How common is common knowledge? (fun test)
 

There are 29 questions about things we see every day or have known about all our lives. How many can you get right?

I got 14 right. See how many you can get.

These little simple questions are harder than you think--it just shows you how little we pay attention to the common place things of life. Put your thinking caps on.

Mind teasers of COMMON KNOWLEDGE. No cheating! No looking around! No using anything on or in your desk or computer!

Can you beat 18?? (The average is 7) Write down your answers and check answers (on the bottom) AFTER completing all the questions.

REMEMBER - NO CHEATING!!! LET'S JUST SEE HOW OBSERVANT YOU REALLY ARE.

1. On a standard traffic light, is the green on the top or bottom?

2. How many states are there? (Don't laugh, some people don't know)

3. In which hand is the Statue of Liberty's torch?

4. What six colors are on the classic Campbell's soup label?

5. What two letters don't appear on the telephone dial? (No cheating!)

6. What two numbers on the telephone dial don't have letters by them?

7. When you walk does your left arm swing w/your right or left leg?

8. How many matches are in a standard pack?

9. On the United States flag is the top stripe red or white?

10. What is the lowest number on the FM dial?

11. Which way does water go down the drain, counter or clockwise?

12. Which way does a "no smoking" sign's slash run?

13. How many channels on a VHF TV dial?

14. Which side of a women's blouse are the buttons on?

15. On a NY license plate, is New York on the top or bottom?

16. Which way do fans rotate?

17. Whose face is on a dime?

18. How many sides does a stop sign have?

19. Do books have even-numbered pages on the right or left side?

20. How many lug nuts are on a standard car wheel?

21. How many sides are there on a standard pencil?

22. Sleepy, Happy, Sneezy, Grumpy, Dopey, Doc. Who's missing?

23. How many hot dog buns are in a standard package?

24. On which playing card is the card maker's trademark?

25. On which side of a Venetian blind is the cord that adjusts the
opening between the slats?

26. On the back of a $1 bill, what is in the center?

27. There are 12 buttons on a touch tone phone. What 2 symbols bear no
digits?

28. How many curves are there in the standard paper clip?

29. Does a merry-go-round turn counter or clockwise?

**********************************************************************


Don't look at answers below until you complete all the questions:


1. Bottom
2. 50 (please tell me you got this one!)
3. Right
4. Blue, red, white, yellow, black, &gold
5. Q, Z
6. 1, 0
7. Right
8. 20
9. Red
10. 88
11. Counter (north of the equator)
12. Towards bottom right
13. 12 (no #1)
14. Left
15. Top
16. Clockwise as you look at it
17. Roosevelt
18. 8
19. Left
20. 5
21. 6
22. Bashful
23. 8
24. Ace of spades
25. Left
26. ONE
27. *, #
28. 3
29. Counter

I got about 24 correct. I mean come on, who knows how many channels are on VHF TV dial. What is this the stone age?

I got 18... Some I got wrong by 1 or 2 numbers... Definately an interesting little exercise of knowledge...

15. Some of those seem to be region specific (like New York plates). And, like Bigwahzoo said, how the hell am I supposed to know how many channels are on a VHF dial or what number the radio goes down to (it's 80 something I knew that)?

Actually, the VHF one I almost got right.... I just forgot about channel 1 being missing.. so I put 13... ah well...

Grew up without cable, guess thats what it does to you.

LutherMac

10 for me and most of those were guesses.

Now you know;)

I got 19/29. I actually got #15 wrong and I live in NY.

I think I need to get a life. I got 25/29. Missed FM station, Bashful, Venetian blinds and the one dollar bill.

Got 17, I'm happy, though still a little disappointed . . . :)

21 right, here.. I missed one color on a soup can (couldn't remember gold), the matches, VHF, and basically all of the clockwise, counterclockwise..

ive never been on a merry-go-round.. so sue me..

although the FM i got right because the local radio stations slogan (Turn all the way to the left of the dial, 88.3)...

