders on the standard tube map, and are they all excluded for the purposes of all tube-related questions? If you've got the coloured map: yes, and yes.

by hear it too often - Tue 24th Dec 2002, 9:58am
ee bah gum said: What's a suburban mainline? "This station is Waterloo. Change here for the Waterloo & City, Bakerloo and Jubilee lines, and mainline inter-city, suburban and international rail services"

by Girls Aloud - Tue 24th Dec 2002, 10:06am
"This station is Waterloo. Change here for the Waterloo & City, Bakerloo and Jubilee lines, and mainline inter-city, suburban and international rail services" Is that the Sound of the Underground?

by errors spotted in schott's so far: just 1 - Tue 24th Dec 2002, 10:53am
Girls Aloud said: Is that the Sound of the Underground? Oi - don't tell the non-commuters too much! You're breaking a Sacred Trust

by Dan (bored at work on New Year's Eve) - Tue 31st Dec 2002, 1:17pm
Simon said: d) Covent Garden - Leicester Square. Rumoured to also be one of the most popular journeys with American tourists (something like 75% of American visitors to this country do not travel beyond zone 1 of London except while going to/from the airport...). Surely Embankment to Charing Cross is shorter? Especially if you take the southerly entrance/exit to Charing Cross you net-net only travel about 100m I think?

by Simon, also bored at work, just around the corner from Dan - Tue 31st Dec 2002, 1:43pm
Dan (bored at work on New Year's Eve) said: Surely Embankment to Charing Cross is shorter? Especially if you take the southerly entrance/exit to Charing Cross you net-net only travel about 100m I think? Quote from London Underground website's page about the Piccadily line: London Underground The line holds one notable record for the London Underground system - the shortest distance between adjacent stations by rail - is the 0.26 km (0.16 miles) between Leicester Square and Covent Garden.

by dw also bored at work on NY's Eve - Tue 31st Dec 2002, 2:10pm
I think it is distance travelled by the train in the tunnel rather than walking distance. Has anyone else noticed that _everyone_ gets off at Chancery Lane? What is there at Chancery Lane? I don't even know where it is.

by Simon - Thu 2nd Jan 2003, 9:05am
dw also bored at work on NY's Eve said: Has anyone else noticed that _everyone_ gets off at Chancery Lane? What is there at Chancery Lane? I don't even know where it is. Chancery Lane tube station is near the top of Chancery Lane, on High Holborn. It's basically the stop for the legal district in London - about five minutes walk to the courts, plus near a couple of the Inns of Court and the Patent Office. Also very near to the Sainsbury's head office... If you've ever watched This Life, then you'll have seen them coming out of an Underground station on their way to work - Chancery Lane was the station (sensibly, as they were lawyers). An even more pointless fact than all of this is that I had an internship at a firm in Chancery Lane...

by in 5 days' time, for instance - Thu 2nd Jan 2003, 9:59am
Simon said: Chancery Lane tube station is near the top of Chancery Lane, on High Holborn. It's basically the stop for the legal district in London - about five minutes walk to the courts, plus near a couple of the Inns of Court and the Patent Office. Also very near to the Sainsbury's head office... If you've ever watched This Life, then you'll have seen them coming out of an Underground station on their way to work - Chancery Lane was the station (sensibly, as they were lawyers). An even more pointless fact than all of this is that I had an internship at a firm in Chancery Lane... Depending on where you start your journey, it may also be the best stop for getting to Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese...

by another pointless journey - Thu 2nd Jan 2003, 10:01am
The line holds one notable record for the London Underground system - the shortest distance between adjacent stations by rail - is the 0.26 km (0.16 miles) between Leicester Square and Covent Garden. This is pure speculation, but I reckon that South Ealing to Northfields is the shortest stop outside of Zone 1.