Wednesday, August 12, 2009

WNW: A Quiz and a Giveaway

After last week's post and excitement over Grimm's Law, I promise to get back to it . . . just as soon as the kids are back in school .

(That means I'll need to consult my university notes and talk to Dad to refresh a few things in my mind and such, which means I'll need some time and likely several posts to do it justice. Time. I don't really have that right now.)

Anyhoo, in the meantime, I sort of blew past my third bloggy anniversary in July.

Um, yeah. Whoops.

I meant to do something really cool for my three-year mark. Something really neat and amazing, like a huge giveaway with a big sponsor or . . . I don't know, something. And then I posted something else on the actual anniversary and realized it a week later that it was over and . . . well, yeah..

So. . . let's all pretend that we're celebrating three years of The Lyon's Tale with a Word Nerd quiz . . . about me! (Because I'm going to be vain and pretend you all care.) Some questions you'll just have to guess at. Others you may know if you've been reading here long enough. Just give it a stab regardless. There are only 10 questions--it's worth trying for, right?

You can either leave your answers in the comments or send them to me via e-mail at annette at annettelyon dot com.

The person with the most correct answers gets a copy of There, Their They're: A No-Tears Guide to Grammar from the Word Nerd, OR a copy of one of my novels, their choice.

That includes the first two (non-historical) ones that are out of print, because I was smart enough to buy some copies before it was too late. (Yay for me, I was on-time for something.) So basically, the winner gets whatever book of mine they want that's currently in my house. (No waiting for a new book to come out next year, because I KNOW I'll forget to send it to you.)

If there's a tie, then both winners will get to pick one. Or maybe I'll let one of my kids draw a winner, and the runner-up gets something chocolaty, since I've been cooking up chocolate all over the place for that darned cookbook. (Haven't mentioned that in my Writing Journey yet, have I? I'll get there soon.) Anyhow, I'll cross that bridge if we get at tie.

So here's my Word Nerd quiz:

1. Which of the following languages have I NOT studied?
a) German
b) French
c) American Sign Language
d) Finnish
e) Russian

2. In what grade did I take my first language class?
a) 2nd
b) 4th
c) 6th
d) 8th

3) What was the first language I studied?
a) German
b) French
c) American Sign Language
d) Finnish
e) Russian

4) Why did I pick that one?
a) I heard it was easy.
b) My friends were taking it.
c) My grandpa is from a country that speaks it.
d) I wanted a challenge.
e) My parents picked it for me.

5) Probably the biggest factor in my becoming a Word Nerd is that:
a) I took a class about the history of English and loved it.
b) Dad is a linguist.
c) I worked at a library.
d) I learned to read at a young age.
e) I used to read the encyclopedia for fun.

6) While living in Finland and attending public school there, what language class did I attend?
a) Swedish
b) French
c) English
d) Russian

7) What is my favorite language "toy"?
a) Word Myths: Debunking Linguistic Urban Legends, by David Wilton
b) Word Nerd: More than 17,000 Fascinating Facts about Words, by Barbara Ann Kipfer, Ph.D
c) The Oxford English Dictionary
d) The Write Express Rhyming Dictionary

8) What language did I study in high school for 2 years?
a) French
b) German
c) Russian
d) Japanese

9) Who was my favorite professor at BYU? (If you've read enough WNW posts, this one should be easy. Oh, and I really did take at least one class from each of these teachers.)
a) Dr. Snyder
b) Dr. Oaks
c) Dr. Thayer
d) Dr. Crisler

10) What high school teacher do I credit for my understanding of punctuation? (Again, if you've been reading this blog long enough, you should know this.)
a) Miss Drummond
b) Miss Jarmon
c) Mrs. Oldredge
d) Miss Winn

(Answers will be accepted through Tuesday, August 18th, MDT, so I can announce the winners on the next WNW. Have fun!)


Melanie J said...

I feel pretty confident about 7-C and 9-D but that's about it!

Kristina P. said...

I will have to do some research!

Jami said...


Jami said...


Jami said...


Jami said...


Jami said...


Jami said...


Jami said...

Going out a limb for this one. 2E

Jami said...

4B, contingent on 3 being right. If three is wrong all guesses fall like a row of dominoes. :)

Jami said...

Wait! 3D, so 4E.

Jami said...


There! I gave it the good old college try.

Josi said...

Hmmmm, lets see if I can get any right:

4--e (this is a tricky one, Annette--so I'll be interested to see if I got it right.)
7--c (I know I got this one right)

L.T. Elliot said...

Alas, I have to bow out of this one. I'll go back and read your posts though so that I can get it right soon enough.

wonder woman said...

Ooh, I love pop quizzes! Though normally I pay attention and do wel on them. I have a feeling these will mostly be educated guesses.

1. e
2. a
3. c
4. b
5. b
6. b
7. c
8. b
9. b
10. c

Totally guessing. But I'd love House on the Hill

Sher said...

How fun!! Ok, either, I've been a major slacker on reading your blog, or I have the world's worst memory, becuase I wasn't sure on any of them. (I'm realy tempted to cheat and look at the other answers, but I won't)
Ok, here are my answers. Don't laugh.

1. e
2. b
3. c
4. b
5. b
6. a
7. b
8. a
9. c
10 a

p.s. Happy Blogiversary!

Shelley said...

Drat, I haven't been reading long enough to know many of these. Can I get a book for making an effort?
1. E
2. B
3. B
4. B
5. B
6. B
7. B
8. B
9. C
10.A (I actually know this one)

So much guessing. Le sigh.

Mikki said...

Total slacker me. I'm going to give it ye old college try (which for me, means I'm totally guessing--sorry, I'm lousy at research):

Anonymous said...


Heffalump said...

Bummer! I have been out of town so I missed the quiz! I can't wait to see the answers though!

An Ordinary Mom said...

Congrats on the 3 year mark! And I am bummed I missed the giveaway quiz :( !!

Spring 2019 News
