Private Eye...dumb Britain

[carrust]

Heart FM, pancake day quiz.
Presenter: What is French for pancake?
Caller: This must be the hardest subject in the world. Is it "le pancake"?

I'm gobsmacked:-)

[Svejk]

that's crepe, crusty. ;-)

[AB Editor]

Amazing.

[humbersloop]

utter crêpe

[ummmm]

Even I knew that...

[carrust]

Pointless.
Alexander Armstrong: We're looking for countries with a Pacific coastline.
Contestant: Wild guess, Egypt.....

[Svejk]

blimey, it must be easy;o)^

[Svejk]

blimey, it must be easy;o)^

[emmie]

i remember something similar, what is the French word Menu, in English,
another quiz programme -

[dannyk13]

The Chase. What is a Kerry Blue- chicken, dog, cow. Answer cow.

[AB Editor]

"The French don't even have a word for entrepreneur!"

- George W. Bush

(Although this was likely a very good joke, not the president being a complete moron)

[Svejk]

Tut tut, everyone knows its a chicken.

[B00]

Doesn't mean they're dumb- just that they didn't know the answer to that particular question, or they could've just been nervous and had a bit of a brain fart?

[dannyk13]

How about the quiz contestants when asked to name a country often answer with a town or city?. Don't schools teach geography any more?

[DrFilth]

i would have given the caller the prize as he was close



we all know it should be les pancake




i will get my coat -)

[vulcan42]

I don't know if this one was dumb or honest.
Daryl Denham (Virgin Radio): In which country would you spend shekels?

Contestant: Holland?

Daryl: Try the next letter of the alphabet.

Contestant: Iceland? Ireland?

Daryl: It's a bad line. Did you say Israel?

Contestant: No.

[DrFilth]

was it the shekeland islands ?

[jno]

if you didn't know any French you might think it was a trick question and the word was the same in both languages, so that's a fair guess.

After all, does anyone know the word in Dutch? Italian? And those are just the nearby languages.

I haven't a clue what a Kerry Blue is, I'd have said cheese.

[jim360]

Sometimes Dumb Britain section is funny... other times it's bizarre. They ran one last year, from University Challenge, where the question was something like "Timothy Dalton, Orson Welles, Toby Stephens and Michael Fassbender are among actors to have played which romantic figure, the Creation of Charlotte Bronte." "Inspector Clouseau?"

This answer is certainly hilariously wrong, but... that is hardly an illustration of dumb Britain -- the guy giving the answer was Italian. No idea where the answer came from, though. Perhaps he cot Timothy Dalton and Roger Moore mixed up? Both have played Bond, and one has played Clouseau.

Anyway... answers like this are funny but sometimes not as result of stupidity, rather pressure (or mishearing the question, that sort of thing).

[Peter Pedant]

an avrywun knows eet eez "ze flat leddy" and I give it kees

kees - you know mwah mwah - it isnt dutch for Cheese ( well it is actually )

crepe = pancake ? oh go to France and have one !

[Canary42]

I'm sure the contestant could ask you some questions you wouldn't know the answer to - should he/she then be gobsmacked ?

Why do we judge that our own general knowledge is the standard which all should know ?