Trivia Quiz: Balls to the Wall

[Kirby]

Everyone has heard the phrase "Balls to the wall" - as in " He was driving with his balls to the wall".

1. What does it mean?
2. What is the origin of the phrase?

 

[MrElussive]

I thought "balls to the wall" means a car with a really massive engine that accelerates mad fast. So that when you are accelerating at wide open throttle, the G forces are crazy (thus balls to the wall).

 

[dsobering47]

i thought 'balls to the walls' was when you did something crazy/difficult......i.e. "He just took that corner like balls to the walls" ....or.... "man, thats balls to the walls" (when speaking of crazy/difficult object.

hope my retarded english skills didnt come into play in that last paragraph

 

[vlad]

heh! I always think of an old album/song by the group Accept! [target]

 

[wileycoyote]

Easy... The throttle on early war planes were topped with a round knob. When you push the throttle forward, you increase power. Traditionally, there is a firewall that separates the pilot cabin from the engine. Pushing the throttle all the way forward, toward the firewall, gave the plane full power. Hence the term "balls to the wall" for going full throttle.

Of similar circa, the phrase "the whole nine yards" was coined. What is it's origin? Hint, nothing to do with football.

 

[wileycoyote]

Anyone with appreciation for BMW should know it's historical roots in aviation engines (which is where the roundel was born).

 

[Kirby]

Wileycoyote got it!

"The Whole 9 Yards" - I think it has to do with buying something, as in "I'll buy the whole 9 yards" - Fabric, perhaps?

 

[wileycoyote]

Think aviation, and visit urbanlegends.com.

 

[MrElussive]

Oh, I didn't know this was a quiz, Kirby...I thought you didn't know and you were trying to find out the answer, lol.

 

[VANCE]

the belt on a m2 .50cal is 27 feet long when you let loose of the whole belt you are givin them "the whole nine yards"

 

[wileycoyote]

Correct! Here's another odd trivia question.

What popular household product orginated from waste / leftovers of Model T production?

 

[Kirby]

I try to do these without searching on the net (it's damn tempting, though).

Is it charcoal? I think I remember reading this on a bag of Kingsford Charcoal?

 

[wileycoyote]

Yep, Model T's used a lot of hard wood parts. Henry Ford used the small scap pieces to make charcoal (an invention of his own). He eventually sold the company to his cousins husband, E.G Kingsford.

 

[junglestylz]

That one was a "dead ringer" hehe

 

[Wadula]

another classic, where different answerts exists i admit.

where is the name mercedes-benz from?

 

[wileycoyote]

Before I cheat and look it up, I think it Mercedes was the name of one of the Daimler founders. My guess, Benz was a also a partner.

 

[wileycoyote]

OK I cheated, here it is. Gottlieb Daimler and Karl Benz founded the company named Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft (DMG). A Wealthy daredevil named Emil Jellinek bought more than a few DMG cars, constantly pushing them to build faster ones. In 1899 Jellinek entered a race in Nice under then name Mercedes. Mercedes was more of team name than an automobile brand, but a deal Jellinek made with DMG a year later produced the first Daimler-Mercedes.

 

[Wadula]

excellent. actually it was his daughter who gave the car the name cause he used his daughters name mercedes as his racing name.

 

[Wadula]

and now, this time without cheating please, where does the star come from?

 

[wileycoyote]

I read it while I was cheating on the name origin.