I got 12, but I can be excused as a majority of those questions pertain to the United States of America, and I live in Sydney, Australia.

only 14 here. But stopsigns have ten sides if you count the front and back, fans turn both ways (I am playing with one now)...and a couple other petty excuses

I missed
#4
#10(I thought 87)
#22

I'm full of common sense, Its the more difficult stuff that stumps me.

i got only 10 right, but then again, i'm not american

But don't you guys have to learn about the US in school?:) That's what my Canadian cousins used to complain about _all_ the time. They were pissed that they had to learn about the States and Canada, but here in the States, I learned nothing about Canada.

I spent my summers on a lake in Ontario with them while we were growing up.
I saw lots of New York plates, driving up there. I see them here in Illinois. Not that hard of a question for some Americans. ( I admit I missed it, tho' :o)

The Statue of Liberty question is as fair a question as a Eiffel Tower or Big Ben question.

Ok, the dime & dollar questions, not fair to non-American residents.

The only way I got 5 out of the 6 colors in the Campbell soup can question was by picturing Andy Warhol's painting in my head.

The slash symbol is international.

Let's see, maybe hotdogs are not international cuisine?

I missed many questions too, but it was fun to rack my brains trying to remember the ancient times when we had TV's with all the channels imprinted on knobs.
Plus it was cool to see *dial,* used when referring to a telephone.
When was the last time anyone dialed a telephone?

I appreciate your (and everyone else's) comments!

17 (18 if you count the STANDARD 50 matches in a box of Aussie redheads). Would have got 20 if I'd lived with US currency for any period of time.

I'm not very good at tests.

19. Bigwahzoo says he got "about 24". Don't you know how to count? Where are you from, the stone age?

Fans do indeed turn both ways (either pushing air down or pulling it up), and water goes down the drain whichever way it wants to. The north/south hemisphere story about water swirling down a drain is a myth.

I got 27, with one of the missed ones being the New York plate question.

I got 23 right!
both the money question's wrong?
I guess Hefty must have been a smurf, not a dwarf.

15
hmm, I forgot about the blue in the campbell soup can,
which is interest because I once made a huge version of the
alphabet soup for art when I was in high-school.
Oh well, that was 15 years ago.
I can't expect to remember everything.;)

22 of 29, however I'm looking at venetian blinds just behind the computer and the cord is on the right.

And there's a lot of (small) cars that have only 4 lug nuts. It's standard for them.

I got 25 right. Pretty pleased with myself. I missed 8,12, 15, and 22. I mean I don't smoke so don't pay attention to no smoking signs, I live in central US and rarely see a NY plate, use a lighter and rarely a matchbook for lighting anything, and never even watched Snow White. I grew up with a stupid VHF dial and an areal antenna. Never even had cable TV until I moved away from home. They still don't even have cable available where my husband's parents live. They have to have satellite or nothing but local stuff.

I got 24 - Why would anyone who doesn't live in NY know anything about their license tag? The people from New York probably don't know.

20 correct... a couple of them i had NOT A CLUE...
the Campbell's soup can thing... i got every color but yellow *grrr*... yellow, gold... they seemed like the same color to me... *laugh*

FUN... thanks!

11. is wrong. the Coriolis force is way too weak to have an effect, or you need a drain like the atlantic...

I got 18 myself. woo hoo

I got 19 but said the queen was on the head of the dime (I'm in Canada)... screwed up on currency and Campbell's Soup (forgot the blue)

By the way, these aren't common knowledge. Who the hell remembers what VHF and UHF are and all the other things that people have already pointed out (lug nuts, blind cords, fan directions, etc.)

Um, don't get out much, huh?:D

Seriously, New York is one of the US's most populous states and frequently, people from NY travel beyond their borders.

Nobody here has played the license plate game?

I got 19, but I am contesting one of them:


My FM dial in my car goes to 87.7

19. Pretty poor for a genius.

Technically, there are only 46 states... Pennsylvania, Virginia, Kentucky and Massachussets are Commonwealths.

-Mikey

thats a pretty cool quiz. I do contest a few since there could technically be multiple answers for some. Like...the hot dog buns I get are the standard package but they are the country potato buns...and their is only 6. A stop sign technically has 10 sides and 8 edges. But in general, I got 13 without any contestions.

