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Friday, May 18, 2007

The Friday Brain-teaser from Xrefer

The Friday Brain-teaser from Xrefer - this week: How Did They Get Those Names?. Answers here

1. Why was Chico Marx given the nickname "Chico"?
2. Stalin adopted his name from a Russian word meaning what?
3. Dame Nellie Melba was an Australian soprano who took her surname in honour of her birthplace, which was what?
4. Where did the writer Mark Twain get his name from?
5. Comedian Eric Morecambe got his surname from where?
6. Writer Rebecca West took her name from the heroine of which play?
7. The Siberian monk Rasputin got his nickname from his fellow villagers, and he lived up to his nickname until the end. What did it mean?
8. The writer George Orwell took his surname from something in Suffolk. Was it a town, a well or a river?
9. The spy Mata Hari got her name from a Malay expression meaning "eye of the day". Did it mean the dawn, a daisy or the sun?
10. The English novelist and dramatist Clemence Dane took her pen-name from what?

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