Fun Quiz: Do you know what is/are the ides?

We're just spoiled by you and all of your fun questions Terry!!! :)

Yes and we know how much Terry likes those trick questions. :) But they are all a lot of fun.

Jesse

So, if I'm reading this right, the answer is "none of the above" - meaning that none of the choices are correct - even the choice of "none of the above." So the only way to get this quiz correct is not to answer it. Global thermonuclear war, tic-tac-toe - the only way to win the game is not to play.

nifty, take heart - the answer is still "all of the above." And really, if you answered ANY of them (besides none of the above), you were at least partially correct ;o)

1) The Ides fell on the 15th day of March, May, July, or October or the 13th day of any other month.[1] Thus the Ides of March was the 15th day of March according to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ides_of_March

2) The soothsayer's warning to Julius Caesar, "Beware the Ides of March," has forever imbued that date with a sense of foreboding according to this site http://www.infoplease.com/spot/ides1.html

3) The Ides of March is the first day of the Roman New Year. It also marks the first day of spring in the Roman calendar according to this site http://www.holidayinsights.com/other/ides.htm

still no "I'm your vehicle mama" references.....until now.

Terry, I hate to tell you this, but on the quiz you did not list number 1 as an answer. You left of the month of March, which is why I did not select that answer. You put

Ah - forget the question! I like the poetry!! Very clever, Don and Mahnot!!

Yes, I vote for the poetry too!!
Excellent!

I did all of the above because I really haven't a clue. Isn't that terrible?

Jesse, I left it off because it was already in another answer. I realize the question (and answers) could be construed many ways, but I would encourage everyone to not try to read too much into it - I really wasn't intending to make it difficult ;o)

i just picked any answer as i did not know which was correct but i wanted to know and to find out you had to put an answer down. i'm confused. i have trouble with "30 days has september, april june and november. all the rest have 31 except feb which as 28 except in leap year then it has 29.

edited cause i can remember rhymes from 50 yrs ago but can't spell.


This message was edited Mar 14, 2007 9:26 AM

You've probably heard of mnemonic devices, well I have what I call a 'moronic device': Thirty days has September, all the rest I don't remember...

Terry, I was not meaning it to be mean in any way. I just figured it was a trick question and that you left it off intentionally to fool us. I'm sorry if I offended you in any way.

Jesse

Nahhh, no offense. Just wanted to make it clear that I'm not clever enough to deliberately create truly tricky questions (*grin*) If one is misleading, it is usually quite unintentional!

Little quote from Wikipedia's New Year article...

The ancient Roman calendar had only ten months and started the year on 1 March, which is still reflected in the names of some months which derive from Latin: September (seventh), October (eighth), November (ninth), December (tenth). Around 713 BC the months of January and February were added to the year, traditionally by the second king, Numa Pompilius, along with the leap month Intercalaris. The year used in dates was the consular year, which began on the day when consuls first entered office — fixed by law at 15 March in 222 BC[1], but this event was moved to 1 January in 153 BC. In 45 BC, Julius Caesar introduced the Julian calendar, dropping Intercalaris; however, 1 January continued to be the first day of the new year.

In general whoever wrote this sounds like they knew their stuff. My only point is, depending on how you look at it, even the None of the Above answer was correct. (Not that I voted for None of the Above--I was too confused to vote! Sniff.)

Yes, but in what Star Trek episode did The Enterprise tresspass into a territorial annex of the Tholian Assembly?

Tholian Web

(I have that daylily)

I always thought that the months meaning seven (Sept.) eight (Oct.) nine (Nov.) and ten (Dec.) were out of place because of the later addition of July and August after the rule of Julius and Augustus Ceaser. That would have been A.D.

But either way I like what Don said.

The Tholian Web is a daylily???? I have to have it!
It's my favorite episode. I always liked the friction between Spock and McCoy, b/c Spock always won in the end.
Yes, I have the "Captain Kirk" hosta!
I am owned by cats, too-- actually one, named Jax.

I think July and August were renamed rather than added, but I'm not sure.

A plant named "Tholian Web?" How about one named "Gamesters of Triskelion?"

; )

I have the following Star Trek daylilies:

Romulan Defector
Ferengi Gold
Borg Technology
Tholian Web
Resistance is futile
Photon Torpedo
Life on Bajore
Cardassian Border
Deanna's Gift
Dabo Girl
Spock's Sun
Quark
Entering Warp Speed


And these are on order for this year:
Final Frontier
Parallel Universe
Which Way Jim
Romulus
To Go Boldly


Don't even get me started about cat daylilies...

Well, we all did go to school, didn't we!

Sorry, Terry, I'm with Farmerdill. My nitpicking little soul (corrupted by way too many years of multiple choice questions created by evil, sadistic teachers) tells me that "all of the above" implies that each answer is correct in and of itself. Now if you'd had "none of the above" above "all of the above" (heh heh) we could have had even more fun with this. See, now you're going to have to add yet another answer: "all of the above, combined." But isn't this fun? And look at the wonderful poetry it's inspired!