Still a cool little quiz though. I will be memorizing the answers incase I am ever confronted by pirates and am forced to know the answer or walk the plank! Thanks for saving my life! :)

I got 16 but I, like some of the other people, do contest the commanality of a few of the question. Some of us don't recall VHF that well (even though I was one off ... I said 13 .. and would have gotten 12 had I thought to eliminate 1 but there in lies the point) and other things are very regional (New york license plates, They may travel alot but I live in oklahoma.. they don't come this way much) and some are also regional but less so (like all the currency ones) and there are also ones that are just ones I personally have little chance to get (how the fuck should I know which side a womans blouse buttons from? Or how far down the FM radio goes? I listen to the radio like once a year and then its one or two stations for about 10 minutes) and number 19 is just wrong. I read alot of books and it will always vary. Most books have introductions and content pages that are normally not counted as far as numbers go. Although it is defintly standard for them to be on the left it is not a rule.

I got 27 right and I am not even from the Junited States.

19 - couple really stupid questions. The soup can answer is wrong - black and white are shades and not colors so there is only 4 colors. Who would had ever known the FM question before today, others I just didn't ever really pay attention to...

19 right.not to shabby i guess

I got 20. I knew there was gold, but not yellow or blue. I agree with those who pointed out the problem with the drain. In my sink, it goes clockwise. I am frustrated by the fact I did not remember what is on the back of the dollar bill.

I got 19 right but I would tell my parents that I got them all right!!

Glad

sorry, i fucked up this post, and hit back button, but it had already posted...i didnt kno so i reposted down below

24 right. Who seriously knows the colors on a Cambell's soup can and does it really matter?

25 right, im observant, and i have a photographic memory

I got 22/29, but if you account for my FM dial going down to 87.5, that's 23, and that my parent's had a Channel 1 on VHF, that's 24. I did alright...I'll go ahead and call it 24! Cool test, though.

17.
thats pretty good for an Aussie.

18. But 19 counting the FM dial number. It goes to 87.

i got 17 & im from AUS & have never been to america

18 right. i cant belive I got the liscence plate wrong, i live in NY my whole life.


<--- MORON!


i have a really hard time believing the average is 7. Where, in AOL chatrooms?

20...:D

Not too bad.. There were questions that I could not believe I missed.

some of the answers are wrong.

The lowest FM freq is 87.9, so 88 is wrong. (and yes, I know this because the station I used to work for is 87.9!)

water can go down the drain in either direction on both sides of the equator. It has to do with how the basin was filled and how it's shaped in the first place. The coriolis effect is a myth.

and a standard IMPORT wheel has 4 lugs, not 5, so the question wasn't specific enough ;)

Got all of them except the American currency questions (I prefer my so called Monopoly money, thank you very much :)), and for some stupid reason, I forgot black was a colour on the Campbell soup can (duh!).

However, I do have a beef with the water draining question. I'm assuming that this question is refering to the Coriolis Effect caused by the Earth's rotation, which is wrong. It's a <a href="http://www.ems.psu.edu/~fraser/Bad/BadCoriolis.html" target="_blank">common misconception</a> that the Earth's rotation has any play on which direction water goes down the drain. It can easily go clockwise or counter-clockwise in either Hemisphere. As proof, I just watched my sink drain clockwise and my toilet drain counter-clockwise (you'll have to take my word on this one).

edit: I should have pointed out that the reason my toilet went counter-clockwise was because that was the direction the jets were pointing. That simply goes to show that there are other influences to consider when deteremining the direction of the drainage. Doesn't change the fact that it drained counter-clockwise.

14 .....but what do I know

18 right, but I would have prefered to cheat.

alright, looks like i have the lowest score so far. yes, i'm proud of that.

Only 14 right here.

