Ship of Fools: A quizzing dilemma

Thread: A quizzing dilemma Board: The Circus / Ship of Fools.

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Posted by Sipech (# 16870) on :

In last night's pub quiz, we faced a problem. We were a few points off the lead going into the final round, which was a wipeout round. That is, if you get one question wrong, you get zero for the whole round irrespective of how many correct answers you have. You can choose to not answer, and that doesn't count as being incorrect. The following question came up:

What one word completes this saying: "Fortune favours the..."?

One of my team was adamant that the answer was brave. Another team member said that the answer was bold. We agreed that the two were equivalent, but which is the quintessential phrasing of the sentiment? Because we didn't want to get it wrong and wipe out, we opted not to answer it. If pushed, which would you have gone for?

Posted by Schroedinger's cat (# 64) on :

It's a very tricky one. I answered you on Twitter the same as here, but realised that the alternative is also as valid in general speech.

So I think it must count as a poor question, because in most cases, either should be acceptable.

Wikipedia has both versions, reflecting that this is a translation from a range of sources. There is probably one definitive original, but that is lost to us. Any form of Bold, Brave, Strong would be a valid use of the phrase.

Posted by mousethief (# 953) on :

The prepared mind.

Posted by Zappa (# 8433) on :

... party with the best lawyer

Posted by bib (# 13074) on :

I have never heard the 'bold' option before, but feel that the usual response is 'brave'

Posted by Gill H (# 68) on :

I would have said 'brave' was the more common current version. I know both and think both should have been acceptable.

Posted by Goldfish Stew (# 5512) on :

Hmmm. I'd have gone bold - brave feels to me like a newer variation on the theme. But purely conjecture.

And I'd have insisted we put an answer if in your position in spite of the risk as we'd need as many points as possible to win, and they do say that fortune favours those with sufficient kahunas

Our team motto in similar situations is "victory or death" [Big Grin]

Posted by L'organist (# 17338) on :

It may be that those who have studied latin have gone for bold, where those who haven't will have gone with the catch-all of brave?

I'd have gone for Fortune favours the valiant, had it been available.

Posted by Humble Servant (# 18391) on :

Surely having "favours" and "brave" in the same sentence gives you too many 'a's and 'v's together. "Bold" has a much more woody sound to it. Seems I am in a minority.

Posted by agingjb (# 16555) on :

I quite like the assonance.

Posted by Sipech (# 16870) on :

quote:
Originally posted by L'organist:
It may be that those who have studied latin have gone for bold, where those who haven't will have gone with the catch-all of brave?

We were all fairly well educated (2 had studied Latin), though even that didn't prevent some rather dumb answers (before corrections via the collective wisdom). e.g.
Q: What is the Roman numeral for the number 50?
A: Trust, me I had a classical education. It's D. [Disappointed]

Q: 2 Shakespeare plays were set in Verona; The 2 Gentlemen of Verona was one, which was the other?
A: The Merchant of Venice [brick wall]

quote:
Originally posted by Goldfish Stew:
Our team motto in similar situations is "victory or death"

Ours is normally similar, but we were actually in with a shout of winning this week, so we were somewhat more circumspect.

Posted by churchgeek (# 5557) on :

I didn't realize I'd heard this expression before, but my gut instinct is that it's concluded "...the strong." So I'm glad Schroedinger's Cat mentions it. That must be how I've heard it.

But ultimately, Zappa's answer rings true.

Posted by The Rogue (# 2275) on :

The obvious thing to me is to see what Google (UK version) says. As I typed I got to "fortune favo" and autocomplete came up with "fortune favors the bold". When I continued by typing the "u" autocomplete changed its mind to "fortune favours the brave".

So it's a pond thing.

Posted by simontoad (# 18096) on :

are you sure its not the bald?

Posted by Golden Key (# 1468) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Goldfish Stew:
(...) and they do say that fortune favours those with sufficient kahunas.

Yes, I imagine that traditional Hawai'ian priests would be helpful.
[Biased]

Posted by Lyda*Rose (# 4544) on :

When I googled it with "Fortune Favors the", after seeing images of fortune cookies and wedding favors, the next reference was "Fortune favors the bold" on Wikipedia. Both versions, brave and bold, seem to be translations of Virgil.

quote:
Audentis Fortuna iuvat (translated by both eprevodilac.com and lexilogos.com as "Fortune favors the bold."

Posted by Pangolin Guerre (# 18686) on :

As Cole Porter wrote, "I say cojones, you say kahunas... Let's call the whole thing off."

I voted "bold", but I'm not certain that that's because I studied Latin. I do recognise it from Virgil, so perhaps it's something (my academic gown?) from years ago hanging in a dusty closet at the back of my that made me go "bold".

[ 25. July 2017, 12:20: Message edited by: Pangolin Guerre ]

Posted by Leorning Cniht (# 17564) on :

As the motto of the Yorkshire Regiment, the word used is "brave", and I think "brave" is the most popular.

Like others, I agree that "bold" is a better translation of the latin audens.

Posted by basso (# 4228) on :

I answered 'bold' because that's what auto-complete in my mind filled in.
No idea where it came from, but it seemed a clear choice to me.
b. (American with no Latin, FWIW.)

Posted by Golden Key (# 1468) on :

"Bold" is the one I've usually heard.

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