Saint Valentine's Day
In recent years the club has celebrated St Valentine's Day with a special dinner and games.
In 2002 Past President Bob Boyle baffled us all with a quiz about our own language. He told us that a Dutch Oceanographer he once knew had realised at the age of 9 that he had to learn English in order to be able to understand books, he said that “Agatha Christie in Dutch means nothing.” Bob demonstrated that English has absorbed many words from other languages, making it a rich language. This process of absorption accounts for why we often find two words that mean the same thing – but not quite, for example “royal and regal” because the origins of the words are different their use is slightly different.
from left, Eric Painter, President 2001-2 Yvette Asscher, Secretary Dr Brian McQuade
In each question Bob described a word that is used in English, the twist was that he used the meaning from the original language. We had to guess/work out the twenty words. The highest score was 11, a tie between David Fear, Eric Painter, Brian McQuade and Yvette Asscher. Bob asked the tie-breaker, “What is Aboriginal for I don't know?” Nick shouted “kangaroo”, which was the right answer but not much help as he was not involved in the tie-break. Bob then asked what was the President's name four years ago. We had tried several names including Peter Mansell, Bob Boyle and Bryant Kettle, but Brian McQuade spotted the trick and said "Yvette Asscher". Yes that's right Yvette's name was Yvette Asscher four years ago!
Bob's Quiz (with the answers) is on our Quiz Page
Valentine's Night Quiz Evening
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Who was St. Valentine?
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Why do we celebrate St. Valentine's Day on the 14th February?
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During a certain historical period a pagan celebration held on the 14th February consisted of the girls names being written on slips of paper and placed in a jar for the young men to pick. These couples were then partners for the duration of the festival. Often this resulted in the couple falling in love and marrying . Which period of history do you think it was?
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What do people commonly do to celebrate Valentine's Day ? ( NO RUDE ANSWERS PLEASE!!)
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Which country do you think was the first to begin sending Valentines?
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In which century do you think St. Valentine's Day became commercialised
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In some countries a man sent a woman a gift of clothing. If she kept it he took it mean something. What do you think his interpretation could have been?
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Some people believed a woman seeing a robin flying overhead on Valentine's Day meant she would marry a sailor. What do you think it meant if she saw a sparrow?
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Sketch, or describe a love seat.
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Do you recall any rhymes or strange traditions associated with either Valentines Day or your loved ones? e.g. Picking the petals from a flower and saying “ loves me , loves me not” to find out how your boyfriend felt about you!
If you can think of any more write them down.
Above from left: Yvonne Smith, Brian McQuade and Ann Smith
Above from left Richard Wilson and Richard Walsh organise the raffle while Ann Dethick talks to Bryant Kettle.
After the quiz and a splendid meal we 'played' charades...