I worte down the answers that I knew they wanted me to say, then the right answers, and got 28/29 on both, I got teh no smoking sign wrong. Over half were multiple-answer questions, or just wrong (Coreolis Effect affects weather systems, and research shows that water will drain out of a container swirling in the same direction that it was filled, even as long as 4 months later.)

i got about 20 right but missed the ones wrong by a number or two :P

thats a good test though

19-20 Venetian blinds can be ordered with the cord/control on any side you want them, forgot Gold on the label, don't smoke (besides there are different types of packs for matches. it should read matchbook) read the hot dog question wrong I answered for Hot dogs in a pack, fans do spin different directions just like water spins both ways, and who cares which postion New York is in on the liscence plate? But all in all a nice test.

22, but 6 are unique to america. I'm from Oz.

I got 18. Should've had the Campbell Soup question b/c I consider yellow and gold about the same thing. So I said silver (the color of the actual tin) instead of gold.

16

19 out of 29, but my phone has all the letters of the alphabet, and my 0 has "oper" on it. Just need a ruling. lol

25

Got 15
not too bad since 5 of those I got wrong where american-specific (# states, campbell's soup, dime, dollar bill, ny plates)

Most of the rest that I got wrong were just bad guesses

And as mentioned above, #11 is bad science - Snopes

17. guess my MENSA acceptance letter got lost in the mail.

i got 18 and I'm Canadian!!

24 right here, and I was surprised at some of the answers.

Maybe I'm being nitpicky but there are 0 lug nuts are on a standard car wheel...just the holes for the lugs to pass through:D

sorry but 28/29 just pisses me off

20 .. wow .. i thought i would fail!

I got 16, and Im not a yank!

A Few points...
1. Traffic lights are different in other countries
2. What country? :-)
10. The lowest number on my FM dial is 87.5
11. Water goes in a different direction in the souther hemisphere...didnt you watch the simpsons!
16. Fans can rotate either way, depends on the blades and/or its reversible
23. Standard pack of hot dog buns here is 6
25. Venetians can be made either way
29. Merry go rounds can go either way. The only one ive ever been on, goes clockwise.

Ok, I'll stop being so picky now :-)

I'm proud to have gotten 19.

Got 18. Knew VHF does not have a channel 1, and the the FM dial goes down to 88.

Wow, great questions...20

20... I'm counting my answer of 13 right on the VHF because every one I've ever seen had a "U" setting for anything else. :rolleyes:

Kinda disappointed in myself; 15. But seriously I doubt anyone got he six colors are on the classic Campbell's soup label question.

I got 21. Not bad when lots of the questions are americentric and I'm a goddamn brit

I got 18. I'm proud!

I got 20 right, although i agree that some could be contested. fun brain teaser

14 right. and i am now so "proud" i KNOW the colors of the soup can, without looking. props for me.

I got 21. I do have to agree that some are debatable. In my parking lot almost all of the cars have 4 lug nuts (the only exception is that my truck has 6).

8 right

26/29. Damn Dwarves, I've never seen the movie, so I have no idea.

I got 29 wrong. I kept thinking of the merry-go-round in the local playground which is kid powered and it goes both ways.

Cambell's soup cans? How the hell does this qualify as general knowledge? Sounds like brand favoritism to me.

I got 18/29. that was fun and my score was very surprising

Heh, Heh... I'm a smartass who got 27 of them right - including the trick question, No.2. The correct answer is 48. Even this humble Scot knows that there are currently 48 States in the actual American Union, 2 commonwealths, and the District of Columbia.

One more - which of the 48 American state flags has the British Union Flag on it?

19 for me.

i got 16, but most of the ones i got wrong were about the USA
do you really belive everyone in the world knows that there's 50 states? :D

21.. i guess that's not bad

I got 20 right. Guessed correctly on a few like the license plate and the matches.

Got 18. If I didnt know I didnt guess.

I ended up with 22... there must be too much US television here in Australia!

I got 17. I love these tests. It makes you wonder how little we pay attention to the things we take for granted.

18. Fans can go either way, Merry go round can go either way. Never had a VHF Tv, Never pay attention to the radio that low. :P

16. some surprises, but who the hell would think the layout of a NY plate is common knowledge anyway? A few others were what I would consider uncommon as well. :)

I got 22 right. But some of these are arguable.

Still, a fun test!