The biggest desert

[Marky B]

Reading about Robson Green in the Daily Mail saturday supplement,he said his young son,who studies very good,asked his dad what is the largest desert in the world and RG replied the Sahara,but his son responded with a technicality:it was the Antarctic. Does anyone reckon this is a bit dodgy for a quiz?
Ta Ta
Marky B

[starmack]

Mark B, Try the site below for a discussion/answer on your question

http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/2001-10/1 003424658.Es.r.html

[paddywak]

just checked with one of the on line dictionaries & the definitions it gives are
(A) A barren desolate area dry, often sandy, with extreme temperatures, very little rainfall & sparse vegetation
(B) A region of permant cold largely or entirely devoid of life
so you'll just have to take your pick

[paddywak]

Just read starmacks' link and it explains everything quite nicely, as they say you just expect deserts to be hot, not freezing cold

[kettledrum]

My personal opinion is that it is best to have questions (and answers) where all the participants are satisfied that the answer given is correct, with no room for doubt. I think Sahara / Antarctic might result in several competitors feeling hard-done-by!