A few days ago at the gym I saw on one of the televisions a quiz show which gives the question and a choice of four answers. One question and answers was (approximately): “Which one of these is a pirate in the 1883 novel Treasure Island? A) Long John Silver B) Chips O’Hoy C) Polly Wanda Cracker D) Buck Kinnear”. The contestant didn’t know. The contestant didn’t even guess.
Quite apart from whether any random quiz show contestant might be expected to know the answer directly or indirectly, possible thought process: “John is a real given name, Silver is a real surname and I’ve heard that name somewhere. Chips is a nickname, but doesn’t sound very 1880s [the novel is set in the mid-1700s], O’Hoy might be a real surname [it is, but Hoy is more common], but ‘Chips O’Hoy’ sounds like a joke name. Polly and Wanda are real given names, but Cracker isn’t a real surname and ‘Polly Wanda Cracker’ sounds like a joke name. Buck could be a real nickname and Kinnear is a real surname, but ‘Buck Kinnear’ sounds like a joke name. Hmmm … I’ll go for ‘Long John Silver’.” It’s possible to think all that in the time allowed to answer.
I’m not sure that I could have kept a straight face if I was the quizmaster, either at the names or the contestant’s inability to even guess.
Never Pure and Rarely Simple 
Arrr yourself! You’ve gotten me hooked on YouTube clips of said show. Funny stuff.
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In the Muppets version, Miss Piggy greets Long John Silver (Tim Curry) ‘Hello, Loooonngg John’ (wink, wink, nudge, nudge).
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The Muppets was one of the few shows I allowed the kids to watch as little ones. The others were: Seseme Street and The Electric Co., nature shows of Wild Kingdom and National Geographic variety, Walt Disney World, and (of course), Montey Python’s Flying Circus.
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