Terry, what's your Real Life like, LOL ?

Mahnot, I have three kids, a husband, a huge dog and a cat (both of which think they are lap pets.) One son is in his third year of college, the next one is graduating this year, and waiting on pins and needles for his acceptance letters, and the "baby" (only girl) is in middle school - just hitting puberty with all the mood swings that make life a roller-coaster ;o)

You can probably guess what my life is like, *lol* And you can probably guess why I don't sweat the nit-picky details on a weekly fun quiz!

You sure do have a busy life Terry. I guess we perfectionists should slack up on you a bit and not give you so much trouble. But it will be hard to do but I'll try my best. LOL

Jesse

Cloudia, I checked. You are right. July and August were the new names for the months named four & five (in Latin) January & February were added but they were the last 2 months of the year. Then they changed the first day of the year from March 15 to January 1.
Very interesting (to me anyway). But what I still don't get is how any society could start their year in the middle of a month.

Terry, I will behave. :o) You have enough going on, I see.
Thank goodness all of my 4 kids are all around the 40 year mark.
Phew !

I was one of those teachers "corrupted by way too many years of multiple choice questions created by evil, sadistic teachers)" Boy, I hated making out those questions but my principal made me do it. But, for the the same reasons you stated (and others) I chose none becasue it wasn't always on the 15th. It could be any where from the 13th to the 16th. So I am crying "uncle." What is the answer? All or none? (I lost my mind. I think the kids stole it! 8th graders are good at that!)

I thought it was when Otilla the Hun conquered Rome? Oh well

Lavina

Our twin grandsons were born on the 15th......Happy Birthday, Gavin & Dylan!!!!!!! luv Baba................................we are now 3!

Twins! Congratulations, Grandma!

I knew the answer was ALL OF THE ABOVE...as I just did a skit for my senior's group at church yesterday...we call our group...The Happy Achers.....and the program was titled The Ides of Marcfh...a bunch of windy people with quips, quotes and opinions....here's a picture of The Lamm Sisters....Do you know the one in the center?

Most people think that Caesar was stabbed to death...not true...Brutus slipped some Hemlock leaves in his salad at dinner....(the first Caesar salad?)....when he fell face down in his salad, Brutus ....pretending compassion....asked "How many leaves did you eat Caesar?".......to which Caesar replied:" Et Two Brutus!!" LOL LOL LOL

I gave that to our announcer to read yesterday....

OK....I thought it was funny!! Jo

I looked this up on infoplease.com. Here's the scoop...

The soothsayer's warning to Julius Caesar, "Beware the Ides of March," has forever imbued that date with a sense of foreboding. But in Roman times the expression "Ides of March" did not necessarily evoke a dark mood—it was simply the standard way of saying "March 15." Surely such a fanciful expression must signify something more than merely another day of the year? Not so. Even in Shakespeare's time, sixteen centuries later, audiences attending his play Julius Caesar wouldn't have blinked twice upon hearing the date called the Ides.

The term Ides comes from the earliest Roman calendar, which is said to have been devised by Romulus, the mythical founder of Rome. Whether it was Romulus or not, the inventor of this calendar had a penchant for complexity. The Roman calendar organized its months around three days, each of which served as a reference point for counting the other days:

Kalends (1st day of the month)
Nones (the 7th day in March, May, July, and October; the 5th in the other months)
Ides (the 15th day in March, May, July, and October; the 13th in the other months)
The remaining, unnamed days of the month were identified by counting backwards from the Kalends, Nones, or the Ides. For example, March 3 would be V Nones—5 days before the Nones (the Roman method of counting days was inclusive; in other words, the Nones would be counted as one of the 5 days).

Days in March

March 1: Kalends; March 2: VI Nones; March 3: V Nones; March 4: IV Nones; March 5: III Nones; March 6: Pridie Nones (Latin for "on the day before"); March 7: Nones; March 15: Ides

Used in the first Roman calendar as well as in the Julian calendar (established by Julius Caesar in 45 B.C.E.) the confusing system of Kalends, Nones, and Ides continued to be used to varying degrees throughout the Middle Ages and into the Renaissance.

So, the Ides of March is just one of a dozen Ides that occur every month of the year. Kalends, the word from which calendar is derived, is another exotic-sounding term with a mundane meaning. Kalendrium means account book in Latin: Kalend, the first of the month, was in Roman times as it is now, the date on which bills are due.

It was Julius Ceasar's wife, Culpernia, who had a bad dream
the night before and was worried of danger for her husband ,
so she warned him to "Beware, the Ides of March."
He, of course, ignored her and went to the Senate.

Is there such a thing as one Ide?