Which everyday English verb gave the best-known chin-length women's haircut its name?
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from ‘to bob’: to cut short
From the English ‘to bob’, meaning to cut short.
💡 Did you know? The cut ends at chin level and was a scandal around 1920.
All questions with answers
What does the German abbreviation ‘Vokuhila’ stand for?
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short in front, long at the back
For ‘short in front, long at the back’.
💡 Did you know? In English the style is called ‘mullet’: after a fish.
Which hairstyle stood for women's new freedom in the 1920s?
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the bob
The bob.
💡 Did you know? Wearing it marked you as modern: some employers dismissed women for it.
Who presented the first permanent wave in London in 1906?
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Karl Nessler
The German hairdresser Karl Nessler.
💡 Did you know? He tried it first on his wife: twice he burned her scalp.
Which TV series made the ‘Rachel’ the most copied hairstyle of the 1990s?
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Friends
The sitcom ‘Friends’.
💡 Did you know? Jennifer Aniston herself later called it ‘the ugliest haircut I've ever seen’.
Which mistress of Louis XV gave her name to a high, piled-up hairstyle?
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Madame de Pompadour
Madame de Pompadour.
💡 Did you know? Two hundred years later Elvis Presley wore the same basic shape.
About how fast does human head hair grow?
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about one centimetre a month
About one centimetre a month.
💡 Did you know? Hair down to the hips therefore takes a good six years.
About how many hairs does a person have on their head?
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about 100,000
About 100,000.
💡 Did you know? Up to a hundred of them fall out daily: entirely normal.
What is human hair mainly made of?
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of keratin
Of keratin, a horn protein.
💡 Did you know? The same material forms fingernails, hooves and feathers.
From which language does the German word ‘Frisur’ come?
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from French
From French: from ‘friser’, to curl.
💡 Did you know? Originally it meant only curled hair, not any styled hair.
What is the German ‘Irokesenschnitt’ called in English?
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Mohawk
Mohawk.
💡 Did you know? Both names refer to North American peoples: historically the style is better attested among the Pawnee.
Which enormous wig did men wear in the Baroque era?
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the full-bottomed wig
The full-bottomed wig.
💡 Did you know? Louis XIV introduced it because his own hair thinned early.
What is a toupee?
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a hairpiece for partial baldness
A hairpiece covering only a bald patch.
💡 Did you know? Unlike a wig it does not replace all the hair.
With which heated tool did Marcel Grateau create his famous waves from 1872?
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the curling iron
The curling iron.
💡 Did you know? The resulting ‘Marcel wave’ shaped women's hairstyles for four decades.
Which trade in the Middle Ages did not only shave but also performed surgery?
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the barber-surgeon
The barber, or barber-surgeon.
💡 Did you know? He pulled teeth, performed bloodletting and treated wounds.
What do the red and white stripes on the pole outside barber shops stand for?
Show answer
for blood and bandages
For the blood and the white bandages of bloodletting.
💡 Did you know? Patients gripped a pole so the veins would stand out.
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